Driving through the Discovery Place parking deck one morning, I noticed a van had just hit a moth. Interested in identifying what type of moth had just suffered this unfortunate fate, I quickly parked and headed toward the scene of the “hit and run” with the intention of collecting the critter and getting it to my office. But as I approached, an uninvited guest swooped down and stole the object of my wonder, carrying it just out of my reach. As the thief started to peck vigorously at his prey my insect friend bounced in small arcs over and over in a brave attempt to escape. The attacker was not giving up easily though, doggedly pursuing the moth as I, wide eyed with wonder, marveled at the ancient predator vs. prey drama unfolding right before my eyes.

Finally, as the moth surrend Keep reading.

Back in 2000, Dr. C. Everett Koop said: “Except for smoking, obesity is now the number one preventable cause of death in this country. Three hundred thousand people die of obesity every year.” Childhood obesity is certainly a national concern. To address this science and health based issue, Discovery Place ScienceReach offers a popular program entitled: “You Are What You Eat” The program helps learners to make healthy and wise dietary choices. But how do we show the importance of nutrition with living things so that people can experience and observe it? How could I experiment with this idea? So this got me thinking …

Do organisms other than humans have to make “wise nutritional choices”? Specifically, do insects get fat?

It is always a good idea to learn what you can before you Keep reading.

What causes the electrical shock I receive when getting out of a car during the winter? --Vicello (age 36)

The shock you get when getting out of your car, particularly in the winter, is from static electricity. Static electricity often occurs whenever two dissimilar materials are rubbed together. When electrons, or the negative charge, are removed from one material and deposited on the other a static charge results. When you are in a car the seat is one material and your clothes are another when you move you create friction and build up a static charge. Once your body accumulates enough of a charge and then touches a good conductor, usually metal like the car door the charge quickly leaves you and you feel the shock.

The reason you feel this shock more in the winter than in the su Keep reading.

Every autumn we are captured by color. But is it only color? There is also form, contemplation of sequence and order in the world which capture us too. Looking from a distance at the edge of a pine tree or more closely at the margin of a leaf, you will notice an undulate (toothed, notched, or wave‑edged). Resin ducts or twigs, the mineral Halite (salt) and Galena (lead ore) are cubes. Needles, twigs, human fingers, are cylinders. Leaf and wood fibers are lattices, and the cells in wood, needles, and blood are spheres or spheroids. If the sun shines just right, the shadow of a tree forms a rough circle or ellipse on the forest floor. When you look at any living thing as a whole, it is a composite of many geometric shapes or patterns — the composite. Are we not also a part of the composite? Keep reading.

I would like to ask you a question that was given to us by our science teacher and I need your help. What skills will help me to be successful in high school and college science?
Thank you.
Kimberly

Dear Kimberly,

Thanks for contacting me with your question; by learning about science, all types of opportunities are open to you. When thinking about what it takes to be a successful scientist there are two things to always keep in mind. First off, scientists always ask questions about what they observe. Whether it is about the world they see, the books they read or the lectures they hear from teachers and professors, scientists always ask questions about how and why things work the way they do. Secondly, in science it is important to learn problem solving skills. This often means th Keep reading.