How is your tongue like an inkjet printer?
Friday, April 11th, 2008Most inkjet printers use only four basic ink colors - Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. The printer combines these colors to represent each image pixel in various colors, shades, and intensities. The image is dithered, meaning the printer uses a pattern of several of its dots to simulate the color of each pixel in the [...]
The Eyes Have It
Tuesday, April 8th, 2008Another great scientific question from my ten-year-old; why are my eyes blue and my sister’s eyes brown?
What determines a person’s eye color?
The color of a person’s eyes depends on the amount of a pigment called melanin present in the iris of the eye (melanin is also responsible for the coloring of our skin). At one end of the [...]
Evolutionary Tail Fins?
Tuesday, April 1st, 2008We sometimes forget that like everything else on Earth - not to mention the planet itself - we humans are a work in progress. The following are nineteen body parts that are in the process of being deleted from our design…
VOMERONASAL ORGAN
A tiny pit on each side of the septum is lined with nonfunctioning chemoreceptors. They may [...]
Science and the Urban Legend - Part II
Tuesday, March 25th, 2008For your entertainment and edification, here are five more persistent yet patently false urban legends…
The Great Wall of China as seen from space by the ESA Proba Satellite
The Legend - The Great Wall of China is the only man-made object visible from the moon.
The Truth - From a low Earth orbit (160 to 350 miles [...]
Science and the Urban Legend
Thursday, March 20th, 2008The following are actual science related urban legends that have been circulated as truth - some of them for decades. All have been busted by various sources but as urban legends are wont to do, stubbornly persist to this day. Here are five particularly long-lived legends and the reasons they are BUSTED!
The Legend [...]
You’ll catch your Death!
Tuesday, March 4th, 2008Being that it’s cold and flu season, I thought it a timely opportunity to spread something other than germs - some knowledge!
A Cold Virus
Here are some common questions and answers about colds and flu (influenza):
What’s the difference between a cold and the flu?
A. Although both illnesses are caused by viruses, their symptoms and severity differ [...]
Orange you a little yellow?
Monday, March 3rd, 2008I knew a girl once who’s skin turned an orangey-yellow color because she had eaten so many carrots. I kid you not! This relatively benign condition is called Carotenemia. My friend’s yellow-orange skin hue was a tell-tale sign of a beta carotene overdose resulting from her over-zealous carrot consumption. Beta carotene, along with other plant pigments generally called [...]
The Grosser the Better
Tuesday, February 26th, 2008It’s an incontrovertible truth that 10 year-old boys are endlessly fascinated by all things gross and disgusting. Why not use this to your advantage and have them learn a little science too? “Oh, Yuck! The Encyclopedia of Everything Nasty” by Joy Masoff, covers the science behind over 60 tasteless topics from flatulence to [...]
What does one million look like?
Friday, February 22nd, 2008Kids are fascinated by really big numbers. In particular, ONE MILLION seems to hold a particular allure. It’s very difficult to illustrate large numbers in a way that makes sense to children. After all, most of us don’t have a million of anything just laying around. …Well, except for maybe dust particles!
Here are a couple of handy [...]
I can’t believe my eyes!
Thursday, February 21st, 2008Whenever we go to our local Science Museum, which is fairly often, my kids always rush to the “Hall of Senses” exhibit first. In particular, the optical illusions displayed there never seem to get old!
The science behind our 5 senses is really interesting educational fodder. I think that kids of all ages delight in having their eyes fooled! Here are [...]
