A Last-Last Minute ScienceArt Gift Guide feat. Books
In my efforts to make the most original sciart gift guide I could muster earlier this month I overlooked some fantastic books that I want to plug today in case you’re doing any last minute shopping at bookstores.
Ursid Meteor Shower Peaks Tonight: How to Watch
The Ursid meteor shower should offer skywatchers a good view this year
How Robins Became the Birds of Christmas
It's time to wind things down for Christmas, so what better way to do it than to write a short article about robins. And here I mean the `original' or `proper' robin - the European robin Erithacus rubecula - a Eurasian passerine that also occurs in northern Africa and is (conventionally) regarded as the only [...]
Physics Week in Review: December 20, 2014
The Christmas holiday approacheth, and for those of a Maker bent, here’s how to Build A Sled For Slinging Snowballs — Winter Warfare Will Never Be the Same. If you’re more the craft-y sort, now you can deck the halls with Nobel physicists with this physics twist on the craft of cutting paper snowflakes.
Future Smartphone Could Fall Smartly, Too
Apple got a patent for a system to adjust your falling device in flight to minimize the damage on landing. Larry Greenemeier reports
Why Does the Floor Feel Cold When the Towel Feels Warm?
An activity exploring everyday thermodynamics
Fracking Banned in New York
Fracking, as it looks across the New York State border, in Pennsylvania. Fracking has been banned in New York State since 2008. Then-Governor David Paterson imposed a moratorium on the controversial technique— which fractures shale rock using high pressure, specially treated water to release gas trapped inside—citing the need for further study of health and [...]
#SHAKING! How the Internet is Changing the Way We Respond to Earthquakes
With services like Twitter and Facebook ready at our fingertips, the internet is making it possible for people to share more than ever about their personal experiences.
Beyond "The Pipeline": Reframing Science's Diversity Challenge
One of the most commonly used metaphors for describing the solution for growing and diversifying America's scientific talent pool is the "STEM pipeline." Major policy reports have called on the U.S.
The Real Outcome of Global Warming Talks in Lima: A Future for Coal
“There will be coal burning.” Negotiators from around the world produced a four-page climate-change accord (pdf) after some sleep-deprived haggling over the weekend in Lima, Peru, but the agreement could be summed up in those five words.
What Forms of Creativity Turn You On?
It’s no secret: creativity is sexy. People all over the world rank creativity as a highly desirable quality in a partner, and people who are creative across a variety of fields report more sexual partners (similar results have been found in specific fields such as visual art, music, and humor).
Google's Top Searches of 2014
Americans looked to Google for information on Ebola, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge and the actor Robin Williams’s suicide this year—all of which ranked among the hottest search terms of 2014.