Over the past week, I've spent approximately 16 hours on airplanes. Naturally, in the tedium of being trapped inside one, I became curious how they worked. I mean, I know there's something about aerodynamics and lift and something else, but somehow this giant hollow bullet with wings is able to fly safely and smoothly across an ocean, despite weighing quite a lot, so there must be some p... »
Clara Lazen has an honor that few 10-year-olds share: she is a co-author on a scientific paper, and the discoverer of a molecule new to science. And it all started because of a 5-grade class assignment at Border Star Montessori School in Kansas City, Missouri. Kenneth Boehr, Lazen’s teacher, had given the class a project: with modeling kits, try to build some molecules. Usually, given this a... »
I recently got a smartphone for the first time, and, of course, now have the capability to do apps. Of these, my favorite so far have been the Project Noah and the Galaxy Zoo applications. Project Noah allows me to take pictures of animals and plants I see around me, upload them to the site, and identify them, for two purposes. One, I can figure out what the native wildlife is where I live, and tw... »
Today is Valentine’s Day, or for those without a romantic partner, Single’s Awareness Day. However, Laci Green suggests a different use for Valentine’s Day: instead of focusing on others, maybe it’s a day, just like every other, to celebrate life and love yourself. Laci Green is self-described as “ an uber skeptical social science geek who gets off on critical thinkin... »
Today, February 12, marks the 203th birthday of Charles Darwin. His landmark work, On the Origin of Species, revolutionized biology, and the scientific view of how the diversity of life that exists today came into being, by proposing the idea that, according to common legend, Thomas Henry Huxley, a contemporary of Darwin’s, first read it, he asked how he didn’t see it first, it seemed ... »
Suspension of Disbelief is a weekly feature, in which we review movies, books, TV shows, and other popular culture for the skeptical teen. Series Title: The Legend of Beka Cooper Books: Terrier, Bloodhound, and Mastiff Genre: Young adult fiction, Fantasy Author: Tamora Pierce »
Asexual. Defined as a person who does not experience sexual attraction. It seems like a simple enough concept, yet there are a million myths and misconceptions about asexuality, going from amusingly wrong to offensive and creepy. To help dispel some of these myths, though, it helps to understand better the components of a sexual orientation. Most people understand the sexual preference spectrum: y... »
The Higgs Boson. The “God particle”. This elementary particle is one of the most popular discussions of physics in the mainstream media, which is impressive, since the existence of the Higgs boson is still in question. But what exactly is the Higgs boson? Why is it called the God particle? Why is it some important that one of the major goals of the Large Hadron Collider, in Geneva, is ... »
