4,009 results
4,009 results for: Dogs
- Humans
Letters from the December 23 & 30, 2006, issue of Science News
Playing dead is a lively topic I am amazed that “Why Play Dead?” (SN: 10/28/06, p. 280) concluded that “Scientists have a long way to go to explain why” prey animals play dead. As a veterinarian, I have learned that there are separate centers in the brain dealing with predatory behavior and with hunger. The […]
- Math
Algebra, Philosophy, and Fun
I don’t often encounter the words “philosophy” and “fun” right next to the term “algebra.” Nowadays, these words don’t seem to fit together comfortably. However, the three terms do appear in the title of an engaging little book called Philosophy and Fun of Algebra, written by Mary Everest Boole (1832–1916) and published in 1909. I […]
- Math
Fibonacci’s Chinese Calendar
In a book completed in the year 1202, mathematician Leonardo of Pisa (also known as Fibonacci) posed the following problem: How many pairs of rabbits will be produced in a year, beginning with a single pair, if every month each pair bears a new pair that becomes productive from the second month on? The total […]
- Math
Pursuing Pursuit Curves
A pursuit curve is the path an object takes when chasing another object. Such a path might result from a fox pursuing a rabbit or a missile seeking a moving target. This set of superimposed “snapshots” shows the lines of sight at regular intervals of four “bugs” chasing one another, all moving at the same […]
- Math
How Far Away?
As you look around, you constantly make decisions about how far away something is–whether it’s a dog sniffing at a nearby tree or a friend down the street. If you were a surveyor, you could measure angles and then use high-school trigonometry to calculate distances. That’s great for drawing a map or establishing property lines, […]
- Math
How Far Away?
As you look around, you constantly make decisions about how far away something is–whether it’s a dog sniffing at a nearby tree or a friend down the street. If you were a surveyor, you could measure angles and then use high-school trigonometry to calculate distances. That’s great for drawing a map or establishing property lines, […]
- Math
Ice Cream Wars
A visit to the supermarket can present a shopper with a bewildering array of choices. For ice cream alone, the consumer faces a variety of brands, flavors, container sizes, and types (fat-free versus low-fat versus premium, and so on). At the same time, deciding which items to stock is a formidable problem for retailers. They […]
- Math
A Dog, a Ball, and Calculus
Some dogs live to play fetch, especially if the object of interest is a favorite tennis ball or toy. Others, like ours, fetch only when the reward is a particularly tantalizing tidbit. At least one dog, however, appears to take the enterprise seriously enough to figure out an optimal path to the target. Elvis and […]
- Math
A Dog, a Ball, and Calculus
Some dogs live to play fetch, especially if the object of interest is a favorite tennis ball or toy. Others, like ours, fetch only when the reward is a particularly tantalizing tidbit. At least one dog, however, appears to take the enterprise seriously enough to figure out an optimal path to the target. Elvis and […]
- Math
The Cow in the Classroom
“Miss Zarves drew a triangle on the blackboard. ‘A triangle has three sides,’ she said, then pointed to each side. ‘One, two, three.’ She drew a square. ‘A square has four sides. One, two, three, four.’ “She walked around the cow to the other side of the board. She drew a pentagon, a hexagon, and […]
- Earth
Dirty Little Secret
Recognition is growing that many communities have soils laced with asbestos, which has prodded several federal agencies to probe the hazards they might pose.
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30 Hours with Team Slime Mold
A bunch of biologists volunteer for a mad weekend of biodiversity surveying to see what's been overlooked right outside Washington, D.C.
