We're familiar with ants as picnic-skimming and foot-biting pests, but just below the soil's surface, ants live surprisingly complex and intricate lives. The leaf cutting ants, or leaf cutters, live in a way that's particularly alien to us, as the dominant herbivore (or perhaps “fungivoreâ€) of South American rainforests. Ant colonies as superorganisms Rather than
My baby brother is 16, a rising high school junior. As much as I love him, he can really be a pain. He's too smart to take advice, too cool to be silly, too busy to bother. “You were just like himâ€, my parents tell me. Obviously the 10 year gap between my adolescence and
It wasn't that long ago when scientists discovered the key to what makes us who we are. We're familiar with deoxyribonucleic acid (better known as DNA) as the molecule responsible for inheritance, but it was only discovered 63 years ago. It's astounding that we've come so far in only a few decades. Rapid advances in
Graham talks about the different 3D printing methods and how it is helping scientists and engineers prototype new ideas. 3D printing is even emerging into consumer markets, allowing for 3D models to be made on your desk. Take a listen, and learn about the evolution of 3D printing and how you can get started. Sources: SpaceX
Earlier this spring, Buzz the Bee disappeared from Honey Nut Cheerios boxes in Canada. Burt's Bees dropped the letter B from its lip balm products. Are these clever marketing ploys? Perhaps, but they were designed with a more noble purpose in mind: to raise awareness of disappearing honeybees. And, it's not just companies with apian
Will my baby be healthy? How can I protect it? Is my child safe? For the 125 million pregnant women at risk of contracting malaria there is no need to imagine, this is the reality they face everyday — Tara Bracken Winner of the 2016 University of Georgia 3 Minute Thesis, Tara Bracken speaks about
“When you turned off Chestnut Grove Road towards the school, you went up another little road, and there were chestnut trees all up that road,†then 87-year-old Margaret Miller tells me while we sit sipping ice tea at her formica kitchen table in Meat Camp, North Carolina. “In the fall, if you got along first
Why was six afraid of seven? Because their colors clash, of course. And seven can be a bit of a jerk. We tend to trust our own perceptions, and assume others share the same reality we experience. But for about 1 in 23 people, such things as friendly or specifically-colored numbers are just another aspect
Camels are rightfully known as “the ships of the desert†because of their impressive ability to carry up to 500 lbs on their back! While camels seem to conjure up images of pyramids and arid, desolate seas of sand dunes, they weren't always the quintessential desert-dwelling beasts that they are today. Camels actually originated in
Standing on the Bridge: Thoughts on the Public Communication of Science and Technology Conference 2016 Istanbul, Turkey April 24-28, 2016 A month ago, I was hovering between continents. The Public Communication of Science and Technology Conference (PCST) was taking place in Istanbul, Turkey, and I had the fortune of attending. Istanbul is a city practically
SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST. Are you picturing a desperate struggle for life in the depths of the darkest jungle? Two tigers are chasing an antelope, all three of them fighting to survive and reproduce. But only one tiger gets the prize, leaving the other hungry. Natural selection is the most prominent force of evolutionary change.
What if I told you that the flow of time is an illusion due to our limited consciousness and that the only true distinction between the past and the future is the presence of heat? You might call me crazy. However, it turns out that while the flow of time is obviously an essential part
