Busted Science Myths
Monday, October 20th, 2008More Scientific “Urban Legends” - Let the light of truth shine on!
Myth: Leave a window slightly open during a hurricane or tornado to equalize the air pressure thus minimizing damage to your home.
The Truth: The opposite is actually true. Windows and doorways should be kept tightly shut against high winds generated by such [...]
Egg-Citing Facts
Friday, October 17th, 2008Eggs are truly a wonder of nature. It takes just a day for a chicken to produce one of these perfectly packaged little miracles! Did you ever wonder how the shell gets on the egg? I sure did. Here’s what Sciencejunkies found out…
First, some common questions and answers about chicken egg production.
1. How often do [...]
The Buzz on Honey
Tuesday, October 14th, 2008This post answers some common questions concerning the relationship between bees, pollen, nectar and honey.
1. Why do bees make honey?
Answer: Honeybees are special in that unlike wasps and bumblebees, bee colonies do not hibernate but stay active within their hive throughout winter. The energy required to sustain this activity requires a lot of food energy. Honey [...]
It’s Time for a Change
Wednesday, October 8th, 2008Several species of cephalopods–the group of animals that includes octopuses, squid and cuttlefish–are skilled in the art of color change, which can be used for camouflage or to startle and warn potential predators in their undersea realm.
Click below to see a clip of a cuttlefish changing his coloration to match the seabed below.
How do they [...]
What’s the Matter?
Thursday, October 2nd, 2008Most of the matter you see every day comes in one of three phases (forms) - Solid, Liquid or Gas. There is also a fourth phase of matter called Plasma (a high energy electrically charged mixture of ions and electrons). Although plasma is the most abundant phase of matter in the universe (it’s what stars [...]
Dangerous Neighborhood
Wednesday, October 1st, 2008The city of Neuquén in southwestern Argentina must have been a rather terrifying place to live 90 million years ago. Within an hour’s drive of Neuquén lie three important paleontologic sites, each home to record-breaking finds including Argentinosaurus huinculensis, considered the world’s largest dinosaur (coming in at 130 feet long and 60 feet tall), Giganotosaurus [...]
Insectile Thermometers?
Wednesday, September 24th, 2008Kooky as it seems, there really is some truth to the fact that one can pretty accurately determine the outdoor temperature by counting cricket chirps!
Although a variety of “cricket chirp thermometer” formulas exist, it seems that the Farmer’s Almanac has perfected the most accurate and reliable.
To convert cricket chirps to degrees Fahrenheit, count number of [...]
Have you had enough sleep?
Friday, August 29th, 2008Sleep scientists say that:
recognition memory for faces is unaffected by sleep loss. A person who has not slept for as much as 35 hours can perform as well as someone who is not sleep deprived.
the area of the brain that controls temporal memory can be affected by prolonged sleep loss and/or ageing. So the [...]
It’s a Gas!
Monday, May 5th, 2008
Pooting, Tooting, Farting, Breaking Wind, Cutting the Cheese, whatever you want to call it, the average person produces about half a liter of intestinal gas per day which is expelled in the form of flatulence about 14 times daily.
The following web links get into the science behind this smelly but vital bodily function:
Kidzworld: The Science of [...]
Animal Life Spans
Thursday, April 17th, 2008This last weekend I took my daughter to a Girl Scout event where we learned about various scaly, furry and feathery denizens of the rain forest. We both learned quite a bit about these animals including the fact that several varieties of parrots can live to more than 85 years of age! This got me [...]
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