by Adrienne MontgomerieFlying high in the sky where the air is thin, fighter pilots wear oxygen masks to make sure they can breathe. But oxygen can be deadly. It's a tight balance.Oxygen to LiveThe air we breathe is actually mostly nitrogen (close to 4/5 of it). Only about 1/5 of the air outside is oxygen.* And what we breathe out still has quite a lot of oxygen in it. Our bodies only use about 1/4…

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I often yell at the radio. I know it can’t hear me, but still. My most frequent rant is when the weatherperson says “The high will be 27 degrees, but with the humidex it will feel like 37 degrees”. And I retort “No it won’t. Because if the temperature were 37 degrees, you’d tell me that it feels like 58 degrees!” If every temperature “feels like” something different, we can never know what any temperature…

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Post by Helaine BeckerHow tall is your Christmas tree? Or any tree for that matter?Use this  fun and super easy STEM activity to find out any tree's height without a ladder. It relies on trigonometry!1. Get on your knees and put the top of your head on the floor.2. Look  through your legs at your tree. Can you see the tippy top?3. If not, move away from the tree until you can.4. Mark the spot…

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by L. E. CarmichaelNo matter which winter holiday you celebrate, we here at Sci/Why wish you the very best of the season. For those raised in the Santa Claus tradition, here are some festive facts about reindeer!By I, Perhols, CC BY 2.5, Link1) Reindeer and caribou are the same species, Rangifer tarandus. Some people use the common name "reindeer" for the European subspecies, and "caribou" for the North American subspecies. Others prefer to use "reindeer"…

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by L. E. CarmichaelNo matter which winter holiday you celebrate, we here at Sci/Why wish you the very best of the season. For those raised in the Santa Claus tradition, here are some festive facts about reindeer!By I, Perhols, CC BY 2.5, Link1) Reindeer and caribou are the same species, Rangifer tarandus. Some people use the common name "reindeer" for the European subspecies, and "caribou" for the North American subspecies. Others prefer to use "reindeer"…

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By Kiron MukherjeeNote from the Sci/Why team: Kiron Mukherjee is ROMKids Coordinator and Camp Director for the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto and a science communicator, if not a regular poster on Sci/Why. He recently wrote this article for his own online use. However, representation is just as important in science and children's literature as it is in toys, so he has kindly given us permission to reproduce his column here. CEKiron says: "Toby and…

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By Simon ShapiroWatching "The Great British Baking Show" recently, I was intrigued by the judges' comments. They would glance at piece of bread and immediately say"You proofed it for too long" (or not long enough)"You kneaded it too much" (or not enough)"Overbaked" (or underbaked)"Oven was too hot" (or too cool) "The wrong flour""Too much liquid" They really seemed to know all about the process and what can go wrong. (It sounded complex and lots could…

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Post by Helaine BeckerI recently had the opportunity to attend a screening of The Woman Who Loves Giraffes,  a biopic about Anne Innis Dagg, a groundbreaking Canadian biologist who was the first to document much of giraffe behavior and ecology. Much like her better-known peers, Dian Fossey and Jane Goodall, Dagg pioneered the observational techniques of animal study, spending hours every day watching and recording every detail of giraffe behavior. Her story is fascinating, and…

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Teens who use pot have to engage more brain resources to complete complex tasks.By L. E. CarmichaelConfession: I recently tried cannabis for the very first time. My back had been in spasm for five days - five days in which I'd levelled up from hot baths and ibuprofen to prescription anti-inflammatories to prescription narcotics, without even the slightest improvement. I had three days more days to go before I could get in to see a therapist,…

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Posted by Paula Johanson Congratulations to our own Claire Eamer, whose book WHAT A WASTE! has just been given a Science Communication Award from the American Institute of Physics.There are four winners chosen for these awards, and the categories are books, articles, broadcast/new media, and writing for children. Claire's fine book from Annick Press was selected in the category of writing for children. You can read the announcement on the website for American Institute of…

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