When you think about inventions that have radically changed human existence, what comes to mind? Probably the wheel, the printing press, maybe the refrigerator and definitely personal computers. Then there are those more mundane things that we rarely...
The characters in Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis (co-directed with Vincent Paronnaud) are simple, friendly black-and-white line drawings, as uncomplicated as characters in a children's book. Which is precisely what throws you when they get themselves p...
Time for the mail bag. Let's see what we have. Dear A Moment of Science. Are aliens going to eat us? Signed, Frightened. Well, Frightened, that's more of a science fiction question. But science does have something to say here, and sometimes purely im...
Technophobia What? Technophobe: Someone who does not like, trust, or want to use technology, especially computers. (Macmillan English Dictionary)Technophobia is not a new term and technophobes have existed since the Industrial Revolution and probably...
Dear Annie: I am married to a wonderful man whose family despises me because of a fight I had with his twin sister. His twin, Kari, is a hateful person who attacked me and my daughter (a defenseless 6-year-old). I am now an outcast because I refuse t...
Fact: liquid water is heavier than air. Fact: clouds, which consist of water droplets and ice crystals, seem to hover in the air. One final fact: the water droplets in a typical cloud together weigh many tons. Which raises a question: how do clouds s...
Surprise at Stonehenge! Wizards and aliens aside, actual scientists don't have much to say about Stonehenge--the ancient ring of rocks in Amesbury, England--that hasn't been said. That is, until now. Just recently a four-thousand-year old gravesite w...
Dear Annie: I am 17 years old and my brother is two years older. When he started dating Kim, everything was fine, but as I got to know her better, it became clear that she is just using my brother. I asked my mom what I should do, and she said I shou...
Ya?l: Today, on A Moment of Science, another episode of guilty confessions. That's right. Don is going to confess a secret, and then we'll use science to help him understand it. Don: I confess nothing, Ya?l. My conscience is clear. Y: Then how come I...
You're driving along on your way to deliver some helium balloons to a birthday party. Suddenly you hit the brakes. As your car rapidly decelerates, you feel yourself pushed up against the wheel. Why? That one's probably not too tough. Although you ma...
In this Moment of Science Don and Yael discuss how our emotions might change as we age. D: The older my parents get the more boring they become. First of all, they always spend their time with the same group of friends. They rarely go out and meet ne...
Everybody knows that the Catholic Church has been shaken in the past few years by scandals involving the sexual abuse of children. There may even be a general suspicion among some people that Catholic priests are more likely to abuse children than ot...
Amanda: Hi, Mike. What's this music you're listening to? I feel like I just walked into a Starbucks. Mike: Please don't insult me like that－this is a far cry from the kind of elevator music they play at your average coffee shop. For your informatio...
Don: It's time once again for one of those Moments of Science that we like to call Never Thought to Ask.Our never thought to ask question for the day is: Why is the earth round? Ya?l: Why is the earth round? I never thought to ask that. D: Of course...
Scientists made surprising discoveries of giant-sized specimens of marine life during a major survey of New Zealand's Antarctic seas that ended recently. Huge sea snails, jellyfish with tentacles up to 4 meters long and starfish the size of big food...
