Animals
Analyze This: How sea slugs get their flashy colors
Crystals beneath the skin of nudibranchs, also called sea slugs, allow the creatures to make an array of intense hues with just one material.
HS-PS4-1
Use mathematical representations to support a claim regarding relationships among the frequency, wavelength, and speed of waves traveling in various media.
More Stories in HS-PS4-1
- Physics
Thunderstorms can make trees twinkle with an electric glow
The tiny, storm-driven electric zaps dance and jump around pine needles and other leaves. Videos have just captured that subtle flickering in forests.
- Life
Scientists Say: Biophoton
All living things glow with this mysterious light. But scientists need ultra-sensitive tools to detect it.
- Physics
Physics explains why sneakers squeak on the basketball court
We’re hearing a shoe’s sole wrinkling in bursts that repeat thousands of times each second.
- Space
Scientists Say: Bolide
It starts as a flash. Then comes the sonic boom. The boldest meteors often go out with a bang.
- Fossils
Here’s why ammolite gems have a rainbow shimmer
The fossils’ fabulous colors arise from delicate assemblies of crystal plates.
- Materials Science
Scientists Say: Tenebrescence
Under ultraviolet light, some minerals adopt long-lasting new hues.
- Physics
Here’s how to levitate something without magic
Levitation may seem like fantasy. But all it takes is a little physics — and sound waves, magnetism or electricity.
- Animals
Rudolph’s red nose could glow through bioluminescence
Simple chemistry could give the reindeer his iconic red snout. But physics would make it look different colors to anyone who spied Rudolph from the ground.
- Psychology
Listening to slightly different sounds in each ear may boost focus, teen finds
While “binaural beats” may boost attention, his research shows video game music is distracting.
