A Moment of Science

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Firefly Mating Signals Mar 20, 2020

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Firefly flashes are actually mating signals. Male fireflies cruise the evening air, flashing their lanterns in a pattern characteristic of their species, looking for females of their own kind.

The Ancestry Of Arctic Sled Dogs Mar 19, 2020

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Dogs and their closest wild relatives, wolves, both came to North America from Eurasia. The earliest dogs in the Americas were introduced at least ten thousand years ago.

Curds And Whey Mar 18, 2020

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Everyone knows the children's rhyme about Miss Muffet eating curds and whey, but what exactly are curds and whey? Let's find out, on today's Moment of Science.

Koalas Have Sensitive Stomachs Mar 17, 2020

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Koalas are such picky eaters that sometimes that won't even eat species of eucalypt that aren't their preferred choice. This preference stems from the fact that their stomachs simply can't handle it.

A Magical Glow? Mar 16, 2020

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Have you ever wondered why fluorescent colors like the ones you see in highlighers or clothing dyes seem so much brighter than other colors? It's because they seem to reflect more light than they receive.

Stormy Solar Weather Mar 11, 2020

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When thunderstorms are strong enough, they can knock over trees and cause large blackouts. Solar storms, however, make blackouts from thunderstorms seem like nothing. If a major solar storm hit the U.S., we'd have to worry about blackouts all over the place.

Sea Urchin Teeth Mar 10, 2020

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Sea urchins are small, furry, and sometimes colorful. They usually don't bite humans, but they do have really sharp teeth that researchers learned sharpen themselves.

The Benefits Of Communicating In Person Mar 09, 2020

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It is very easy to ignore requests made via email, while similar requests made in person are met with understanding. All of this has to do with psychology. Email lacks the verbal cues and body languages that signify trustworthiness.

How Butterflies Found A Place In The Sun Mar 06, 2020

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Winter mornings can be drab, which is why many people look forward to birds and butterflies returning in spring. Butterflies are good at brightening the day. It sems fitting, since they evolved from the drab moth when they moved into the daytime over 200 million years ago.

Springs In The Cafeteria Mar 05, 2020

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You're in a line at a cafeteria. You take a plate off the top of a stack of plates. The other plates in the stack rise from below just far enough to present the next plate at the same height as the one you just took. This system reflects a general principle of springs: if you put twice as much force on a spring, it compresses, or stretches, twice as far.

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