Earth & Sky

Who came up with the idea of the twenty-four hour day?

Where did the term “dog days of summer” come from?

Some say cicadas sound like a tin can in a blender.

Grab an umbrella if a “waterspout” strikes your town.

Ever have that sinking feeling?

Bzzzzz. Slap! ITCH. Scratch. Sound familiar?

How do bees replace their queens?

It seems like a crow can use only one eye at a time …

Why are moths drawn to light?

Just thinking about food can get your digestive organs going …

Slurp an icy cold drink and…YIKES!

The cat’s eye has evolved to detect movement.

A 2006 stddy found that 43 percent of Americans think food from cloned animals is unsafe to eat. Mark Walton of ViaGen, a Texas-based cloning company, shares his perspective.

The sun has been implicated by some in driving climate change over the past few decades. But Caspar Ammann of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder speaks of evidence that the sun is not to blame for a warming Earth.

Shark expert “Dr. Hammerhead” follows hammerhead sharks on their ‘superhighways’ in the sea, starting at the Galapagos islands.

Scientists have been testing robots they say could take exploration of the moon and planets to a new level.

According to the CDCP, 16 percent of U.S. children (over 9 million) between the ages of 6 and 19 are overweight or obese. Christina Economos studies childhood obsesity, and she says the problem is getting worse.

Bees began disappearing from commercial hives in the U.S. two years ago. In 2007, beekeepers lost 37 percent of their colonies. Honey bees are still leaving their hives and not returning. And scientists still aren’t sure why.

A boy from Laos wonders how long we – or our descendants – might live. An MIT biologist responds, and talks about new research that could help extend our lifespan.

“We know little about sharks in general…and these are the sharks that live a long way down in the ocean.” An Australian shark expert says that there are 600 species of deep sea sharks, and they’re in trouble.

Hear Jonathan Samet, an air pollution expert who’s worked in Beijing for 15 years, talk about how poor air quality might affect Olympic athletes.

If you’re at the right place on Earth on August 1, 2008, you can watch one of nature’s grandest spectacles: a total eclipse of the sun.

Hear Nick Bostrom, director of the Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford University talk about transhumanism — the belief that human life will be radically enhanced in the future.

The Hinode mission is going to tell us much about how the atmosphere of the sun is produced and how it evolves, says solar physicist George Doschek. Hear more about Hinode, a space observatory pointed at our sun.