Shows / A Moment of Science
A Moment of Science
A Moment of Science is a daily audio podcast, public radio program and video series providing the scientific story behind some of life's most perplexing mysteries.
Episodes
- A Moment of Science
Cows have their own personal preferences
Cows, like people, have preferences, and those preferences impact behavior, especially when it comes to grazing.
- A Moment of Science
Are you recollecting or reconstructing?
We all assume that we remember things that have happened to us with great accuracy--after all, we were there!
- A Moment of Science
Camouflage isn't perfect
There are a few camouflage survival strategies, but there's no perfect solution to blend into the background.
- A Moment of Science
A trip to the beach with Earth's largest marine reptile
In 2020 amateur fossil hunter Justin Reynolds and his eleven year old daughter Ruby were walking along a beach near their home in Somerset, England when Ruby…
- A Moment of Science
Our brains and confirmation bias
Learn about confirmation bias with a simple experiment
- A Moment of Science
You've gotta have hearts
Octopuses have three hearts, each one crucial to maintaining the robust blood pressure that allows them to be active hunters and powerful swimmers.
- A Moment of Science
Take a look at that: The eyes of the Opiliones
Spiders have eight eyes, horseshoe crabs have ten, and, daddy longlegs only have two. Or do they?
- A Moment of Science
What not to do with your microwave
Microwave ovens are wonderful, revolutionary cooking devices. But there are some things that you cannot, or should not, do with microwaves.
- A Moment of Science
Eggcellent equipment, eggcellent results
Egg whites are often touted as a health food, filled with more proteins than fat-rich yolks. Surprisingly, though, those proteins are also the secret to some…
- A Moment of Science
What are anacondas really like?
Hollywood's version of the snake in the movie "Anaconda" was pure fantasy--a 100 foot long giant with an appetite for B-movie actors
- A Moment of Science
Working memory and math anxiety
Does doing math make you anxious? A Moment of Science has more on why that might be.
- A Moment of Science
Are dragon myths based in reality?
There are stories and myths about dragons from everywhere--from Europe to China to Australia to the Americas. Couldn't there be some reality behind the myth?
- A Moment of Science
'Cause I eats me spinach
If you want to get strong, you're supposed to eat spinach like Popeye. But how powerful is that leafy green really?
- A Moment of Science
Hyenas once stalked the Arctic
We know from ancient skeletal remains that around one million years ago, hyenas of the Chasmaporthetes genus prowled the US and Mexico. But they also stalked…
- A Moment of Science
Anecdotes vs statistics: Who do you believe?
Let's say that ninety percent of the people who take a certain drug report that it works like a charm, but you know one person who says it didn't work. Would…
- A Moment of Science
What makes our ears pop?
When traveling by plane what makes our ears pop, and what is it exactly that pops?
- A Moment of Science
That's no plum: Meet the purple tomato
A team of scientists have created the Purple Tomato, featuring skin of deep amethyst, like a plum, and insides a vivid violet. But why would they want to?
- A Moment of Science
When a sweet tooth meets a numb tongue
In an ideal universe you could scarf carton-loads of super vanilla swirl ice cream every night after dinner without remorse. In the real world, however…
- A Moment of Science
The giant penguin discovered on a field trip
What was your favorite field trip as a kid? The zoo? The modern art museum? For a group of New Zealand students, it’d be hard to beat one memorable excursion…
- A Moment of Science
The false underwater city of Zakynthos
In shallow water off the Greek Island Zakynthos, you can see what appears to be the remains of an ancient city. But is it really?
- A Moment of Science
Scales, feathers, and fur, oh my!
Mammals, birds, and reptiles are so different from one another. How could they all evolve from a common ancestor?
- A Moment of Science
Do dogs know the names of their favorite toys?
Have you ever wondered whether your dog understands at least some of what you say to them? Scientists have too.
- A Moment of Science
What happens when good bananas go bad
You find a perfect, yellow banana in the store, but the next day at home it has brown spots. What happened?
- A Moment of Science
Why does Diet Coke float?
Here's an at-home experiment you can try: take a can of "classic" Coca-Cola and a can of Diet Coke, and without opening either one submerge them in water.
- A Moment of Science
Cue the laugh track: Why hyenas giggle and guffaw
These polka-dotted predators are no laughing matter. Learn all about hyenas with A Moment of Science.
- A Moment of Science
Packing for your desert trip
Everyone knows that white reflects heat and black absorbs it. Does that mean you shouldn't wear black though?
- A Moment of Science
Does soda rot your teeth?
There's an urban legend that teeth dissolve in a glass of soda. How harmful is it really?
- A Moment of Science
What's it like on Mercury?
The great astronomer Carl Sagan used to say that if he were transported anywhere in the solar system he would know which planet he was on just by looking…
- A Moment of Science
Why don't adults get ear aches?
The typical toddler averages about four ear aches per year. But when's the last time you had an ear infection?
- A Moment of Science
Is there an easy way to make diamonds?
Diamonds are only occasionally brought to the surface. But because carbon is plentiful, science fiction, such as Neal Stephenson’s novel The Diamond Age, has…
- A Moment of Science
When grey goo attacks
Some nanotechnology theorists and science fiction aficiondos imagine a more ominous possibility. What if one of these tiny robots were given the ability to…
- A Moment of Science
Hungry porpoises may find dinner at hole foods
It’s dinnertime in the North Sea, and you’re a hungry porpoise. Sadly, there’s no oceanic grocery store. What’s a famished sea creature to do?
- A Moment of Science
Pigeons have their own superstitions
Would you be surprised to learn that human beings aren't the only animals to behave superstitiously? The psychologist B.F. Skinner showed that you can even…
- A Moment of Science
How do clouds float?
One thing we at A Moment of Science love is having the opportunity to explain the science behind things you see every day in the world around you.
- A Moment of Science
The phenomenon of long colds
One infamous feature of COVID-19 is the phenomenon of “long COVID.” Researchers hadn’t previously looked for long persisting forms of colds or the flu.
- A Moment of Science
Do ants drown every time it rains?
Ants must have a variety of survival strategies. How do ground-nesting ants cope with rain?
- A Moment of Science
Which came first: the woodpecker or the fungus?
Set aside the question about the chicken and the egg, what about the woodpecker and tree fungus?
- A Moment of Science
The benefits of a walkable neighborhood
It makes sense that if you live in a neighborhood where you can walk to places to do errands and such, that would be good for your health.
- A Moment of Science
Stay balanced with your center of gravity
Everyone has a center of gravity. Every object has one, too. It’s the point in our body where all weight is evenly balanced.
- A Moment of Science
You have a bacterial cloud following you around
Pigpen's condition might seem a bit farfetched, but scientists are finding that we might all be more like Pigpen than we imagine. Only, instead of dust, we…
- A Moment of Science
Growing up with your taste preferences
Our lifelong food preferences are largely shaped by the foods we're exposed to early on in childhood.
- A Moment of Science
What makes you see the man in the moon?
Pareidolia is a term from psychology that refers to the tendency in people to perceive a meaningful pattern in a vague stimulus.
- A Moment of Science
What's the autokinetic effect?
"Auto" means "self" and kinetic means "motion." When you see a tiny point of light moving, it's often because you are moving yourself--or, rather, your eye is.
- A Moment of Science
Even rats can be pessimistic
Ever notice when you're having a bad day it always seems to get that much worse?
- A Moment of Science
New Caledonian crows can infer weight
If you see an object blowing down the street, you will infer that it is light. That will be your conclusion even if you can’t determine what the object is.
- A Moment of Science
Why do our eyes get puffy when we cry?
When you cry for emotional reasons, your eyes act differently. So what happens next?
- A Moment of Science
Immune cells and the struggle against aging
Aging is a complex process involving accumulating damage to the cellular mechanisms of life. Anti-aging researchers want to understand and combat this process…
- A Moment of Science
Color-changing monkeys
A species of howler monkey isn't dying its fur, but they are changing color.
- A Moment of Science
The spider that gives milk
Cows and humans aren't the only ones who produce milk. There are also some insects and spiders that produce a milk-like substance to feed their young.
- A Moment of Science
Queen of the drowned: Bumblebees that can survive a week underwater
When water leaked into containers of dormant queen bumblebees, the scientists assumed they’d need to hold a state funeral. But amazingly, the regal insects…
- A Moment of Science
Climate change is making insects eat more crops
Scientists are saying that as the climate warms and temperatures rise, we might lose more crops to insects.
- A Moment of Science
Pandas always know what's for dinner
These days, pandas have bamboo for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. But that wasn't always the case.
- A Moment of Science
Emotion differentiation makes you less angry
Although we all get angry at times, for some people anger turns to aggression, while for others it doesn’t. The reasons for this have to do with how we…