A Moment of Science

By studying various kinds of rocks, scientists know that our solar system is about 4.6 billion years old. However, in 2019 an international team of researchers reported that they found tiny grains of dust in a meteorite that fell in Australia in 1969 that may be 7 billion years old.

It’s nighttime. The moon is bright, and the day’s hubbub has quieted. In the distance, you hear a coyote howl. This scene sounds like something from the U.S. countryside. Increasingly, however, you’ll hear those howls in the town streets.

Have you ever seen a cartoon of a sleeping opossum hanging upside down by its tail? Well, you may be surprised to learn that 'possums don't actually sleep that way.

Agave, like aloe, is a succulent, meaning it has a number of characteristics that help it survive hot, dry desert climates. It's also a monocarpic plant, and a spectacular one at that.

Many people prefer clear apple juice to cloudy, mainly because it simply looks better. It turns out, however, that cloudy apple juice is actually better for you. 

When most people think of vampires, they picture a scary, solitary, blood-sucking monster from a horror movie. They don't think of a model of sharing and selfless behavior. 

Even though there are varying degress of skill, everyone can dance. What's more, our dance moves are something like a fingerprint. We all dance in a unique way that's the same regardless of what music we're dancing to.

What's the difference between white and dark meat? Beef if mostly dark meat and fish is mostly white meat. Turkeys, however, have both, so they offer a good illustration of the difference.

Many people use antibacterial soap in order to get rid of bacteria. However, researchers have discovered that there are at least 250 kinds of bacteria that live on our skin. Some of the kinds they found were completely unknown.

An international team of neuroscientists has discovered how cuttlefish see in three dimensions. First of all, a cuttlefish isn't really a fish. The animals are closely related to octopuses and squids and part of a group called cephalopods.

In a bee hive, most bees work hard collecting pollen from flowers, except the queen, who doesn't even have to leave her hive.

Go to the hospital to have a doctor check out an internal problem and you're liable to hear about MRI scans, CT scans and PET scans. All of these scans take detailed pictures of your body's insides.

If what we mean by hearing is just that a plant detects and responds to sounds, then there's evidence that plants can hear. In 2019 a team of Isreali scientists published evidence that the evening primrose plant can detect the specific sound vibration frequencies of the buzz of an insect's wings.

Do you ever think about the risks the Apollo astronauts took in the name of science? It's amazing. Actually, the astronauts were at risk of something many people don't know about: the Sun.

It's amazing how much light our moon reflects. Having a few mirrors doesn't hurt, though. They're there because of the Lunar Laser Ranging experiment.

Not just any old plant has what it takes to survive desert heat. Desert plants like cacti are remarkable for their unique adaptations to one fo the harshest climates on the planet. The palo verde is not exception.

Octopuses can figure out mazes, learn by watching each other, even open jars to get at food. Few people realize how intelligent an octopus is.

Each one of us has a signature style to how we move and walk. Of course, after a long day or over a lifetime, that appearance will probably change. But the inner workings of how our muscles move are stable and distinct to each one of us.

The Greenland ice sheet is melting due to global climate change, and this melting may become the biggest single contributor to rising sea levels in this century. The ice sheet is enormous. It's seven times bigger than the United Kingdom and almost two miles thick in places.

A hummingbird's bill is for both pollination and combat. Hummingbirds use their bills to knock other birds off their perches and to fence while they hover over flowers.

Firefly flashes are actually mating signals. Male fireflies cruise the evening air, flashing their lanterns in a pattern characteristic of their species, looking for females of their own kind. 

Dogs and their closest wild relatives, wolves, both came to North America from Eurasia. The earliest dogs in the Americas were introduced at least ten thousand years ago. 

Everyone knows the children's rhyme about Miss Muffet eating curds and whey, but what exactly are curds and whey? Let's find out, on today's Moment of Science. 

Koalas are such picky eaters that sometimes that won't even eat species of eucalypt that aren't their preferred choice. This preference stems from the fact that their stomachs simply can't handle it.

Have you ever wondered why fluorescent colors like the ones you see in highlighers or clothing dyes seem so much brighter than other colors? It's because they seem to reflect more light than they receive.