The Discovery Files

Science & Medicine
An upbeat, entertaining look at the latest advances in science and engineering. Often fun and always fascinating, each episode covers a project funded by NSF -- federally sponsored research, brought to you by you! (Author: National Science Foundation)
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Recent episodes from The Discovery Files

  • "going, Going, Guam" -- The Discovery Files
    Published: Sep 11, 08
    New research conducted by University of Washington biologists suggests that the invasive brown tree snake has had an indirect impact on Guam's forests due to the snake's hunting of the island's bird population to near extinction.
     
  • "buggles" -- The Discovery Files
    Published: Sep 4, 08
    MIT mathematicians have now figured out exactly how hundreds of types of insect species are able to spend much of their time under water. When these insects submerge, their rough, water repellent coats trap air next to their bodies and form a small airpocket from which to breathe.
     
  • "tongue Drive" -- The Discovery Files
    Published: Aug 28, 08
    Engineers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a new assistive technology, the Tongue Drive system, which could help individuals with severe disabilities lead more independent lives by allowing them to operate powered wheelchairs and computers using only their tongues.
     
  • "in Your Face" -- The Discovery Files
    Published: Aug 22, 08
    Princeton psychology researchers have developed a computer program that allows scientists to understand better then ever before what it is about certain human faces that makes them appear either trustworthy or fearsome.
     
  • "cran It" -- The Discovery Files
    Published: Aug 20, 08
    A 'Crantastic Voyage' into the urinary tract to see just how cranberry juice works on infection. Researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute reveal that the juice changes the properties of bacteria that cause urinary tract infection and creates an energy barrier that prevents them from adhering to cells.
     
  • "break Water" -- The Discovery Files
    Published: Aug 5, 08
    In a major leap that could transform solar power from a marginal energy source into a mainstream energy source, MIT researchers have overcome a major barrier to large-scale solar power: storing energy for use when the sun doesn't shine. Until now, solar power has been a daytime-only energy source, because storing extra solar energy for later use is prohibitively expensive and grossly inefficient. MIT researchers have hit upon a simple, inexpensive, highly efficient process for storing solar ener
     
  • "deep Voices" -- The Discovery Files
    Published: Jul 29, 08
    New research shows that vocal communication evolved from ancient fish species.
     
  • "combined Forces" -- The Discovery Files
    Published: Jul 24, 08
    Cancer cells use tricks to hide from our body's immune system. One trick is to mask their presence in the body. Now, a bioengineer from Yale University has created cell-sized plastic spheres that both prep the immune system to recognize specific diseases and also increase the immune system's fighting force.
     
  • "car Watch" -- The Discovery Files
    Published: Jul 24, 08
    The annoying blare of an ignored car alarm may become a sound of the past if a cooperative, muteable and silent network of monitors proposed by Penn State University researchers is deployed in automobiles and in parking lots.
     
  • "degrees Of Survival" -- The Discovery Files
    Published: Jul 15, 08
    University of Washington scientists have found that species living in the tropical centers of the world are likely to face greater peril from global warming than those species located in cooler climates, because their tolerance for temperature increases is much narrower.
     
  • "primal Urges" -- The Discovery Files
    Published: Jul 15, 08
    A mass grave of skeletons in southwestern Germany suggests that neighboring tribes from prehistoric times were prepared to kill their male rivals to secure their women.
     
  • "happy Trails" -- The Discovery Files
    Published: Jun 26, 08
    Americans grow happier as they grow older, according to social science researchers at the University of Chicago, whose 33-year study is one of the most thorough examinations of happiness ever done in America.
     
  • "frogantuan" -- The Discovery Files
    Published: Jun 26, 08
    A team of researchers, led by a Stony Brook University paleontologist, discovered the remains of what may be the largest frog ever to exist. The fossilized remains of this 16-inch, 10-pound ancient frog were found in Madagascar and link a group of frogs that lived 65-70 million years ago with frogs living today in South America.
     
  • "links In E-mail Chain Letters Not Well Connected" -- The Discovery Files
    Published: Jun 26, 08
    It was once thought that e-mail chain letters traveled to internet users in much the same way that disease spreads during an epidemic -- people receive a message and then pass it on to those they come in contact with. However, new research from Cornell University and Carleton College suggests that e-mail chain letters travel in a less direct, more diffuse pattern than previously assumed.
     
  • "fragrant Violation" -- The Discovery Files
    Published: Jun 26, 08
    Air pollution from power plants and automobiles is diminishing the fragrance of flowers and thereby inhibiting the ability of pollinating insects to follow scent trails to their source, a new University of Virginia study indicates.