Stars in the night sky appear as tiny points of light because they are too far away for your eyes to resolve. But even through powerful telescopes, stars still appear as mere points because they are too small to see their true physical size at vast distances. Now, a group of astronomers from over 20 different institutions has found a way to combine a unique telescope array with passing asteroids to measure the diameter of two distant stars, including the smallest star directly measured to da ...read more
A Swedish company called Emotra make a device to detect someone's risk of suicide based on measuring the body's autonomic responses to certain sounds. It's called EDOR®.
I've been blogging about this machine for the past 18 months (1, 2, 3) because such a product, if it worked, would be very important. It could help save countless lives. Unfortunately, I don't think EDOR® has been proven to be effective. As I've argued in my previous posts, the evidence just isn't there yet.
Now, i ...read more
Why don’t kids like math and science?
Based on my many years of teaching elementary math and science, I know that when kids are bored with these subjects, it’s usually because they don’t see the point of how these subjects could be useful or interesting in the context of their real lives. Kids want to apply their math and science skills to make things happen! One great way to help them do this and see the value of these subjects is to introduce the idea of citizen science. Cit ...read more
In Nebraska, scientists working for the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission are increasingly relying on casual researchers and citizen scientists to better understand three creatures in particular: spotted skunks, salamanders, and regal fritillary and monarch butterflies. Why? The populations of these species have either declined or are in jeopardy, and scientists want to get a current population count. Let's take a closer look at these three Nebraskan citizen science projects and what researcher ...read more
If you enjoy watching videos on the internet, you've likely already witnessed the phenomenon known as supercooling. Basically, the process involves taking ultra-pure water and putting it into a clean, smooth container that lacks any structural defects. If the conditions are right, when you attempt to freeze the water by dropping its temperature below 32 degrees Fahrenheit (0 degrees Celsius), it will surprisingly remain in a liquid state.
This is because in order for ice crystals ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine