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Huddling Rats

Rats huddle together when it's cold. When it's warm, they separate. And when the temperature is moderate, rats in a group sort of cycle between the snug, toasty center of the huddle and the colder periphery. Read More »

Recent Audio Podcasts

Why Our Eyes Get Puffy When We Cry

When you've been crying, it's written all over your face. Your eyes get swollen and puffy. Tears from crying are the very same ones that keep our eyes moist and comfortable, and wash out bits of dust and debris.

One day, probably sooner than we like to think, oil production will peak. Then, gasoline prices will go not merely through the roof but up and away into unimagined heights.

How do wind farm developers know exactly where to put the turbines? the simple answer is that wind farms are built in places where the wind is strong and steady.

For a long time, anecdotes and urban legends have connected the experience of stress with the phenomenon of hair going gray. Scientists have now discovered that stress activates nerves that are part of the fight-or-flight response. This actually causes permanent damage to pigment-regenerating stem cells in the hair follicles.

A stormquake happens when a hurricane or other strong storm triggers an unusual type of seismic event beneath the ocean, in the shallow area known as the continental shelf.

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A Moment of Science Blog

The Invention Of Cities: Part 2

lovers gazing into each others eyes on a beach

The Invention Of Cities: Part 2

Çatalhöyük's long period of excavation and its wealth of well-preserved artifacts and archaeological remains has made it an indispensable source of data about human prehistory.

There are innumerable points of significant change in over 100,000 years of human history, but arguably the most important period of all occurred in just the last 10,000.

Around 10,000 years ago, humans first domesticated plants and animals, started living in fixed, urban areas called cities, and organized themselves into complex societies.