Inside the ant colony
Adults ScienceAnts have one of the most complex social organizations in the animal kingdom; they live in structured colonies that contain different types of members who perform specific roles. Sound familiar? Deborah M. Gordon explains the way these incredible creatures mate, communicate and source food, shedding light on how their actions can mimic and inform our own behavior.
How playing an instrument benefits your brain - Anita Collins
Adults ScienceWhen you listen to music, multiple areas of your brain become engaged and active. But when you actually play an instrument, that activity becomes more like a full-body brain workout. What's going on? Anita Collins explains the fireworks that go off in musicians' brains when they play, and examines some of the long-term positive effects of this mental workout.
How do we smell?
Adults ScienceAn adult human can distinguish up to 10,000 odors. You use your nose to figure out what to eat, what to buy and even when it's time to take a shower. But how do the molecules in the air get translated into smells in your brain? Rose Eveleth charts the smelly journey through your olfactory epithelium and explains why scent can be so subjective.
Another Reason Why Dogs Are Amazing: They Can Detect Cancer.
Adults ScienceHaving a dog for a pet is a great way to find love, loyalty, friendship and fun; but canines are now using their keen senses for something remarkable. New studies have shown that through intense observation and an astute sense of smell (which is is about 100,000 times more powerful than that of a human), our canine friends are able to alert us when cancerous cells are present. In many instances dogs have pointed their noses on the precise locations of unidentified tumors. Read the Article
Why is ketchup so hard to pour?
Adults ScienceEver go to pour ketchup on your fries...and nothing comes out? Or the opposite happens, and your plate is suddenly swimming in a sea of red? George Zaidan describes the physics behind this frustrating phenomenon, explaining how ketchup and other non-Newtonian fluids can suddenly transition from solid to liquid and back again.
Facebook Will Use Drones and Lasers to 'Beam' Internet to the World
Adults ScienceAfter announcing Internet.org last year, an initiative to improve Internet access across the globe, Mark Zuckerberg unveiled the Connectivity Lab, a new team of scientists that has been working on the ambitious project. He said that the Connectivity Lab would develop "new platforms for connectivity on the ground, in the air and in orbit," according to a post on Internet.org on Thursday. How are they going to do it?
The chemistry of cookies
Adults ScienceYou stick cookie dough into an oven, and magically, you get a plate of warm, gooey cookies. Except it's not magic; it's science. Stephanie Warren explains via basic chemistry principles how the dough spreads out, at what temperature we can kill salmonella, and why that intoxicating smell wafting from your oven indicates that the cookies are ready for eating.