Author Archives: agnieszka

The marsh-dwelling star-nosed mole likes fast food — really fast food. Researchers from Tennessee’s Vanderbilt University have recently discovered that the nearly blind, burrowing creature can eat faster than any other mammal on earth. Using a high-speed video camera, biologists … Continue reading →

It takes stuff to make stuff, and you might be surprised at how much stuff it really takes. John C. Ryan and Alan Thein Durning, in their book Stuff: The Secret Lives of Everyday Things, explore the hidden history and … Continue reading →

What happens when you have a lot of stuff, but happen to live in Tokyo, Japan, one of the most crowded cities in the world, where rents are high and apartments are tiny? You end up with a home that … Continue reading →

Now that we know that the birds called coots can count (see story on page 8), ornithological experts from all over the globe are trying to identify other hitherto unknown avian talents. One of the most dedicated researchers is Professor … Continue reading →

Sometimes it’s hard to read a face and guess what someone is thinking. (See “Deception Detection” on page 8.) But reading a dog’s face can be even harder, so we’ve turned to eminent psychologist Cosmo A. Mastiff, Ph.D. (Dog of … Continue reading →

If you’ve ever watched a police drama or a crime movie, you’ve probably seen someone hooked up to a polygraph machine, a device that’s used to test whether someone is telling the truth. The machine tracks and graphs body functions … Continue reading →

How good are you at face reading? Good enough to tell when someone is lying? Paul Ekman, a psychologist who has studied faces and emotions for decades, writes in his book Emotions Revealed that most of us can recognize the … Continue reading →

Isn’t it nice to sleep under the stars? How about sleeping under a quilt of stars instead? Judy Ross, a 68-year-old retired teacher and astronomy enthusiast, has produced this colorful quilt featuring some of her favorite images recorded by the … Continue reading →