A Moment of Science

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Are you recollecting or reconstructing?

We all assume that we remember things that have happened to us with great accuracy--after all, we were there! Read More »

Recent Audio Podcasts

Camouflage isn't perfect

A moth with brown patterns on its wings on a tree branch, partially blending in

There are a few camouflage survival strategies, but there's no perfect solution to blend into the background.

The fossilized remains of an icthyosaur suspended from a ceiling, looking down at museum visitors

In 2020 amateur fossil hunter Justin Reynolds and his eleven year old daughter Ruby were walking along a beach near their home in Somerset, England when Ruby spotted something interesting.

A stack of playing cards facedown on a wooden table

Learn about confirmation bias with a simple experiment.

An octopus with its tentacles against a glass surface

Octopuses have three hearts, each one crucial to maintaining the robust blood pressure that allows them to be active hunters and powerful swimmers.

An insect belonging to the Opiliones family, resembling a spider with thin legs

Spiders have eight eyes, horseshoe crabs have ten, and, daddy longlegs only have two. Or do they?

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A Moment of Science Blog

Aurora Borealis in the Midwest?

Have you noticed the northern lights have been traveling further south lately? You might even have a chance to see them again very soon!

A square diamond in between needles of a pine tree

Diamonds are only occasionally brought to the surface. But because carbon is plentiful, science fiction, such as Neal Stephenson’s novel The Diamond Age, has sometimes imagined a world where scientists find an easy way to make lots of diamond artificially.

The fibers of mycelium in mushrooms cover a large area

Today's Surprising Science looks at the emerging field of astromycology and how fungi might just hold the key to our space exploration efforts.

Carlo Bononi’s Incoronazione della Virgine

Our last Surprising Science took us out of this world to learn more about how scientists determine potentially habitable planets. Today, we’re back on Earth to look at how some of our smallest life forms are impacting the art world.