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
An amphibian mother feeds her offspring with 'milk'
Human mothers secrete milk to feed their babies. So do other mammals. Biologists now know that many other kinds of animal mothers also secrete milk-like…
- A Moment of Science
Cultured fruit flies
Fruit flies might not have manners when they invade your home, but they do have culture.
- A Moment of Science
The ocean's fish need more clean water
Making their way through polluted water, fish become disoriented, as sights, smells, and sounds crowd the waters. Chemical and noise pollution, and reduced…
- A Moment of Science
Putting science on display at the Great Exhibition of 1851
These days, you can hear about self-driving cars when you turn on the news, or you can browse store shelves for high-tech gadgets. But in the mid-nineteenth…
- A Moment of Science
Would you drink this?
Would you drink a mixture of acetaldehyde, ethyl acetate, acetone, acetic acid, and a few of the compounds known as hexenals, which give fresh-cut grass is…
- A Moment of Science
Schools of fish are silent swimmers
Swimming in a school has a lot of benefits for fish, from social opportunities to avoiding predators to finding more food.
- A Moment of Science
Orangutans talk about the past
Researchers have heard orangutans make the noise after the danger has passed—a sign that they’re communicating about the past, and the first evidence that…
- A Moment of Science
Making an egg-cellent cake
Craving dessert? Today’s episode considers some particularly sweet science: the importance of eggs for baking a cake.
- A Moment of Science
Giving a gull a break
It’s a tough world out there, so really, what’s a gull to do?
- A Moment of Science
It's not just the heat, it's the humidity
If the air temperature gets close to our body temperature, something more is needed to keep the skin cooler than the inner body. We sweat.
- A Moment of Science
Coprophagy keeps birds healthy
By human standards, some animals’ eating habits are strange, and even disgusting. One example is coprophagy—eating poop.
- A Moment of Science
How to see what soap does to water
Water molecules attract each other. The molecules at the surface of a body of water make a film under tension. That film is strong enough to support a needle…
- A Moment of Science
Your friendly Amazonian slingshot spider
Researchers reported that they discovered a tiny spider in the Peruvian Amazon rain forest that has a behavior that’s surprisingly similar to the web-slinging…
- A Moment of Science
Reflecting on how others see you
One mirror is not enough to see yourself as others see you. When you look at a bathroom mirror you see an image of yourself with left and right reversed.
- A Moment of Science
The fault that runs through Scotland
If you look at a map of Scotland, you may notice a line cutting straight through the country. This line, called the Great Glen Fault, is the result of a long…
- A Moment of Science
Why does cotton wrinkle?
A cool, dry cotton fiber springs back after being bent. A warm, damp cotton fiber doesn't. Moisture and temperature make the difference.
- A Moment of Science
A tarantula with the blues
Blue jays, poison dart frogs, and peacocks—each of these animals is distinct for their same vibrant color. But have you ever seen a blue spider?
- A Moment of Science
When is yellow really yellow?
Why a mix of red light and green light looks yellow, in this Moment of Science.
- A Moment of Science
Male mammals aren't always bigger than females
Evolutionary biologists thought it was a general rule among mammals that males are bigger, but that's not always the case.
- A Moment of Science
Robert Hook found a surprise in cork
The 17th-century English physicist Robert Hooke was curious about the remarkable properties of cork -- its ability to float, its springy quality, its…
- A Moment of Science
A summer night mystery: heat lightning
One of the more mysterious pleasures of a warm summer evening is the spectacle of lightning from distant thunderstorms, flickering silently on the horizon…
- A Moment of Science
Why one rotten apple can spoil the barrel
Learn about the role that ethylene plays in ripening fruit with today's A Moment of Science
- A Moment of Science
Speedy snails
Over the past 100,000 years, a snail species has done what it normally takes a species millions of years to do: give live birth.
- A Moment of Science
Rediscovered in a museum drawer
The distant past is poorly known, and paleontologists find fossil evidence for new large animals all the time.
- A Moment of Science
The fruit that grows on trees, literally
Jabuticaba is a fruit native to Brazil. It’s the size and color of a plum, with a white pulp and several seeds
- A Moment of Science
What makes dreams so hard to remember?
Perhaps you’ve heard that the average person dreams four to six times each night. But did you know that most of us are unable to recall 90% of our dreams?
- A Moment of Science
Otter heroes with a secret mission
The carefree southern sea otters of central California’s coast have had a secret mission: working to fight the devastating loss of kelp forests due to…
- A Moment of Science
What animals will thrive in the next century?
Researchers used statistical tools to forecast which characteristics the animals of the future will likely have.
- A Moment of Science
Parenting styles and telomeres
Research suggests there's a link between parenting styles and health effects later in life
- A Moment of Science
Saved by the boil
As any aficionado will tell you, water can be just as important as the tea leaves themselves when it comes to a good brew.
- A Moment of Science
Why are glass bottles different colors?
If the color of the bottles was significant enough to control how they’re recycled, then surely the color was more than cosmetic. So what's the reason why wine…
- A Moment of Science
The future of New Zealand's birds
Because of the isolation, New Zealand has evolved a unique set of animals dominated by abundant bird species found nowhere else.
- A Moment of Science
A matter of preference
Exposure to music, art, and architecture can have a formative impact on our sense of self.
- A Moment of Science
Humans aren't unique when it comes to fingerprints
Fingerprints might be unique to one person, but they aren't unique to one species.
- A Moment of Science
The starch difference
Have you ever made rice that was perfectly fluffy and then the next day, taken it out of the fridge only to find it hard and crumbly?
- A Moment of Science
How do our organs heal themselves?
Normally, when tissue gets injured, cells start replicating and make new tissue. But what about the heart?
- A Moment of Science
Benjamin Franklin and his fabric swatches in the snow
In a letter written in 1761, Benjamin Franklin tells how he collected some little squares of broadcloth. Franklin wanted to demonstrate that these colors would…
- A Moment of Science
Extremophiles go to the ends of the Earth and thrive there
Just like Goldilocks, humans have searched for a place that's "just right" to live in. That's not the same for all species, though.
- A Moment of Science
Colors and their opposites, with paint
We usually think of paint as a substance that adds color to things. But, from a physical point of view, paint works by taking colors away.
- A Moment of Science
Why do people grunt when playing tennis?
Tennis players are known for the loud grunts they make during a game. Why do they do it?
- A Moment of Science
Could being a dog person be in your genes?
In 2019 a team of Swedish and British scientists published a study claiming that whether we chose to own a dog may be influenced by our genes.
- A Moment of Science
Graphene and faster computer chips
Physicists are searching for new materials with better semiconductor properties so that computers can continue to improve.
- A Moment of Science
Where the sky isn't blue
We just covered why the sky is blue, but there are a few areas without color above us.
- A Moment of Science
What makes the sky blue?
It can't be the atmosphere, or dust, or water droplets. So what makes the sky blue?
- A Moment of Science
Temperature: A key variable in making the perfect cup of coffee
Water temperature is a major element of quality control in making coffee. Why exactly is temperature important?
- A Moment of Science
A rattlesnake's rattling trick
Rattlesnakes modulate their rattling frequency to trick other animals into thinking the distance between them is shorter than it really is.
- A Moment of Science
Cud-chewing monkeys
Proboscis monkeys from Borneo and cows do have something in common: they both chew their cuds.
- A Moment of Science
Rain in this desert is deadly
The Atacama Desert in Northern Chile is the driest desert on Earth. The only life there is microbial, and researchers study it to get an idea of what we might…
- A Moment of Science
What inspired the Lorax?
One study proposes that this “sort of a man” described as “shortish, and oldish, and brownish and mossy” could have been inspired by the patas monkey.
- A Moment of Science
"Terror beasts" of the early Cambrian
Paleontologists constantly search for new species of fossilized creatures from the distant past to expand our understanding of the history of life on Earth.
- A Moment of Science
How do mosquitoes find us?
Mosquitoes always seem to find us, no matter how hard we try to get away. How do they do it?
- A Moment of Science
Rain on the rear window
The next time you're driving during a rain shower, glance back at the rear window. You'll notice that while raindrops batter the front windshield, they seem to…
- A Moment of Science
A giant bee, rediscovered
Megachile pluto, commonly called “Wallace’s giant bee” is the world’s largest bee. And perhaps its most elusive.
- A Moment of Science
Do you start your day with tea or coffee?
Do you prefer the jolt of coffee or a more gentle start to your day with tea?
- A Moment of Science
When every day is opposite day for your organs
Situs inversus totalis means that all the organs, blood vessels, and nerves in the chest and abdomen are flipped to the opposite side.
- A Moment of Science
Why do square waves happen?
Normally you’d just see waves coming in parallel to the shore. But what if there were also waves moving perpendicular to the shore?
- A Moment of Science
Humans have been hanging out with cats for almost 10,000 years
A grave in Cyprus from 7500 BC shows a furry feline and human owner buried together. It’s the oldest known site of a tame cat.
- A Moment of Science
Genetic mutation and pain
Did you know it’s possible to have a gene mutation that really does make bumping into furniture or even getting surgery totally painless?