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A mind for math

By Stephen Ornes / May 19, 2013

A child’s talent for learning math may relate to the size and wiring of different parts of the brain. Credit: iStockphoto

A part of the brain associated with making memories may also predict success in learning math

Posted in Brain & Behavior | Tagged brain, brain scans, Carnegie Mellon University, cognitive science, Columbia, David Geary, getinvolved, hippocampus, IQ, Kaustubh Supekar, learning, math, mathematics, MRI, neuroscience, Palo Alto, Pittsburgh, Robert Siegler, Stanford University, topstories, University of Missouri

Flagging loose bolts

By Sid Perkins / May 16, 2013

Mei Kam (left), Mei Di Zhu (center) and Jia Ying Zhong (right) designed a “smart washer” that provides an alert when the nut holding the washer on a bolt comes loose. Credit: Patrick Thornton, SSP

“Smart alert washer” automatically flags when a nut is coming loose, warning of potential danger

Posted in Technology & Engineering, Young Scientists | Tagged accidents, bolt, China, Formula One, friction, getinvolved, Hong Kong, Intel, Intel ISEF, International Science and Engineering Fair, ISEF, Jia Ying Zhong, Mei Di Zhu, Mei Kam, nut, Sheng Keng Hui Li Ping Secondary School, spring, structures, washer

Pee is for power

By Sid Perkins / May 16, 2013

Adebola Duro-Aina (left), Oluwatoyin Faleke (center) and Zainab Bello (right) designed a system that uses urine to produce a fuel. Generators that run on this fuel, rather than gasoline, would avoid spewing carbon monoxide, a toxic pollutant. Credit: Patrick Thornton, SSP

The water in urine can be a source of hydrogen for electrical generators

Posted in Environment & Pollution, Young Scientists | Tagged Adebola Florish Duro-Aina, carbon monoxide, Doregos Private Academy, electric power, electrical generator, electricity generation, getinvolved, hydrogen, Intel ISEF, intelisef, International Science and Engineering Fair, ISEF, Lagos, Nigeria, Oluwatoyin Eunice Faleke, renewable energy, sustainability, urine, wastes to energy, Zainab Eniola Bello

Avoiding ‘hot’ wheels

By Sid Perkins / May 15, 2013

Phillipe Lothaller, a 17-year-old senior from Cape Town, South Africa, has invented a device that could save airlines big money by extending the life of tires. The metal device at left is an early mock-up of the design. A newer version (seen in white at center) has pop-up scoops instead of fixed ones. When retracted, the scoops don’t interfere with a plane’s protective wheel wells. Credit: Patrick Thornton, SSP

Teen designs device that could almost double the life of airplane tires

Posted in Technology & Engineering, Transportation, Young Scientists | Tagged airlines, Cape Town, delamination, getinvolved, Intel, Intel ISEF, intelisef, International Science and Engineering Fair, ISEF, Phillipe Lothaller, retread, Rondebosch Boys’ High School, South Africa; aircraft, tires, topstories

Light dancing on glass

By Stephen Ornes / May 15, 2013

This image, taken with a powerful microscope, shows tiny, individual crystals of bismuth telluride. A new structure made from this material lets light travel easily and without interruption along its surface. Credit: A13ean/Wikipedia

New type of material lets light travel across its surface without interruption

Posted in Light & Radiation, Physics, Technology & Engineering | Tagged conductor, Cornell University, crystal, electrons, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany, getinvolved, Haifa, insulator, Ithaca, Jacob Taylor, Joint Quantum Institute, light, materials science, Michal Lipson, Mordechai Segev, New York, photons, physics, superconductor, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, topological insulator, topology, University of Maryland

Honey’s hidden helper

By Stephen Ornes / May 9, 2013

A new study identified compounds in honey that help bees fight off germs. Credit: Jack Dykinga, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Bugwood.org

Scientists identify a substance in honey that helps bee bodies fight poisons

Posted in Animals | Tagged bee, colony collapse disorder, Dennis vanEngelsdorp, detox genes, entomology, gene, getinvolved, honey, honeybee, nectar, p-coumaric acid, pollen, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Maryland in College Park

American cannibals

By Stephen Ornes / May 8, 2013

Artists and scientists worked together to create this sculpture that shows what Jane, a colonial American, might have looked like. A study of the teen’s remains indicates she was cannibalized after she died. Credit: StudioEIS, Don Hurlbert/Smithsonian

Skull fragment suggests starving colonists may have eaten one of their own

Posted in Ancient Times | Tagged anthropology, archaeology, bones, cannibal, cannibalism, colonial, Douglas Owsley, forensics, getinvolved, history, hunger, James Horn, Jamestown, Jamestown Rediscovery Archaeological Project, shin, skull, Smithsonian Institution, starvation, topstories, William Kelso, Williamsburg

Motion in the ocean

By Stephen Ornes / May 3, 2013

Scientists say pulsing corals make their motion to bring in needed nutrients. Credit: M. Kremien et al/PNAS 2013

Scientists figure out why pulsing corals pulse

Posted in Animals | Tagged algae, animal behavior, Australian Institute of Marine Science, coral reef, corals, getinvolved, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Katharina Fabricius, marine ecology, Maya Kremien, nutrition, photosynthesis, reef ecology, xeniid

Perfect pacifier

By Stephen Ornes / May 1, 2013

A mother’s arms can calm a crying infant, say scientists. The tactic works for mice, too, only those mammals use their mouth to cradle their young. Credit: iStockphoto

In people and mice, carrying a baby calms it

Posted in Brain & Behavior | Tagged Adaptation, babies, behavior, calming, carrying, Eastern Virginia Medical School, evolution, getinvolved, Japan, John Harrington, Kumi Kuroda, mammals, mice, mothers, Norfolk, physiology, pups, Riken Brain Science Institute, topstories

New life for a used organ

By Stephen Ornes / April 26, 2013

A rat kidney was stripped of its cells and repopulated with human and rat cells. Researchers transplanted the organ into a rat, where it functioned to produce urine and filter impurities from blood. Credit: Ott Lab/Center for Regenerative Medicine/Massachusetts General Hospital

Scientists transplant a rebuilt kidney into a rat

Posted in Body & Health | Tagged bioengineering, blood vessels, dialysis, Edward Ross, extracellular matrix, getinvolved, Harald Ott, Harvard University, kidneys, nephrology, rats, topstories, transplantation, transplants, University of Florida, urine

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