Thursday, 24 May, 2012

Pitching the biomechanics The fate of baseball teams valued at hundreds of millions of dollars and followed by millions of rabid fans can come down to the elbow ligaments of a handful of young men who can throw a ball nearly 100 mph. But that doesn’t mean the best science guides their training.
Thursday, May 17th, 2012

Ocean fish in hot water

The ocean’s most valuable fish are caught in a vise. Areas known as dead zones are encroaching on their living zones and pinning them closer to the surface, where they are more vulnerable to becoming the day’s catch. The predicament is yet another side effect of climate change.

Thursday, January 19th, 2012

Science Teachers: Hip yourself to a great resource!

For 15 years, we’ve presented the science behind the news. The Why Files are accurate, engaging, entertaining and educational. Check our links from national science teaching standards to specific Why Files — all 750 of them! Whether it’s geology or archaeology, weather or human behavior, The Why Files has it covered.

Tuesday, November 8th, 2011

The importance of being Einstein

Experiment finds Earth “dragging” spacetime, as Einstein predicted. Einstein knew his physics. Bending light, gravity lenses, shifting spacetime, spinning neutron stars: he called them all.

Thursday, May 19th, 2011

Climate: Simple = beautiful?

Earth’s orbit subtly changes over thousands of years, in complex cycles that affect the timing and delivery of sunlight to various regions of the globe. Climatologists have said that when this “Milankovitch cycle” warms the Arctic, it somehow warms the Antarctic. A new study finds that the cycle acts more directly.

Thursday, March 3rd, 2011

Double the bubble!

High-speed movies of popping bubbles show a ring of “daughter” bubbles forming around the edge. A close look reveals a third generation of “granddaughter” bubbles. How does this happen? Does this matter to real-world medicine and climatology? And can we get paid to play with bubbles?

Thursday, June 10th, 2010

Nanotech

Adding nanotubes makes a stronger plastic, but adding several nano-structures greatly increases the benefit, according to a new study from India. Read about the frontier of material science.

Thursday, July 30th, 2009

North Korea’s nukes

Underground nuclear tests have been the biggest roadblock to a comprehensive test ban. How are these explosions detected, and how reliably?

Thursday, June 11th, 2009

Year of astronomy: More reasons to love stars!

400 years ago, Galileo discovered the moons of Jupiter. We discover water from 11 billion years ago, volcanoes at Titan, a moon of Saturn, and good reasons to shun light pollution.

Sunday, January 25th, 2009

New concern as ocean grows more acidic

Each hour, the ocean dissolves 1 million tons of carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuel. As the water grows more acidic, sound travels further. What will happen to marine mammals, which rely on an exquisite sense of hearing?

Thursday, November 13th, 2008