Scientific American

Why Twisters Hammer Tornado Alley

Wed, 22 May 2013 17:01:00 EST

The tornado that devastated Moore , Okla., has now officially been placed into the highest category--5 on the so-called Enhanced Fujita Scale, meaning winds in excess of 320 kilometers-per-hour. Scientific American corresponded with meteorologist Harold Brooks, a senior scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, Okla.

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Google CEO s Condition Spotlights Vocal Cord Paralysis and Its Treatment

Wed, 22 May 2013 07:30:00 EST

When Google CEO Larry Page blogged about his struggles speaking and, at times, breathing last week on his Google+ page he spotlighted a rare condition, bilateral vocal cord paralysis , which leaves sufferers short of breath and with few viable treatment options. This is likely to change in coming years. Page has deep pockets and has promised to fund research into the disorder via the Voice Health Institute . In the meantime scientists are experimenting with electrical stimulation technologies to enhance existing voice therapy as well as surgical treatments. [More]

What Role Does Climate Change Play in Tornadoes?

Tue, 21 May 2013 12:31:00 EST

A powerful tornado as much as three-kilometers wide devastated the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore on May 20. The twister reportedly boasted winds above 300 kilometers-per-hour as it tore through homes and schools, leaving a path of large-scale destruction and killing dozens of people, including many children.

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Print, Aim and Shoot: What Does a Plastic Handgun Mean for the Future of 3-D Printing?

Fri, 10 May 2013 06:30:00 EST

A University of Texas at Austin law student has demonstrated to the world that any ambitious tinkerer can make a handgun almost entirely out of 3-D printed parts . Cody Wilson’s revelation is not likely to lead to an arsenal of plastic zip guns anytime soon, but it does raise a number of hairy questions about a technology that, until now, has been highly touted as central to the future of manufacturing in the U.S. [More]

When Will Smartglasses and Other Wearable Computers Hit the Mainstream?

Wed, 01 May 2013 11:30:00 EST

Google has stoked our collective imagination via relentless promotion of its Google Glass wearable computer in recent months. Thanks to a campaign of Web videos, trade show appearances and blog posts, the search giant has positioned its smartglasses as a hands-free augmented reality gadget that will allow us to share our personal experiences in real time, whether we are skydiving, skiing or handling snakes . [More]

Aftermath of Boston Marathon Bombing: How Do Terrorists Use Improvised Explosive Devices?

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 21:12:00 EST

The bombing near the finish line of the 117th Boston Marathon on Monday killed two and injured more than 100 people on site. Now comes the search for who planted and detonated the explosives, and the motive. [More]

Should the U.S. Take North Korea s Nuclear Threats Seriously?

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 06:30:00 EST

North Korea has been threatening its neighbor to the south as well as its U.S. ally with invasion and destruction for more than 60 years. Backed by China, the North made good on the first part of this promise in June 1950, sparking the Korean War . But for the most part the decades of hostile rhetoric since the 1953 armistice that ended the fighting have amounted to little more than minor skirmishes. It’s easy to dismiss North Korea’s latest round of pronunciations and posturing as more of the same, except for one important variation in the Kim Jung-un regime’s verbiage. This time around the threat is “thermonuclear” war, and it comes about two months after North Korea’s third nuclear test prompted the U.N. Security Council to pursue additional sanctions against the North. [More]

If Photons Have Zero Mass, How Can Black Holes Pull Them In? [Video]

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EST

Questions answered in this episode:

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How to Kick-Start Innovation with Free Data

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 08:00:00 EST

WASHINGTON, D.C.-- Government-funded projects have yielded a wealth of information , but much of this data has historically remained locked up in difficult-to-use form. To get this data to people who might start businesses with them, the Obama administration created the position of chief technology officer.

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Is Cancer Contagious? Could Hugo Chávez Have Been Deliberately Infected?

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 16:30:00 EST

Venezuelan officials announced this week that they would investigate whether enemies could have deliberately infected late President Hugo Chávez with cancer. Chávez died on March 5, apparently of a heart attack , after battling cancer for two years.

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How Does Science Determine the Edge of the Universe? [Video]

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 16:30:00 EST

Questions answered in this episode:

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NASA's "Mohawk Guy" Explains the Thrill of Exploring Mars

Sun, 17 Feb 2013 14:00:00 EST

WASHINGTON, D.C.--Not too many NASA engineers get to sit with the First Lady at the State of the Union address. But having an unusual haircut certainly doesn't hurt in getting you noticed, especially if you are the flight director for the Mars Curiosity mission. Bobak Ferdowsi, better known as Mohawk Guy, caught many people's attention, including that of Michelle Obama, when television cameras caught the 33-year-old in the control room as Curiosity made its spectacular landing last August 6, 2012.

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What Do We Know about the Russian Meteor?

Fri, 15 Feb 2013 16:40:00 EST

A surprise meteor strike over central Russia this morning lit up the skies, blew out windows on the ground and injured roughly 1,000 people in and around Chelyabinsk, a city of 1.1 million. The inbound object, thought to be a small asteroid, had not been discovered prior to impact. But already teams on the ground are reportedly collecting possible fragments of the meteorite, and researchers around the globe are scrambling to figure out what happened. Scientific American contacted Margaret Campbell-Brown , a professor in the Meteor Physics Group at the University of Western Ontario, to get the latest.

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What Does North Korea s Latest Nuclear Test Tell Us about Its Atomic Ambitions?

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 15:00:00 EST

North Korea’s latest underground nuclear weapons test Tuesday sends several messages to the international community, most of them unwelcome. For starters, this was the country’s third nuclear weapons demonstration and the first since Kim Jong-un took over in December 2011, indicating that Kim Jong-il’s successor has adopted his father’s confrontational approach to foreign relations. [More]

When Will the Internet Reach Its Limit (and How Do We Stop That from Happening)?

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 07:00:00 EST

The number of smartphones, tablets and other network-connected gadgets will outnumber humans by the end of the year. Perhaps more significantly, the faster and more powerful mobile devices hitting the market annually are producing and consuming content at unprecedented levels. Global mobile data grew 70 percent in 2012, according to a recent report from Cisco , which makes a lot of the gear that runs the Internet. Yet the capacity of the world’s networking infrastructure is finite, leaving many to wonder when we will hit the upper limit, and what to do when that happens. [More]

Why Hasn't the Whole Universe Collapsed into an Enormous Black Hole? [Video]

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 12:30:00 EST

Questions answered in this episode:

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Ask the Experts: Can Aging Be Controlled?

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 14:00:00 EST

Scientists have long thought that aging could be caused by molecular damage that accumulates in our bodies over the course of time. The damage is an unavoidable by-product of breathing oxygen and other metabolic processes that are necessary to life. Eventually, damaged cells stop working, or worse, adopt new functions that trigger cancerous growth or degrade important tissues in the brain, skin and other organs.

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Online Social Science: Can the Web Graduate from Digital Petri Dish to Virtual Laboratory?

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 14:00:00 EST

In many ways the Internet is the ultimate virtual laboratory. Social media and news sites tell the casual observer much about our priorities and interests, whether it's the grave prognosis of the U.S.'s ongoing "fiscal cliff" political negotiations or elation over England's royal pregnancy . Social scientists believe that, beyond such superficial revelations, the Internet can also be a tool for conducting expansive, yet inexpensive research experiments at unprecedented speed. [More]

Kate Middleton Is Pregnant and Has Hyperemesis Gravidarum What Is It?

Tue, 04 Dec 2012 16:22:00 EST

The happy news for the British monarchy is that Kate Middleton, the duchess of Cambridge, is with child--a potential heir to the throne. Sadly, the royal isn't having an easy go of her first pregnancy.

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How Serious Is the Fungal Meningitis Outbreak?

Thu, 11 Oct 2012 17:30:00 EST

The case count continues to climb as people contract a rare form of meningitis that produces strokelike symptoms. As of this posting, 14 patients have died and 156 others have fallen ill across 11 states . The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have traced the unusual outbreak to three lots of steroid medication injected into the spine to treat pain.

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