November 15, 2024
Medical historian Dr. Elsa Richardson discusses the changing cultural and scientific understandings of the gut. Plus, a “one-of-a-kind” fossil helps fill a giant gap in scientists’ understanding of how bird brains evolved. And, walking pneumonia typically affects school-age kids, but the CDC reports a rise in cases in children aged 2-4.
Ugh, A Bug! Get To Know Insect Anatomy
What are the distinguishing physical characteristics of an insect? Observe live crickets to learn the function of various insect body parts!
Oliver Sacks and ‘The Mind’s Eye’
Neurologist Oliver Sacks talks with Ira about vision, the brain, and how the two can work together—or can work against each other.
Dean Kamen
He’s invented everything from an insulin pump to the Segway Transporter. He started the FIRST Robotics competitions for students. And now, he has his own television show.
Physics Of Giant Pumpkins
Pumpkins of the Atlantic giant variety can weigh more than 1,800 pounds.
Flower Anatomy
In this activity, students will discuss the various methods by which pollination can occur in flowers or plants. Students will dissect and identify the different parts of a flower, hypothesize the function of each part, and discuss the importance or relevance of each part to pollination.
The Once and Future Car
This week, news emerged of a self-driving car being researched by Google. We’ll look back at other ‘cars of the future’ and what happened—or didn’t happen—to them.
The Color Of Flowers
In this activity, students will perform an experiment to find out where flower colors come from. Students will extract petal juice, use acid and base indicators, and observe chemical reactions to investigate how the amount of acid or base influences the color of a petal.
Illuminating Luminescence
In this activity, students will compare and contrast different forms of luminescence by observing how chemiluminescence, phosphorescence, and fluorescence produce or emit light. Students will also compare these forms of luminescence to bioluminescence.
How Boulders Are Born
In this activity, students will review and discuss weathering, erosion and mass wasting, to gain a stronger understanding of how Hickory Run’s Boulder Field was formed after the Laurentide Continental Glacier receded. Using edible materials, students will model and demonstrate the geological processes that formed this unique feature.
Make a Chemical Clock
In this activity, students will perform three experiments using household ingredients to observe and record color changes, indicators that a chemical reaction has taken place. Students also will observe a chemical clock reaction and explore how reaction times can be sped up or slowed down.
Lilliputian Landscaping
In this activity, students will examine the different materials gardeners add to their soil, and discuss how these materials are important for plant growth. They will learn how to build a sustainable terrarium by adding a waterbed, mixing their own soil and transplanting a small plant into their terrarium.
Lighting Up Celery Stalks
In this activity, students will conduct a series of hands-on experiments that will demonstrate how the working of these veins, known as capillary action, enables water to travel throughout the length of a plant. Students will learn how the forces of water cohesion and adhesion contribute to the process of capillary action.
Happy Birthday, Buckyballs!
Twenty-five years ago this month, researchers first identified buckminsterfullerenes — chemical structures shaped like tiny carbon soccer balls.
New Views of the Moon
New images of the moon’s surface taken from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera show fault lines with a surprising explanation: The moon may be shrinking.
The Secretly Speedy Life Of Plants
Plants have a reputation for staying put. But some plants are moving so quickly, we can’t see their motions.
Cooking with Chemistry
Chef Wylie Dufresne, the owner of New York City restaurant wd~50, experiments with food, literally. He has lab notebooks detailing what certain chemicals do to certain dishes. One of his signature dishes is a spin on eggs Benedict: he found that creating the plate’s centerpiece–a cube of fried hollandaise sauce–required a lot of scientific testing. Science Friday stopped in at Dufresne’s kitchen to see how he prepares the dish.
Best Bubbles
Astronauts are allowed to bring special “crew preference” items when they go up in space. NASA astronaut Don Pettit chose candy corn for his five and a half month stint aboard the International Space Station. But these candy corn were more than a snack; Pettit used them for experimentation.
Bad Days For Bats
The white nose syndrome disease affecting bat populations has put one species of bat at risk of “regional extinction” within the next 20 years.
Seeing A Star In A New Light
NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), launched in February, has started to send back data…