Greetings, Dear Readers.
Now, I understand given this is talkingscience.org, so there is an argument to be made that this blog post could be deemed “inappropriate” or “off topic.”  However,  recent events in the circus that is the American political world have injected me with what can only be described as an adrenaline rush equivalent of ridiculousness. So, given the thousands of universities that now offer political science as a major as my justification, as well as the fact that the Democrats are pro-science, I will now analyze for you the …

The perception in society is that today’s teenagers are more able than ever to take on the pressures of daily life and be successful, and for most of us, that seems to be the case. But what happens when this façade is lifted? A new study showed that five times as many high school and college students suffer from anxiety and other mental health issues as people of the same age did during the Great Depression. Five times! Five universities participated in the study, analyzing Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) …

Before continuing with the cosmic microwave background, I want to take a minute to talk about something slightly different, the learning and teaching of science. This week at Yale, we had Nobel Laureate Carl Wieman to visit, and he gave two great talks on research people have done on how students actually learn science. Professor Wieman has been applying scientific methods to scientific learning for some time now, and among other things, he writes a blog about it.
One of the more interesting conclusions is that the standard lecture format of …

The last post on thermal equilibrium was rather long and involved, so I will try and recap in briefer terms. The early universe was very hot, so that everything was in thermal equilibrium. In particular, because reactions were constantly taking place, the universe was strongly “ionized” or charged. Therefore, photons were constantly scattering off the charged particles.
Eventually the universe began expanding and cooling.* As it did so, the ions and free electrons “recombined” (during the time romantically referred to as the era or epoch of recombination) to form neutral atoms, …

In the 1940s and 50s, a few scientists (George Gamow, Ralph Alpher and Robert Herman among others) predicted the continued existence of the photons that last scattered in the very early universe. Theoretically, those photons had continued to travel through the universe, cooling as the universe expanded. The early theorists tried to predict what the temperature of these photons would now be (with varying degrees of success). These photons should be all over the place and hence providing a constant “background” to any antenna on earth. In addition, they should …

No one likes taking tests. Unless you are really well prepared and know the answers to all of the questions. And then it can be fun as an affirmation of your hard work, perseverance, and mastery of the material.
My first big, important, life-changing test occurred in the 8th grade. The DATs—tests to help you figure out what career you might be good at. Don’t remember what the “D” stood for. On this 6 part test, I scored in the 99th percentile in spatial relationships, mechanical thinking, …

The human eye may be only about the size of a ping-pong ball, but it is an amazingly complex sensory organ that requires all of its components to function properly in order for a person to have optimal vision. Each part of the eye works together with the others to process light rays into electrical impulses, or messages that are transmitted to the brain. The brain interprets this information and allows us to be aware of our surroundings. Our eyes and brain are able to capture and interpret millions of images a day, shaping our view of the world.

In 1953, Francis Crick and James Watson discovered the structure of the DNA molecule, the double helix. Their discovery led to many developments in the fields of forensic science and biotechnology and in the understanding of heredity and genetic diseases. The two high school seniors featured in this SciFri Vfideo were able to apply DNA extraction for a more practical application: to find out what really is in the food that we eat. In this activity, students will review and discuss the definition, function and importance of DNA.

Some microbes produce different types of gases as a byproduct of their metabolic processes. The microbes in this Science Friday Video released an odorless and flammable gas called methane. The type of gas or gases released by a microbe depends on the species and their metabolic characteristics. In this activity, students will conduct an experiment to observe the metabolic process of yeast by using household ingredients. Students will vary conditions in the yeast’s surrounding environment and observe the amount of gas that the yeast releases

Nanotechnology is the study of what happens when things get very, very small – only a few atoms in size. The word “nanometer” means one billionth of a meter, perhaps five or six atoms long. At the nanoscale, materials can have very different physical or chemical properties, even though they are the same. In particular, super thin films of material, only a few nanometers thick, can cause interference within light reflecting off them, resulting in beautiful displays of colors.