Using waste heat: 15-year old builds human-powered flashlight
Fifteen year old Ann Makosinski was inspired when she was told that humans are “like walking 100-Watt bulbs.” She decided to harness that bulb in a human-powered flashlight...
"technology"
How Do Active Noise Cancelling Headphones Work?
After doing a lot of plane travel with the annoying drone of the engines, Joanne Manaster found herself in need of some noise cancelling headphones.
Rock-Eating Martian Microbes?
A recently published study of a 30-pound martian meteorite found in Antarctica suggests the presence of indigenous carbon-rich material, ancient water erosion, and a number of tiny structures that resemble the sort of features that we see rock-eating microbes leaving in basaltic glasses here on Earth...
Peer-review mysteries and simple things publishers can do to help readers
Scholarly scientific publications have a pretty standard structure: Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, References.
So You Want To Be An Exozookeeper?
This week has seen the release of the latest set of ‘confirmed’ exoplanets from NASA’s Kepler mission.
A day in the life of a science librarian
When I tell people I am a librarian, they automatically think they understand how I spend my day: they imagine a lot of book stamps, telling people to be quiet, and having time to read.
Surprises in physics: From black bodies to the accelerating universe
Surprises rank high on the list of things that make science a source of everlasting delight. When it comes to being surprised scientists are no different from the general public.
20th-Century Math Hidden in 15th-Century Art
Art and science are often thought of as disparate entities, drawing on different strengths and different ways of thinking. This is surely true, but the disciplines also share patterns of thought and essential characteristics...
Health Apps Offer In-Car Tech That Benefits Rather Than Distracts Drivers
For many people, the largest smart gadget they own is not their phone or tablet--it's the automobile sitting in their driveway. Cars have been able to connect to Android, iPhone and mobile Microsoft devices for years now--primarily via voice commands--to access apps aimed at communication and entertainment...
On the varieties of killing: Elizabeth Kolbert’s “The Sixth Extinction”
Elizabeth Kolbert combines the sharp observational powers of a field biologist with the literary skill of a seasoned and thoughtful writer.
How do Active Noise Canceling Headphones Work?
I’ve been traveling quite a bit recently and the drone of the plane engine is a major annoyance. While I have a pair of noise dampening ear buds which are much more comfortable and produce better sound than the default iPhone earbuds, I have been wavering about purchasing a pair of active noise canceling earphones [...]..
Environment
Pompeii a Geological Movie-Review : Introducing the Main Character
The new movie “Pompeii” reconstructs one of the most famous volcanic eruptions in history with unprecedented “3D” special effects – but even the best visuals can’t help if the science is wrong – so how geological accurate is the movie?...
Mind & Brain
Programs for Troubled Vets Don’t Work, So How about Ending War?
There is a shamefully broad gap between the lip service that we Americans give soldiersor “heroes,” as we love to call themand our actual treatment of them.
Technology
Do Words Match Deeds for WhatsApp CEO?
Before Jan Koum sold his company, WhatsApp, to Facebook for a mind-numbing $19 billion, he had a Post-It note affixed to his deskput there by WhatsApp co-founder Brian Actonthat set out the companys philosophy: No ads, no games, no gimmicks...
The Nazis’ Biowarfare Program at Dachau
Hitler decided against Germany’s officially establishing a biological warfare program for reasons that are not entirely clear. Speculation has centered on his experience of being gassed in World War I and on a personal phobia about microbes...
What Should We Teach When We Teach Science Communication?
We just began a new undergraduate program in Science Communication at my school, Stevens Institute of Technology, and I’m agonizing over what to teach.
On making mistakes
In the latest issue of the New York Review of Books, Freeman Dyson has a nice review of Mario Livio’s readable book on scientific blunders committed by great scientists.
Equatorial Glaciers and an Amazing Journey: Snows of the Nile
Neil Losin and Nathan Dappen are pretty amazing people. Both PhD scientists, both accomplished film-makers and photographers, both outside of the box thinkers.
Evaluating the Risk of Events That Could End Civilization
Every so often, Seth Baum heads out to meet Ins Garca, a video director and actress, at her Manhattan apartment. While hes there, he helps out in whatever way he can holding a microphone for hours on end, carrying heavy equipment and running to the local computer store to get an extra memory card [...]..
The Man who made Mountains
U.S.G.S. engineer Bailey Willis ( February 19, 1949) was known for his unorthodox approach to geological questions. Puzzled by the geological structures he discovered in mountain ranges, long before computer-models were available, he constructed a machine to simulate the mountain-forming process...
