A Moment of Science

Hummingbirds have a voracious appetite for nectar, the sugary fluid secreted by flowers . To survive, they usually drink between five and fourteen times their weight in nectar every day. Finding all that nectar isn’t easy. Some flowers may have already been emptied of nectar by other visitors, or might be occupied by dangerous insects such as ants. Biologists want to understand how hummingbirds us...

Have you ever wondered why some cuisines, like Indian and Thai, are so spicy and others, like English, are so bland? India and Thailand are very hot countries, while England is cold and damp. The answer does have something to do with the climate associated with each cuisine, but maybe not in the way that you'd first think. You might wonder why would you want to eat spicy food when it's hot outside...

What legendary creatures of the deep fill you with wonder? The squid-like kraken, able to tear ships pirate apart with its tentacles? Or the megalodon, an enormous shark from millions of years ago? Or sirens, mermaids who lure sailors to their death? These monsters haunt old stories of the ocean. We’re fascinated by their supernatural mystery. And perhaps no epic animal of lore enchants, inspires,...

If you’ve seen a grove of quaking aspen, you’ll recall trees with smooth, grey-white bark fissured with black streaks and flat leaves of green and yellow that shimmer with the lightest breeze. A forest canopy of quaking aspen is often dense where sunlight is plentiful because they’re intolerant of shade. This growing pattern allows quaking aspen to colonize large swaths of land, with individual tr...

Many animal appendages, such as legs, tails, beaks, or ears can be used to dissipate excess body heat . Because of this cooling function, these body parts generally have a larger surface area relative to their volume for mammals and birds that live in warmer climates than for such animals that live in colder climates. This principle of animal form is called ‘Allen’s rule’ after its discoverer; the...

Today's moment of science is inspired by the plethora of crime dramas. How do the one-way mirrors we see in these shows so often actually work? The trick is simpler than you might think. Most mirrors are made by applying a thin layer of a reflective material, aluminum in most cases, to the back of a sheet of glass. This is called back silvering, and it makes the glass opaque. When we look in a mir...

We don’t usually think of friends in terms of what advantages they give us, although, if asked, most people would probably say that their friends add a lot to their lives. Scientists view friendship among animals in slightly starker terms: if strong social bonds exist between animals , it probably means such ties directly benefit the animals in some way. A team of researchers set out to find out w...

Are you a twin? No, well are you sure? You could be a twin, but the twin is within, or a chimera. The Lion-Goat-Dragon You A chimera is a mythological beast with the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and the tail of a dragon. However, in biology a chimera is an organism made up of two distinct genetic lines. It's what happens when twin embryos fuse in the womb. The fusion results in what looks l...

Animals are made mostly out of water, and of complex molecules centered around carbon atoms. But they also contain a surprising range of other substances, which give their parts useful special properties. The mandibles of ants are incredibly sharp and durable cutting tools. Leaf-cutting ants live in the tropics and cut the leaves of plants into tiny pieces with their razor-sharp mandibles. They ta...

Curiosity killed the cat, but there’s no indication that it has the same effect on humans.  Curiosity in babies helps them learn about the world and might even predict future cognitive abilities. That’s why scientists wanted to know whether moments of curiosity that babies exhibit are random variations, or whether they indicate a characteristic of the particular baby that carries into their later...

Most of us are probably familiar with the image of salmon jumping upstream or over obstacles in the water. But why is it so common to see them leaping out of still water too? Maybe they're just showing off. Or, they might be trying to shake off sea lice. Scientists noticed that young sockeye salmon jump out of the water and skim its surface with their tails an average of nine times a day, and it’s...

Could the moon ever cause a person to tan? It's not that strange of a question: after all, moonlight is reflected sunlight. And following that logic-train, if direct sunlight can cause people to tan--and even burn--then why not reflected sunlight? Good News The actual answer is no. People can't get a tan from the moon, no matter how bright. Tanning is a reaction to the sun's ultraviolet light. Ski...

There’s rarely just one fruit fly hovering over the browning bananas in your fruit bowl. That’s because fruit flies are social creatures, spending most of their time together in groups.   Scientists have noted that other social animals , including humans, tend to eat more and sleep less when isolated. To help understand these observations, a group of scientists decided to study fruit flies to find...

Singing Mice

The Wonderful Welwitschia

A Bug's Gotta Have Heart

Sleep and Inequality in the U.S.

Travelers' Diarrhea Has a Type

Rattlesnake Rattling Trick

Why Does It Seem Like Others Look Angry to You?

Marine Biofluorescence

Would You Eat Fruit That Smells Like Garbage?

The Great Unconformity

Imagining Yourself in Others

Stinky Cheese