Not Seeing Sunspots
The sun’s next cycle is off to a slow start, say researchers at the National Solar Observatory in Tucson. This short news article for kids is adapted from a Science News article by Ron Cowen.
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Drugs with Bad Vibes
Question: Which has the biggest impact on global warming: A coal-fired power plant, 1,000,000 cars, or the global total of inhaled anesthetics – those dreamy drugs that knock you out for surgery? This show from the Loh Down on Science has the answer. It aired July 11. Image credit: NCI / Linda Bartlett (photographer)
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Tsunami, from the sky
The tsunami that struck Japan shook up the atmosphere, too. It caused airglow ripples that chased the giant waves across the Pacific; scientists in Hawaii caught photos of the fleeing waves. I wrote a short article for Science News for Kids about this finding; my snapshot was based on an original article by Alex Witze.
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Tibetan singing bowls
Tibetan singing bowls, ancient instruments used for meditation, can be manipulated to produce droplets that levitate, bounce and skip across water. When one adds water to a Tibetan singing bowl and plays – often by tracing the edge with a mallet – the bowl’s haunting sound is accompanied by ripples on the water’s surface. That’s because
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Gut Instinct
For every cell in your brain, bones, organs and blood, there are 10 bacteria. They’re not going anywhere, so you might as well get used to them. Bacteria can be helpful: Some live in the intestines and aid with digestion. They can also be harmful: Some bacteria cause serious disease. And some bacteria can be
Germy weather
Some people see hail; others see opportunity. I wrote a short snap for Science News for Kids about what a researcher found inside hailstones. Read it here. It was based on a longer Science News article by Janet Raloff.
Natural Storytellers
I wrote an essay and a handful of blog entries for the New Haven Review, which showcases writing about New Haven or by New Haven writers. This piece was about the raw narrative talents of a man who lived on William Street, a few houses down from our apartment. Read it here. My other pieces
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Wormy underground
Scientists have discovered a new kind of nematode living in three-quarters of a mile underground in a gold mine in South Africa. If worms can survive in extreme underground environments, then perhaps similar life exists deep beneath the surface of other planets. I wrote this snapshot news article for Science News for Kids; it’s adapted
Spotless Mice Minds
Neuroscientists from Johns Hopkins found a way to permanently wipe some memories from mouse minds. I wrote this script for the Loh Down on Science. Listen here.
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Turning math into money
Mathematician Richard Hamilton was named a co-winner of the 2011 Shaw Prize for Mathematical Sciences. The honor comes with a $500K check. Hamilton is best known as the architect of the Ricci flow, a mathematical process that formed the foundation of Grisha Perelman’s 2006 proof of the Poincaré conjecture. Perelman turned down the Fields medal
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