All Stories by Stephen Ornes
- Earth
Mornings become electric
Lightning packs a wallop in the morning. The most powerful lightning strikes in the continental United States usually peak before noon.
- Tech
‘Smart’ clothes generate electricity
Scientists in South Korea have developed a fabric that captures energy from its wearer’s motions and turns it into electricity.
- Physics
Science in Hollywood
Audiences are getting smarter, so the makers of movies, TV shows and video games are responding by enlisting scientists to make everything on screen appear even more authentic.
- Chemistry
Why metals have a blast in water
Alkali metals explode in water. Using high-speed cameras, scientists have finally figured out why.
- Brain
Scans show aging brains can leak
The blood-brain barrier gets leakier with age. That breakdown could contribute to memory problems.
- Fossils
Snakes may have slithered amongst Jurassic dinos
Newly analyzed fossils suggest snakes lived at the same time as the golden age of dinosaurs. These early snakes appear to have had flexible skulls and likely also had four small limbs.
- Physics
Sometimes light is not so fast
The speed of light is often called a “constant.” Experiments now show that light doesn't always reach its top speed.
- Computing
Don’t hold ’em – just fold ’em
Scientists have designed a problem-solving process that allows a computer to win at a kind of poker. It gives a computer enough knowledge to win against any opponent — eventually.
- Environment
Immunity: Environment can have big impact
A study on twins suggests that environmental factors can shape a person's immune system more than genes do.
- Health & Medicine
New germ fighter turns up in dirt
Scientists have found a compound in soil that can kill the microbes that cause anthrax, tuberculosis and other diseases.
- Microbes
Ongoing Ebola outbreak traced to hollow tree
Scientists suspect the current Ebola outbreak started with bats that lived in a hollow tree in Guinea. The outbreak's first victim, a two-year-old boy, often played in the tree.
- Animals
Bird DNA leads to strange family tree
Field guides often group birds together by similarities in appearance or behavior. But a new study, based on DNA, confirms earlier suspicions that such groupings are only skin-deep.
