explainer

Nov 8, 2012

Stick It to Cankerworms

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Steve Frank, an assistant professor of entomology at NC State. You can learn more about the Cankerworm Project here, and keep up with Steve’s entomological pest alerts and updates by following @OrnaPests on Twitter. In spring 2012, a cankerworm outbreak occurred in many North Carolina cities. Students became… 

Jul 20, 2012

What’s the Deal With Seedless Watermelons?

Seedless watermelons aren’t seedless. They have those little white seeds that don’t have hard black shells, like the seeds in seeded watermelons. How do they do that?  Glad you asked! In seeded watermelons, the seed develops its hard seed coat (or testa) once it is fertilized. But, because seeds in seedless watermelons cannot be fertilized,… 

Jul 3, 2012

The Chemistry of Fireworks

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Steve Townsend, director of communications in NC State’s College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences. Just in time for the 4th of July! As they have for well over 200 years, the skies over cities and towns across the country will explode in celebration this July 4. While there’s… 

Jun 8, 2012

Mosquitoes, Ticks and Horse Flies, Oh My!

The warm weather of summer often draws us out of the house for a trip to the pool, a hike in the woods or (less fun) to mow the lawn. And all that time outdoors means we’re more aware of the ticks, mosquitoes, horse flies and other pests that are also more active in warm… 

Apr 10, 2012

Know Your Enemy: Cockroaches

Most people think cockroaches are disgusting. And if you’ve ever turned on a kitchen light, to find them skittering for dark corners, you probably agree (reference: my first apartment). But of the thousands of species out there, only a few can be considered pests. There are well over 4,000 described (i.e., named) species of cockroach… 

Apr 6, 2012

Know Your Enemy: Termites

Termites are fascinating insects, and not just because they can turn your front porch into mush. For example, did you know that many researchers have concluded that termites are actually social cockroaches? Whether you group them under the order Blattodea or Isoptera (and entomologists do both), there are more than 2,500 species of termites globally,… 

Mar 30, 2012

Ticks and Mosquitoes: What the Mild Winter Really Means

There has been a lot of discussion about how a mild winter, an early spring and a bumper crop of acorns might affect the number of mosquitoes and ticks we’ll see this spring and summer. Will there be more blood suckers out there? Will we be at higher risk of Lyme disease? Like many things… 

Mar 28, 2012

Know Your Enemy: Fire Ants

No series on arthropod pests would be complete without fire ants. They are violent. They are deadly. And they’re seemingly out to conquer the world. I’m exaggerating on that last point, but not by much. There are over 20 fire ant species around the world, including at least four species that are native to the… 

Mar 23, 2012

Know Your Enemy: Japanese Beetles

Last year I wrote a series of posts about critters we love to hate: mosquitoes, ticks, horseflies, black widows and carpenter bees. With the arrival of spring, I decided to pick up where I left off. First up: Japanese beetles or, as rose-growers call them, #@!*ing Japanese beetles. As the name suggests, Japanese beetles –… 

Feb 7, 2012

The Science Of A Good Pour

I love writing about science. I also enjoy a good beer. I’ve decided to marry these two interests and write a series of posts about the science of beer. It’s not much of a stretch, since brewing is an intensely scientific art. I requested, and received, a lot of questions about the science of beer.… 

Jan 30, 2012

What’s A Genotype? What’s A Phenotype? And Why Do I Care?

Genetics research is interesting stuff, and news stories about exciting new findings seem to crop up almost daily. But many people simply don’t have the vocabulary to understand what’s going on. “What is a genotype anyway?” you might ask. “What’s a phenotype? And why should I care?” Good questions! Let’s talk about this a little… 

Nov 22, 2011

How Does Faster-Than-Light Quantum Communication Work?

Every so often, I ask readers to submit their sci/tech questions, so that I can go pester people until I have some answers that I can share with the rest of the class. One  recent question was: “How does faster-than-light quantum communication work?” Short answer: it doesn’t. But of course there’s more to it than… 

Oct 27, 2011

Flu Version 2.0

Every year, it seems the CDC warns us about a new flu variety, bandying about names that seem more like grid locations in a game of Battleship than actual descriptions:  H1N1, H2N1, and now H5N1 – or technically, H5N1 2.3.2.1. This new form of so-called “bird flu” is a highly pathogenic and dangerous strain of… 

Jul 11, 2011

Why Does Water Freeze Before Alcohol Does?

We recently explained that one reason wine’s freezing point is much lower than water’s is because of its alcohol content. But we didn’t explain why alcohol has a much lower freezing point than water. Let’s explain that now (hint: water molecules are “stickier.”) A substance freezes when its molecules become “stuck” in a fixed array… 

Jul 6, 2011

Why Doesn’t Wine Freeze? And Do Vacuum-Sealing Stoppers Keep Wine ‘Fresh’?

I set out to learn why wine doesn’t freeze. But while I was questioning a wine researcher, I thought I’d also find out whether those vacuum-sealing wine stoppers are worth it. Here’s what I found out. Question 1: Why Doesn’t Wine Freeze? Wine will freeze, it just has a much lower freezing point than water…