Thanksgiving Science: Why You Really Can't Blame the Bird

As you gear up for Thanksgiving, everyone normally pictures something along these lines: Indulge in a big meal centered on a turkey prepared to your liking, move things to the couch and watch football while you eat dessert and then start nodding off before the 7:30 game even kicks off. It's not breaking news that catching the holiday bug can be exhausting, but blaming your afternoon nap on the turkey is all wrong, say scientists.

NBC News reports that sure, turkey contains tryptophan, an amino acid that produces the brain chemical serotonin, known to cause calm and sleepiness. But the amount of tryptophan in turkey is extremely small, and other amino acids commonly in the Thanksgiving meal actually block tryptophan's entry to the brain!

Scientists say that the infamous Thanksgiving nap has more to do with missing out on sleep, drinking alcohol and working hard to digest the carb-loaded meal than it does the turkey. So turkeys everywhere urge you: stop blaming your lazy afternoon and casual post-meal nap on the them.

For more bites of Thanksgiving science to chew on, including how science "built" a better turkey and how science created a better balloon, check out NBC News.

Halloween Experiment: Haunted, Screaming Cup!

If you think haunted houses are scary, you're definitely going to want to make haunted drinkware tonight! If you'd rather scare than be scared, invite some friends over and get them spooked by making the cup scream where they can't see it!

Here's what you'll need:

• A plastic drinking cup
• Yarn or cotton string (nylon string won't work as well)
• 1 paper clip
• 1 paper towel
• 1 nail
• Scissors 
• Water

Not let's get started!

1. Cut a piece of yarn that measures about 20 inches.
2. Carefully punch a hole in the center of the bottom of the cup with the nail.
3. Tie one end of the yarn to the middle of the paper clip.
4. Push the other end of the yarn through the hole you punched in the bottom of the cup and pull it through.
5. Get a piece of paper towel about the size of a dollar bill. Fold it once and get it damp in the water.
6. Now it's time to make the cup scream! Hold the cup firmly in one hand and wrap the damp paper towel around the string near the cup. While you squeeze the string, pull down in one continuous motion so that the paper towel tightly slides along the string.

What about the science? This is how a sounding board works. The vibrations from the string would practically be mute without the cup, but when you add the cup, it spreads the vibrations and amplifies them.

Check out Science Bob's video of this experiment. Here, he pulls the string in short jerks to make it sound like a chicken.

Economic Stimulus Package Advances Science

Though the economic stimulus didn't do much for those actually suffering during the recession, it did pave the way for some great memories in the field of science. When scientists look back on the Great Recession, they'll think of better solar panel technology, a move toward an HIV vaccine and a hive of robotic bees.

As Katie Worth of Slate reports, those are just some of the advances that were made when the government started pumping megabucks into science while trying to reverse an economic downturn at the beginning of 2009. 

Of the $800 billion in stimulus funds, one third of it tried to create jobs and invest in infrastructure and innovation by funding shovel-ready projects - or in the case of science, microscope-ready projects. This led The National Science Foundation to the purchase of a long-wanted Arctic research vessel. NASA spent around $160 million designing a next-generation crewed space shuttle. Close to every research university in America scored new lab equipment. The cancer genome was expanded and electric cars were improved.

For all the scientific projects that lacked validation, there were others that would benefit the country in the long run: The world's largest photovoltaic solar plant and wind farm were financed. Research tested new treatment strategies for Alzheimer's disease.

All of the stimulus grant money had to be spent by Sept. 30, and any unspent money had to be returned to the government. Of course there were a handful of exceptions.

So now that the stimulus money has been put to use, the question remains: Did it stimulate? If you ask the government, they'll say yes. The main goal of the stimulus was to create jobs and it certainly did that.

The stimulus also silently spurred advances in science and healthcare. The agencies and organizations that received and dished out the funds say that the results speak for themselves. The National Institutes for Health (NIH), for example, received more than $10 billion and developed new strategies for the treatment of alcoholism, better approaches to fight childhood obesity and a new national database for autism research just to name a few. Even better, the stimulus money and extra projects created more jobs within NIH.

Though it's up for speculation, it's important to note that had the projects not been funded by the government through the stimulus, it's possible they wouldn't have been funded for quite a while.

To check out some of the projects that angered conservatives (like the measuring of duck genitalia, a study on how men feel about condoms and a different study that gave cocaine to monkeys) check out Worth's full report. Here you can also find commentary from experts and other projects that advanced the science realm. 

Discover the Microscopic World!

You have a microscope and you've gone through the basics and know how to use it, but you don't have a lot of stuff to examine - or so you think. You'd be surprised at the the number of things just laying around your house that become fascinating specimen when magnified and explored through the lens of your microscope. Here are some of our favorite suggestions:

1. Fibers: Pull out a few individual fibers from different fabrics like cotton, nylon, rayon, silk, wool, etc. Place them one-by-one on the center of a slide and add a drop of water and a cover slip. Examine each fiber under different light and objective settings to see what you discover.
2. Hair: Noticing the differences in hairs can be one of the coolest things to do with your microscope. Examine different types of hair - naturally curly, permanently waved, blonde, brown, red, grey, etc. Check out the difference when the hair is void of oils after dipping your specimen strand in alcohol or soapy water. Compare human hair to that of other mammals.
3. Paper: Place the torn edge of a piece of paper under the microscope. Light it from above with a flashlight or lamp and then focus in on the torn edge. What do you see? Compare different types of paper.
4. Crystals: Place a few crystals of table salt (NaCl) or sugar on a slide and view after adjusting for the best illumination. (Remember: too much light will not reveal much detail.) Slip a piece of black paper beneath the crystals and use side lighting from a lamp or flashlight. What do the crystals look like now?
5. Currency: Examine a dollar bill under various magnifications of the microscope. Compare the fine detail of the engraving process to that of paper play money. We took a look at some currency ourselves - take a look at our picture above!
6. Colored Pictures: Look at a colored postcard or picture from a magazine. What are you surprised to see?
7. Pond Water: Stationary water like pond water is always one of the favorite sources of microscopic organisms for many people. You will find some incredible changes in the kinds of organisms present over several weeks or months.

For lesson plans and more formal activities that you can do with your microscope, click here.

Kitchen Experiment: Magic Ketchup

What would your little minds think if you told them that they could make a pack of ketchup float and sink at their command while it was sealed inside a one liter bottle? I know, they'd tell you that that was impossible! Lucky for you, you can work with them to prove them wrong and teach them a little about buoyancy and density in the process. Sounds like a win-win to me.

So let's get started! Here's what you'll need:

• 1 liter plastic bottle
• Ketchup packet from a fast food restaurant
• Salt (using Kosher salt will keep your water from become foggy)

Here's what you'll do:

1. Remove all labels from the plastic bottle and fill it to the top with water.
2. Add the ketchup pack to the bottle.
3. If the ketchup packet floats, you're ready to move on to step four. If the ketchup packet doesn't float and starts to sink, skip to step five.
4. For the floating ketchup packet, simply screw the cap on the bottle and squeeze the sides of the bottle hard. If the ketchup sinks when you squeeze it and floats when you release it, you're in business and ready to show off your magical powers! If it doesn't sink when  you squeeze the bottle, try a different ketchup packet or a mustard or soy sauce packet.
5. If the ketchup packet sunk when you put it in the bottle, add around 3 tbsp. of salt to the bottle and shake it until the salt dissolves.
6. Continuing adding sale a few tablespoons at a time until the ketchup packet is just barely floating at the top.
7. Once it's consistently floating, make sure the bottle is filled to the top with water and then cap it tightly.
8. Now squeeze the bottle. The magic ketchup should sink when you squeeze the bottle and float up when you release it. If you get really good, you can get it to stop in the middle of the bottle!

So how does it work? What' behind the magic? This entire experiment revolves around two things: buoyancy and density. Buoyancy describes whether objects float or sink and density deals with the amount of mass in an object. Adding salt to the water adjusted its density and got the ketchup packet to float. There is a little bubble inside of the ketchup packet and, since we know bubbles float, this bubble is what keeps the packet from sinking. But when you squeeze the bottle, you put pressure on the packet that results in  the bubble getting smaller and the packet becoming more dense. Thus, it sinks. When you release the pressure the bubble expands, the packet becomes less dense and more buoyant and floats back to the top.

To take this experiment to the next level, try answering these questions:

1. Do different food packets (ketchup, mustard, soy sauce, relish, mayo, etc.) have the same density?
2. Does the temperature of the water affect the density of the ketchup packet?
3. Does the size of the bottle affect how much you have to squeeze to get the packet to sink?

Zombies & STEM: Coming to a Classroom Near You

Photo courtesy of STEM Behind Hollywood

When all else fails, turn to the undead, right? For many teachers trying to boost student interest in STEM, that's exactly right. Thanks to a new program created by the National Academy of Science and Texas Instruments, teachers now have STEM lessons based on zombies, superheroes, space and forensics to present to their middle and high school students. It looks like the undead could be exactly what the suffering subjects need to bring them back to life.

I know what you're thinking: the concept is too far-fetched to work. Maybe not. STEM Behind Hollywood begins their four-part activity with zombies and a hypothetical virus infecting humans. As reported in Forbes last week, in the part of the activity, students can observe a zombie's behavior and deduce that something is wrong with the cerebellum, the part of the brain that controls walking. From there, they can work to understand how a healthy brain works and reverse engineer a zombie brain.

STEM Behind Hollywood is hoping for what all STEM initiatives have hoped for in recent years: a boost in curiosity and excitement about STEM careers. The Department of Labor estimates a 17 percent jump in these fields by 2018, so the fact that teen interest among them is declining is hard to hear.

Nonetheless, the new program seems to be staggering in the right direction. STEM Behind Hollywood is available to teachers and students on a free TI-Nspire software trial, but those who purchased the graphing calculator get the software included at no extra charge. There's also an iPad app.

After going live on Aug. 8, the program has already seen 2,300 downloads and the zombie program is underway to go live later this fall with other developed themes. Texas Instruments is in works to extend the program through 2014.

To read more about the program, what else is our there like it and to see commentary from the president of Texas Instruments and educators implementing STEM Behind Hollywood in their classroom, check out Emily Canal's full report. 

Research Shows Men & Women Do See Things Differently

We all know men and women think differently. Who's judgement is normally better - well, that's up for debate. Nonetheless, recent research suggests that opposite genders really do see things differently - particularly when it comes to colors.  In this month's issue of Headline Discoveries, Joe Giacobello reported that women are better at distinguishing among subtle color differences, while men have greater sensitivity to fine detail and rapidly moving, distant objects.

So let's get down right brainy. Scientists say that there are high concentrations of androgen - the male sex hormone receptors - in the visual cortex of the brain, which is responsible for processing images and explains their sensitivity. 

When it comes to knowing colors, women are who you want to talk to. Isreal Abramov and his research team at CUNY's Brooklyn College conducted a series of visual tests on men and women at both the high school and college level. Among other things, Abramov and his team found that women detected tiny differences between yellows that looked the same to men.

So why do men and women see differently. Can it really all be attributed to hormones in the brain? Not exactly. As stated in Headline Discoveries, a possible, but highly speculative explanation for why the sexes see different is for evolutionary advantages. Back in the hunter-gatherer societies, the males needed to see predators or prey in the distance while women had to detect subtle color differences while scouring for edible plants. An interesting perspective id we do say so ourselves.

To read the full article and to check out follow up questions that can be used for classroom discussion, click here.

STEM Interest Among Teens Declining?

CBS News reported yesterday that STEM interest among teens is actually declining. This may seem strange given the economy's current state and the difficulty finding a job many members of the younger generation are facing, but experts at the Partnership for a New American Economy project say that there will be a shortfall of 230,000 qualified advanced-degree STEM workers by 2018.

At a time when most buzz about STEM and the initiatives in place to make it more exciting and relevant in today's schools is positive, this comes as a total downer. As stated in the CBS News report, the Partnership for a New American Economy project's Junior Achievement USA and ING U.S. Foundation teamed up to survey 1,025 teens about their career plans. This is the 12th year that they have conducted the survey, and nearly half of the students ranked STEM and medical-related fields as their top choice. Forty-six percent sounds encouraging, but that is a 15 percent decline from the 2012 survey, when 61 percent of students considered STEM their top choice.

So what's happening? Where is the disconnect between efforts being made to make STEM the go-to choice for student interest and actual student interest? Are U.S. students just simply more interested in other fields than they are STEM fields?

As CBS explains, regardless of whether there is a shortage, the first step in developing a deeper American talent pool is bolstering student interest in STEM fields. The question now: how are we going to do that?

It appears we may to go back to the drawing board, reevaluate current initiatives and efforts and implement some changes.

Check out the full CBS News report for detailed commentary on the topic and more information.

Telling Whiskeys Apart Scientifically

PopSci reported earlier today that food science researchers at the University of California at Davis have been studying different whiskies to determine whether they can tell them apart, scientifically. Though determining the difference between a Scotch and Irish whiskey isn't as easy as determining the difference between Scottish and American English accents, the university's research director Thomas Collins explained today at the American Chemical Society's annual meeting that they're well on their way.

As reported by PopSci, Collins said, "Right now, we can do a pretty good job of separating, for example, Scotch whiskies from bourbons and other American whiskeys and also Canadian and Irish whiskeys. When you narrow it down into whiskeys from a particular region, the process gets a little more difficult because they're more similar to each other," Collins explained during the talk which was recorded by the American Chemical Society. 

In the future, Collins hopes that he and his team can relay to distillers best practices that make for the best whiskey. Right now, distinguishing one whiskey from another is all about chemical reactions! The major chemicals that Collins' team uses to tell whiskeys apart include some that come from grain, some from the fermentation process and some from the wood barrel in which whiskey ages.

To find out how many concentrated chemicals are used to determine any two given whiskeys from one another or to figure out how many whiskeys Collins and his team analyzed, read the full PopSci report.

'Science' Moving on Up as Most Important School Subject

There's good news for all you science lovers out there: a new Gallup poll finds that three times as many Americans now say science is the most valuable school subject (MVS) than did so more than a decade ago. As reported by LiveScience on Mashable, science bumped out history for the third spot behind No. 1 math and No. 2 language arts as the school subject that has been most valuable to Americans' lives. This is exciting news!

In the new Gallup poll conducted earlier this month (Aug. 7-11), 12 percent of respondents mentioned "science/physics/biology" as the MVS. In the same poll conducted in 2002, a mere 4 percent felt the same way.

Interestingly enough, it appears that education and gender played a part in affecting people's answers. Respondents who had high levels of education were less likely to choose math as the MVS. Likewise, men were more apt than women to give math the top spot - 40 percent versus 28 percent, respectively. Men were also more likely than women to choose science as most valuable.

The poll results are based on phone interviews with a random sample of 2,059 Americans, ages 18 and over, from all 50 U.S. states and Washington D.C. Results were weighted so they were nationally representative. Further, respondents were allowed to look back at their entire education when gauging the value of subjects, including elementary all the way through postgraduate school.

For more information on the poll results and to see specific excerpts and statements from the Galllup statement, check out the Mashable article. The importance of science is making a name for itself and we're moving in the right direction!