The Maryland Science Center would like to wish all of our friends a very happy New Year! Please be safe tonight and we look forward to seeing you in 2010! Also keep an eye out for the Blue Moon this evening. When two full moons happen in the same month, the second is called the [...]
Archive for December, 2009
Happy New Year!
Thursday, December 31st, 2009What does your cat reeeaallly do all day?
Wednesday, December 30th, 2009It’s likely that you’d guess…catnapping. Surprisingly if you did, you’d be wrong! “Cat cams” — a small digital camera apparatus that attaches to the collar — provided a sneak peak at a day in the life of our unsupervised furry friends. Fifty housecats were outfitted with the small gadget and then left at home to [...]
The Tiniest Snowman…Ever.
Thursday, December 24th, 2009Who said scientists lacked a sense of humor? Keeping in tune with the holiday spirit, one decided to partake in a long-standing winter tradition, nano style. David Cox, a scientist in the Quantum Detection Group at the National Physical Laboratory in the UK, has built the world’s smallest snowman. Cox did not use snow and [...]
A snowflake of another shape
Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009With the mountains of snow piled up around here after our record-breaking blizzard, it’s hard to imagine that each little flake is so tiny and so intricate. Snowflake shapes and myths have captured the imagination of children, grown up children and even scientists. Scientists have always known that snowflakes are hexagonal (six-sided) but for hundreds [...]
Happy Anniversary, Wright Brothers!
Thursday, December 17th, 2009Around this time of year, everyone is pretty engrossed in the holiday happenings; last minute shopping, decorating the tree, attending parties. Let’s take a break from that for a moment and appreciate a truly historic day! Orville and Wilbur Wright were brothers, bicycle shop operators, inventors and aviation pioneers. On December 17, 1903, after three [...]
Handy Octopuses Surprise Scientists
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009**disclaimer** There has been much fuss about the correct plural form of octopus and it varies based on which dictionary you reference (and whether you’re going for Greek or Latin root) so for this blog entry, I will use “octopuses” as the original publication did. Don’t yell at me. Thank you kindly. Until recently, invertebrates [...]
Pandas: The Unintentional Vegetarians?
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009“No thank you, I’d rather not try the steak. I’ll stick with my usual bamboo.” This is quite possibly what pandas would say at mealtime if they could talk. Is it because pandas are averse to the Atkins Diet? Or perhaps they are avid PETA members? According to scientists in China, the answer is far [...]
Ho Hos and Heroin…more in common than you might think!
Tuesday, December 1st, 2009Ok well maybe that’s a little extreme but scientists have found a link between the effects of junk food consumption and the effects of heroin (and other drugs) on the brain. Scientist Paul Johnson and his team wanted to understand how parts of the brain play a role in obesity and addiction. We’ve all experienced [...]