A Moment of Science

What exactly was Little Miss Muffet eating?

Hinzugefügt: 12. Januar 2024

Little Miss Muffet, sat on her tuffet, eating her curds and whey. But what even is that?

Vampire bats are good at sharing

Hinzugefügt: 11. Januar 2024

It may surprise you to learn that vampire bats are one of the most well-known examples of sharing in the animal kingdom.

Testing your reaction time

Hinzugefügt: 10. Januar 2024

How fast are your reflexes? Test them out with a falling dollar.

Why don't elephants get cancer?

Hinzugefügt: 9. Januar 2024

Since elephants are so big, they have way more cells than most animals. Which means more opportunities for elephant cells to go crazy and become cancerous. So why don't they get cancer?

What events actually make us happy?

Hinzugefügt: 8. Januar 2024

Major events often make people happy, but does this last very long?

Desert ants navigate with the magnetic field

Hinzugefügt: 5. Januar 2024

When ants first leave their nest to begin their jobs as foragers, they first have to make sure they can find their way home.

Life thrives in the seabed of hydrothermal vents

Hinzugefügt: 4. Januar 2024

From stories of giant monsters to little green Martians, we humans can imagine some pretty strange creatures. Life, however, offers plenty of surprises here on Earth.

Moths are evolving to avoid city lights

Hinzugefügt: 3. Januar 2024

Moths are a lot less attracted to artificial light than they used to be. Learn more about what that means with today's A Moment of Science!

Recognizing different relatives

Hinzugefügt: 2. Januar 2024

Other animals besides humans learn to recognize their relatives

Jellyfish thrive in cold water, too

Hinzugefügt: 1. Januar 2024

Jellyfish, delicate and soft as they may be, thrive even in places you might not go swimming—including the Arctic.

Mona Lisa's smile: now you see it, now you don't

Hinzugefügt: 29. Dezember 2023

Any list of the world's top ten most famous paintings will surely include da Vinci's "Mona Lisa." Part of the painting's appeal is its mystery.

Rethinking dopamine

Hinzugefügt: 28. Dezember 2023

Scientists are now considering the role that dopamine plays in our bodies’ response to other stimuli, such as surprising, new, or negative events.

The sensitivity of dog noses

Hinzugefügt: 27. Dezember 2023

Did you know that dog’s noses can be tens of thousands of times more sensitive than ours?

The curious case of microbial invasion

Hinzugefügt: 26. Dezember 2023

‘Biological invasion’ is a phenomenon that occurs when a foreign organism establishes within a community of organisms that it otherwise wouldn’t be associated with.

What's the difference between hair and fur?

Hinzugefügt: 25. Dezember 2023

Hair and fur are practically identical. How can that be?

Bees have figured out some sweet, sweet math

Hinzugefügt: 22. Dezember 2023

When you think of beehive, your first thought may be of honey oozing out of the iconic hexagonal cells. Remarkable as the honey may be, though, the cells themselves are just as interesting.

Making a new mouth for every meal

Hinzugefügt: 21. Dezember 2023

Microscopic hydras will trap and paralyze their prey. The next step usually is to stuff their mouths, only hydras usually don't have mouths.

DNA and RNA in a genetic museum

Hinzugefügt: 20. Dezember 2023

When it comes to researching extinct animals the focus has almost entirely been on DNA because it tends to stand the test of time better, but RNA is the real secret to understanding how animal’s...

How cockroaches get away

Hinzugefügt: 19. Dezember 2023

The all-too-familiar American cockroach almost seems to know where you're going to strike. What's the tip-off that sends the cockroach running?

Seeing color out of the corner of your eye

Hinzugefügt: 18. Dezember 2023

If you look at a green door at the edge of your field of vision, it's still green. Simple right? Not quite.