60-Second Science

Scientific American
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Oct 19, 2016 • 3min

Poor Sleepers Worse at Recognizing Unfamiliar Faces

Subjects suffering insomnia got more wrong answers in a face-matching task—but they were paradoxically more confident of their responses. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Oct 18, 2016 • 3min

Yawns Help the Brain Keep Its Cool

Theory has it yawning helps cool the brain—and it turns out animals with bigger brains do indeed tend to yawn longer. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Oct 14, 2016 • 4min

Polar Bears Can't Just Switch to Terrestrial Food

With a shorter season of sea ice, polar bears have less access to marine mammals. But switching to a terrestrial diet deprives them of the fatty seal meals they need to thrive.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Oct 13, 2016 • 3min

Flowers Deceive Flies with Chemical Cocktail

The parachute flower smells like alarm pheromones of a honeybee, to attract tiny flies that feed on bees under attack. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Oct 12, 2016 • 3min

Feed Microbes Oxygen to Help Clear Spilled Oil

A technique called “biosparging” relies on pumping oxygen underground to help naturally occurring microorganisms multiply and consume oil spills.     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Oct 11, 2016 • 4min

Elephant Footprints Become Tiny Critter Havens

When rain fills the massive footprints left by elephants, communities of aquatic invertebrates quickly move in Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Oct 10, 2016 • 4min

Future Wet Suits Otter Be Warmer

Future wet suits with surface textures like the thick fur of otters that trap insulating air layers could keep tomorrow's divers warmer in icy waters.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Oct 6, 2016 • 3min

Gender Influences Recommendations for Science Jobs

Female applicants to postdoctoral positions in geosciences were nearly half as likely to receive excellent letters of recommendation, compared with their male counterparts. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Oct 5, 2016 • 4min

Nobel in Chemistry for Molecular Machines

Jean-Pierre Sauvage, James Fraser Stoddart and Bernard L. Feringa share the 2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the design and synthesis of molecular machines.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Oct 4, 2016 • 4min

Nobel in Physics for Secrets of Exotic Matter

David J. Thouless, F. Duncan Haldane and J. Michael Kosterlitz split the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics for theoretical discoveries of topological phase transitions and topological phases of matter.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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