If you splashed down in the Atlantic, you'd flounder on which way to swim. But a hatchling loggerhead turtle would know just where to paddleby reading the Earth's magnetic field. Scientists knew turtles can pinpoint latitude this way, because the fie...
This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Steve Mirsky. Got a minute? The ability to digest milk as adults, and as infants, actually, is due to the expression of an enzyme called lactase. That's the University of Pennsylvania's Sarah Tishk...
This is Scientific Americans 60-Second Science. Im Steve Mirsky. Got a minute? A new development in malaria: Plasmodium vivax, the worlds most common malaria parasite, now infects people previously considered to be resistant. Peter Zimmerman from Cas...
This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Steve Mirsky. Got a minute? It took until about 1800 or 1825 to put the first billion people on the planet. We added the most recent billion in 12 or 13 years. We anticipate two billion more by 205...
According to a variety of studies my languages may be providing mental benefits beyond the ability to chat with locals when I travel. Judith Kroll, from Penn State University, discussed findings from a number of her labs papers on February 18th at a...
This is Scientific Americans 60-Second Science. Im Cynthia Graber. This will just take a minute. Usually, we trust common sense to solve problems. Is a runny mixture too thick? Add some fluid. Thatll make it runnier. Except when the fluid makes it th...
This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Karen Hopkin. This will just take a minute. Stand at the bottom of a big hill and you can exhaust yourself just thinking about climbing it. But a new study suggests it's not as bad as it looks. Bec...
This is Scientific Americans 60-Second Science. Im Steve Mirsky. Got a minute? Remember the Seinfeld where George buys Jon Voights car? Or the one where Elaine bids on JFKs golf clubs? Why would anyone spend money, often a lot of money, on a common o...
Imagine Van Gogh's paintings of yellow sunflowers. Now imagine the flowers brown. Eh, not so good. Sadly, we may someday see what that would look like. Because the bright yellow paints on the canvas are slowly turning muddy. Now, an international tea...
This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Karen Hopkin. This will just take a minute. Ahhh, the great outdoors. Great for your health, too. Because studies suggest that the more we visit local parks, the more fit we are. Researchers at Pen...
