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Tag Archives: topstories

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

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

Here comes Swarmageddon!

By Sid Perkins / May 12, 2013

Two adult cicadas size each other up on a wooden railing. Credit: rbmiles/iStockphoto

This spring and summer, trillions of cicadas will emerge in the eastern United States

Posted in Animals | Tagged animal behavior, brood, Brood II, Bug Appétit, Cicada-licious, cicadas, College Park; John Cooley, entomologist, entomophagy, evolutionary biologist, feature, Insectarium, Janet Raloff, Michael Raupp, parasites, periodical cicadas, topstories, University of Connecticut in Storrs; nymphs, University of Maryland

Blending in

By Eric Niiler / May 10, 2013

Can you spot the cuttlefish? A common European cuttlefish camouflages itself on the seafloor. Credit: Justine Allen

Engineers take a lesson from nature’s masters of disguise

Posted in Animals, Technology & Engineering | Tagged 3-D TV, Andrea Toa, Baltimore County, camouflage, Cape Cod, cephalopod, chromatophore, cuttlefish, Doryteuthis pealeii, electronic skin, feature, flounder, holographic games, John Rogers, light detector, light sensor, Lydia Mathger, mantis shrimp, Marine Biological Laboratory, MBL, medical imaging, mega TVs, octopus, opsin, predator, Rice University, Richard Baraniuk, Roger Hanlon, Sepia officinalis, squid, submarine, three dimensional TV, Tom Cronin, topstories, University of California San Diego, University of Illinois, University of Maryland, visual pigment, Woods Hole

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

Inspired medical research

By Kellyn Betts / May 7, 2013

Teens make real advances in biomedical science

Posted in Body & Health, Young Scientists | Tagged Academy for Medical Science Technology, Akshay Padmanabha, albumin, biomedical research, biopsy, Brittany Michelle Wenger, Brittany Wenger, cancer, College Preparatory School, Computational Neurodynamics Laboratory, Emory University, feature, finalist, fine needle aspiration, Greenwich High School, Houston High School, Intel, Intel Science Talent Search, Jack Ryan Takahashi, Jack Takahashi, Jennifer Chan, Kelly Xinyi Zhang, Kelly Zhang, Lynbrook High School, medicine, microbial fuel cell, Milton High School, nanobot, neural network, Out-of-Door Academy, polymer, pulmonary hypertension, Raja Selvakumar, seizure, Society for Science & the Public, Stanford University, Stephen Adam Le Breton, Stephen Le Breton, STS, tamoxifen, teeth, tic, tooth enamel, topstories, University of Memphis, University of the Pacific

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

‘Print’ almost anything

By Stephen Ornes / April 28, 2013

Caption: For Valentine’s Day this year, a Japanese company used a 3-D printer to produce chocolate copies of people’s faces. Credit: FabCafe/Think 3D/K’s Design Lab

3-D printers allow people to build almost anything they can imagine — from toys to food, buildings to body parts

Posted in Technology & Engineering | Tagged 3-D inks, 3-D printer, 3-D printing, additive manufacturing, artificial heart, August Rodin, Barack Obama, Cambridge, Cody R. Wilson, Cornell University, diabetes, engineering, ESA, European Space Agency, Fashion Week, feature, guns, Harvard University, Ibrahim Ozbolat, Industrial Revolution, insulin, Iris van Herpen, Ithaca, Jennifer Lewis, King Richard III, Loughborough University, makers, manufacturing, Mars base, moon base, NASA, pancreas, printed food, Richard Harris, sintering, space architecture, State of the Union, topstories, University of Iowa, University of Leicester

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

Science on the South Lawn

By Sid Perkins / April 25, 2013

The White House hosts scores of student researchers

Posted in Young Scientists | Tagged algae, biofuels, Brittany Wenger, Broadcom MASTERS, Caleb Meyer, Earth Day, Easton LaChappelle, feature, herbicide, Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, Intel Science Talent Search, Jack Andraka, Jessika Baral, Mabel Wheeler, Megan Waples, Naethan Mundkur, pancreatic cancer, President Barack Obama, Sara Volz, Society for Science & the Public (SSP), topstories, White House, White House Science Fair

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