June 1, 2011

A hook into ocean lore

By Ashley Yeager

May 19, 2011

Changing how students talk about science

By Ashley Yeager

College is where students practice being scientists and engineers. It's like riding a bike with training wheels.

But Cary Moskovitz, who directs Writing in the Disciplines at Duke, argues that if students are to learn to communicate science well, they need to practice writing like professional researchers. In other words, they need to lose the training wheels a lot sooner.

April 22, 2011

Sir Richard's Possible Folly

Moving animals, like the ring-tailed lemur, from one continent to another to save the species hasn't been done often and typically isn’t successful.

But that hasn't deterred businessman and adventure tycoon Sir Richard Branson from announcing plans to import 30 ring-tailed lemurs from global zoos to his private island of Moskito, located in the Caribbean.

March 22, 2011

A Seminar on the Science of Beer

They may have been Puritans, but beer was their choice of beverage to bring on a voyage to America.

Beer was safer than water because it had been boiled, not for safety, but to bring out bitterness, flavor and aroma. It’s one of a chain of processes that convert raw ingredients into the world’s most widely-consumed alcoholic beverage.

It turns out that beer requires a surprising amount of science.

January 25, 2011

Beyond the Circus of Science

P.T. Barnum, famous for devising scientific controversy for the sake of entertainment — such as arguing the existence of mermaids — would have enjoyed our present "debates" on climate change and evolution.

January 18, 2011

The Shadows of the Cosmos

Black holes are probably not afraid of their shadows. They'd swallow them if they could.

But it's still surprising to think that these cosmic garbage cans, and all other matter, can actually cast patterns of darkness on space -- shadows.

December 14, 2010

Have you seen the Milky Way's missing mass?

Our sun circles the center of our galaxy at roughly 5,000 miles per hour. Seems speedy, but it's nothing special. Nearly all the Milky Way’s stars orbit its center at the same speed.

“That’s wild,” totally different than the way the planets in our solar system orbit the sun at different speeds, said Duke mathematician Hubert Bray, during a Dec. 6 physics seminar.

November 12, 2010

The Gravity of Numbers

Gravity isn’t just for the physicists. The force, or at least the notion of it, actually influences how we interpret scientific data, so much so that when shown a donut chart, some people thought it might actually roll away, says Robert Kosara, a researcher at UNC Charlotte.

October 15, 2010

Lemur play is on solid ground

Unless it leads to sex, adult male primates usually aren't very playful. Except if they’re Silky sifakas.

September 21, 2010

Another Culture Developing in the Lab

Scientists, start your iPhones or Flip Cams, or whatever media device you’ve got.

Ira Flatow, the host of NPR’s Science Friday, has tasked you with becoming the next Neil deGrasse Tyson or Carl Sagan.