科学美国人60秒 SSS Nobel in Physiology or Medicine to Yoshinori Ohsumi for Autophagy Discoveries

The 2016 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine goes to Yoshinori Ohsumi of Japan for his discoveries of mechanisms of whats known as autophagy. Break the word down and you get auto and phagy: from the Greek for self, auto, and eating, phagein. So, se

科学美国人60秒 SSS Feed Microbes Oxygen to Help Clear Spilled Oil

On June 3rd, a train loaded with highly volatile crude oil derailed just outside the small town of Mosier in Oregons Columbia River Valley. More than 40,000 gallons of crude spilled out of the train. Some burned away in a 14-hour long fire at the sce

科学美国人60秒 SSS Future Wet Suits Otter Be Warmer

Whales, seals and walruses stay warm in chilly water because they have a thick layer of blubber. We humans rely on something like blubberneoprene rubber wet suitsto spend time in cold water. But the thick versions for really icy water are heavy and u

科学美国人60秒 SSS Gender Influences Recommendations for Science Jobs

As in many other fields, gender bias pervades the sciences. Men score higher starting salaries, have more mentoring, and have better odds of being hired. Studies show theyre also perceived as more competent than women in STEM fields. And new research

科学美国人60秒 SSS Nobel in Chemistry for Molecular Machines

This years Nobel Prize in Chemistry is about the worlds smallest machines. G?ran Hansson, secretary general of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, earlier this morning. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the 2016 Nobel Priz

科学美国人60秒 SSS Great Migration Left Genetic Legacy

Its called the Great Migrationthe journey of some six million African-Americans from the rural south to northern and western cities between 1910 and 1970. The cultural impact of the Great Migration has been well documented. But researchers have also

科学美国人60秒 SSS Nobel in Physics for Secrets of Exotic Matter

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics with one half to David J. Thouless and the other half to F. Duncan Haldane and J. Michael Kosterlitz for theoretical discoveries of topological phase transitio

科学美国人60秒 SSS Arctic Pollinator Faces Uncertain Future

The Greenland High Arctic is a bare, sparse place. Rather than tall trees, it has tundraground hugging vegetationand rugged, Lord-of-the-Rings-style vistas. Well I don't know, it's not exactly New Zealand, but kind of similar landscape. Mikko Tiusane

科学美国人60秒 SSS Water Bears' Super Survival Skills Give Up Secrets

Forget cockroaches. Forget Superman. Forget any other tough-as-nails creatures youve ever heard of. The most indestructible multicellular organisms on Earth are undoubtedly tardigradesmicroscopic eight-legged aquatic invertebrates also known as water

科学美国人60秒 SSS Breast-Feeding Benefits Babies with Genetic Asthma Risk

Babies benefit from breast-feedingthey have a lower risk of infections, vomiting and diarrhea and less of a chance of later developing adult onset diabetes. And now a study finds that being breast-fed helps protect infants who are genetically predisp

科学美国人60秒 SSS Self-Driving Cars Probably Won't Boost Commuter Productivity

Advocates for self-driving cars love to tout the benefits the cars would bring, such as fewer accidents and less congestion. Another alleged value of being a passenger rather than a driver is more productivityyou could work rather than concentrate on

科学美国人60秒 SSS New Insecticide Makes Mosquitoes Pop

It's bad enough that mosquitoes suck our blood, and sometimes pass on disease. But there's more. They can actually give you a disease and pee on you at the same time. Adding insult to injury if you will. Jerod Denton, a pharmacologist at Vanderbilt U

科学美国人60秒 SSS Stopping Splashes with Smarter Surfaces

When you spill a liquid on the ground, it splashes. But if youre a guy using a urinal, or, more important, if the liquid is dangerous, say, an infected blood sample, you want to limit splashing. In other words: If an accident happens, you want the dr

科学美国人60秒 SSS Dogs Teach Bomb-Sniffing Machines New Tricks

Old Yeller was a great smeller. Dogs in general have superior smelling abilities. They detect dead bodies, illegal drugs and explosiveseven cancer. But dogs don't just have great olfactory gear. Another reason they're amazing chemical detectors? [sni

科学美国人60秒 SSS ＂Power Poses＂ Don't Stand Up

Perhaps youve seen the famous TED talk about so-called power poses. It encouraged viewers to change the course of their lives by assuming what are thought of as dominant postures. So you make yourself big, you stretch out, you take up space. You're b

科学美国人60秒 SSS Some Malaria Mosquitoes May Prefer Cows to Us

As you've probably experienced firsthand, some mosquito species have a real taste for warm, human blood. So much so that if you raise them on it the lab, they'll accept no substitute. Fortunately, I don't get major reactions at all. Brad Main is a mo

科学美国人60秒 SSS Ancient Biblical Scroll Gets Read While Wrapped

In the 1970s, researchers unearthing an ancient synagogue at Ein Gedi, near the Dead Sea, discovered the structures Holy Arkthe container in which early Jews would have stored the Bible as they prayed. The site was home to a large Jewish community fr

科学美国人60秒 SSS Remote Door Controls Are Car Security Flaw

Today's cars have loads of computer smarts built in. Like the chips that allow you, with the push of a button to unlock your car. And as new cars move down the assembly line, automakers program those functions into the car. They produce one car and t

科学美国人60秒 SSS Pigeon Pb Proxies Could Cut Kids' Blood Tests

Pigeons. Ever since humans established permanent agricultural settlements, weve lived side-by-side with the birdsor, as some people call them, rats with wings. They walk on our sidewalks, roost on our buildings, and eat our leftovers. But soon pigeon

科学美国人60秒 SSS Model Black Hole Re-Creates Stephen Hawking Prediction

Black holes got their name because light can't escape them, beyond a certain radiusthe event horizon. But in 1974 Stephen Hawking proposed that quantum effects at the event horizon might cause black holes to benot completely black. Hawking said that