(23) results in Blog

November 4, 2015
Shake and quiver: Vibrational communication in animals
Living underground, moles experience a world very different from our own. The dark, subterranean environment lacks the usual cues for direction, distance, or time, forcing moles to use other methods to perceive their habitat. Using senses...

October 7, 2015
Happy Birthday Niels Bohr
Today, October 7th, marks the 130th anniversary of Niels Bohr’s birth. A pioneering physicist in the field of quantum theory, Bohr developed a theory of the atom where electrons traveled in specific orbits around the nucleus. He...

September 15, 2015
Image of the Week: Cat at the Edge of Space
The Yeung family cat (or rather, an image of the family cat) is seen at about 70,000 feet above Earth’s surface. ©Winston Yeung Two bright and determined young scientists, Kimberly and Rebecca Yeung, built a helium...

August 24, 2015
A self-cleaning leaf: the superhydrophobic Lotus
It might sound like an ad for a new product – the leaf that cleans itself!, waterproof!, 100% organic! – but the lotus plant (genus Nelumbo) really does have self-cleaning leaves. Or, more accurately, the lotus has...

July 27, 2015
A deadly passion: moths and their attraction to artificial light
Bee to the blossom, moth to the flame; Each to his passion …. ~Helen Hunt Jackson It’s a common saying – “like a moth to a flame” – which implies a strong, perhaps even dangerous attraction to...

May 5, 2015
2015 – The International Year of Light
Most of us rarely think about light since it is a constant presence in our lives – from the abundant rays of sunshine during a morning commute, to the bulbs that illuminate a darkened room...

March 19, 2015
The ecological jewel to our south: Environmental implications of normalized U.S.-Cuba relations
Satellite view of Cuba ©NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio The Obama Administration’s announced change in diplomatic relations with Cuba heralds the start of a new relationship between the Caribbean island nation and the U.S. Though...
November 19, 2014
Video of the Week: A Year in the Life of Earth’s Carbon Dioxide
Sometimes it is easy to forget we are all members of a unified environment on Earth and actions in one area affect many others. In this new NASA computer model, though, scientists provide a comprehensive understanding of how...

November 12, 2014
A smelly situation: Ginkgo biloba trees and the evolution of their dispersal
The fall foliage of a Ginkgo biloba tree ©Riosnestor In autumn, one of the prettiest trees to change colors, from a vivid green to a brilliant yellow, is the Ginkgo biloba. Along with this beautiful golden...

October 10, 2014
It’s not easy being blue (for plants)
Scientists have found tropical plants that perform “delayed greening,” a process of postponing the development of chlorophyll to protect young leaves from predators and potential UV damage. Interestingly, researchers have also found a few trees with blue...