A Moment of Science

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What Makes Hummingbird Feathers So Beautiful May 21, 2020

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If you've ever had a bird feeder, you've probably noticed how much more colorful hummingbirds are compared to other birds. So how are hummingbirds so colorful, anyway? What makes their feathers so special?

Why Do Wind Turbines Have Three Blades? May 20, 2020

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If you've ever driven by a wind farm, you may have noticed that the turbines most likely have three blades. Not two, not five, but three.

Iridescence As Camouflage May 15, 2020

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Some beetles have beautiful, shiny carapaces that look like metal, or a jewel. That shininess is called iridescence. It's caused when tiny structures in the carapace interfere with certain wavelengths of light, so that different colors are seen from different angles.

Making Love, Not War May 14, 2020

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Scientists have compared chimpanzee and bonobo brains and think their different behavior could be due to brain structure.

Sand Dunes Repel Each Other May 13, 2020

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Sand dunes are everywhere. They form deserts on Earth, Venus, Mars, and Saturn's moon Titan. They even form underwater on seafloors and riverbeds.

Does Money Make Us Happy? May 12, 2020

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Does money make us happy? The answer, according to psychologists, is both: up to a certain point money can buy happiness, so to speak.

Helpful Parrots May 07, 2020

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Humans are often quite willing to help one another, but it's not an exclusively human trait. Thanks to new research, scientists have learned that African grey parrots do, too, in some circumstances.

Do Flying Fish Actually Fly? May 06, 2020

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There are around sixty-four species of flying fish, and they really do fly.

The Oceans Are Warming May 01, 2020

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The world's oceans are like a sponge for heat, absorbing about 90 percent of the excess warming caused by carbon emissions from human activities. That would mean that measuring changes in the temperature of the oceans is an independent and critical measure of climate change.

Fossils Of The Future Apr 29, 2020

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Our era has a tentative name: the Anthropocene era. There’s debate over when it started, and whether we merit a new geological epoch at all, but some researchers argue that the future fossil record will clearly show both that a new epoch has begun and when it started.

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