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Table 0f Contents
8
The next moon
walkers will be
more diverse
SERGEY NIVENS/SHUTTERSTOCK
than the last
Being a fan
16
of a fictional
ANDRE LUIZ MOREIRA/SHUTTERSTOCK
world can
have benefits
www.snexplores.org | JUNE/JULY 2023 1

Contents
Departments
Science News Explores | June/July 2023 | Vol. 2, No. 6
A magazine by the Society for Science
3
YO U R Q U E S T I O N S
SCIENCE NEWS MEDIA GROUP
EXECUTIVE PUBLISHER Maya Ajmera
PUBLISHER Michael Gordon Voss
EDITOR IN CHIEF Nancy Shute
ANSWERED
Ask us a question, any (science) question SCIENCE NEWS EXPLORES
EDITOR, DIGITAL Janet RaIoff
4
S C I E N C E I N AC T I O N
EDITOR, PRINT Sarah Zielinski
ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR Jill Sakai
ASSOCIATE DIGITAL EDITOR Lillian Steenblik Hwang
ASSISTANT EDITOR Maria Temming
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Aaron Tremper
Toppling dominoes and fewer blue lakes
SCIENCE NEWS
EXECUTIVE EDITOR Elizabeth Quill
6
STRANGE BUT TRUE
NEWS DIRECTOR Macon Morehouse
MANAGING EDITOR, PRINT AND LONGFORM Erin Wayman
CONSULT DESIGN AND MARKETING

Team of Creatives
Creamier ice cream with a new ingredient
SOCIETY FOR SCIENCE
7/32
PRESIDENT AND CEO Maya Ajmera
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER Rachel Goldman Alper
CHIEF OF STAFF Dawnita Altieri
CHIEF DESIGN OFFICER Stephen Egts
W H AT ’S T H I S ? ! CHIEF PROGRAM OFFICER Michele Glidden
Hint: This doesn’t happen to you when you sleep CHIEF, EVENTS AND OPERATIONS Cait Goldberg
CHIEF COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER Gayle Kansagor
CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER James C. Moore
22
T RY T H I S !
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
CHAIR Mary Sue Coleman
VICE CHAIR Martin Chalfie
TREASURER Hayley Bay Barna
A cool candy experiment and a word find SECRETARY Christine Burton
AT LARGE Thomas F. Rosenbaum
MEMBERS Adam Bly, Lance R. Collins,
24
I N N OVAT I O N S
Mariette DiChristina, Tessa M. Hill, Charles McCabe,
W.E. Moerner, Dianne K. Newman, Roderic I. Pettigrew,
Afton Vechery, Gideon Yu, Feng Zhang
Robot pills could mean fewer shots

Science News Explores
26
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Shark Week is scarier than it should be
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2 JUNE/JULY 2023 | SCIENCE NEWS EXPLORES
Your Questions Answered
Q How does brain freeze work?
— Faith Y.
A Brain freeze can strike after eating, drinking
or inhaling something cold, such as ice cream. This
intense headache usually lasts for a few minutes
at most. Despite brain freeze being common,
researchers aren’t sure what causes it. But they have some ideas
for what may be happening. Cold foods or air may aggravate
cold-sensitive nerves in your palate — the hard plate on the top
of your mouth. Or that tasty milkshake may force your body to
widen blood vessels in your head. While this reaction is meant to
help warm your mouth, it might also cause pain. Try eating cold
treats slowly if you find yourself getting a brain freeze.
Q Why does hair turn lighter in the summer?

— Emily Z.
A Hair and skin both get their color from a
pigment called melanin. Melanin also helps protect
fragile proteins in your hair by absorbing radiation
from the sun. That radiation — ultraviolet and visible
light — breaks down the color pigments. Cells in your skin react by
creating more melanin, giving you a tan. Human hair, though,
cannot produce more melanin to protect it from the sun. Without
added protection, radiation damages the hairs’ protein and pigment.
This leads to your hair getting lighter, or photobleaching. The sun is
causing chemical and physical changes to your hair. That’s why Do you have a science
strands may get frizzy or brittle in summer, too. This phenomenon is
more likely to be noticeable on the heads of people with light- question you want
colored blond or red hair than those with darker hair. Don’t worry
— you can protect your hair in summer by wearing a hat! answered? Reach out
to us on Instagram
Q If you were at the center of the Earth,
would you float? Because gravity is pushing (@SN.explores), or
at you from all sides.
— Mason R. email us at explores@
A “Yes! If you were at the center of the Earth, you sciencenews.org.
would feel like there was no gravity at all and would
float,” says Jonathan Sorce, a physicist at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge.
But it’s because of gravity’s pull, not push. “When you are on the
surface of the Earth, all of the different parts of the Earth beneath
you pull on you using gravity, causing you to feel like you are being
pulled down toward the ground,” Sorce says. “But if you were at the
center of the planet, then the parts of the Earth above you would
ANDY HEYWARD/SHUTTERSTOCK
pull you up with exactly the same force as the parts of the Earth
below you that pull you down. These two effects would cancel each Sarah Zielinski
other out, and you wouldn’t feel any pull from the Earth’s gravity.” Editor, Science News Explores
FIND OUT MORE USING THE QR CODES.

Science In Action
PHYSICS Friction
controls how
Kajetan Wojtacki, a physicist at
the Institute of Fundamental
Technological Research. That’s
such as felt. Slicker tiles meant less
friction between dominoes, which
meant less energy lost when the
dominoes part of the Polish Academy of
Sciences in Warsaw.
blocks hit each other. Sitting on
a high-friction surface meant the
topple The pair used a computer
to model a row of dominoes
tiles didn’t slide too far back as
they fell. Such backsliding would
Computer modeling collapsing. It’s a chain reaction, otherwise slow the cascading
reveals the physics where each falling domino topples chain reaction.
behind the chain into the next. And the speed of The domino duo used math
reaction that cascade depends on friction, to describe these computer
D
ominoes may seem like the team reported in Physical simulations. They came up with
just fun and games. Review Applied. The friction an equation that predicts the
But understanding happens in two places. Dominoes speed of collapse under different
how they topple? That’s rub together as they collide. They conditions. Its predictions matched
some serious science. also slide along the surface on the experimental results, too. Turns
“It’s a problem that is so natural. which they stand. out, there’s fantastic physics behind
Everybody plays with dominoes,” The computer model showed the satisfying spectacle.
says David Cantor. He has a that the fastest fall took place — Emily Conover ◗
background in civil engineering when slippery dominoes stood
and does research at Polytechnique close together on a rough surface,
Montréal in Quebec, Canada. He
studied dominoes with his friend
ENVIRONMENT
NATULRICH; ROMAN MIKHAILIUK/SHUTTERSTOCK
An estimated 170 trillion

bits of plastic are floating
in the world’s oceans
That’s about 21,000 particles for each
person on Earth.*
*PLOS ONE, March 8, 2023
Science In Action
Climate change could
EARTH
People often use lakes for
drinking water, food or recreation.
mean fewer blue lakes If the water is more clogged with

algae, it could be unappealing for
play. Or it might cost more to
clean it for drinking. So, O’Reilly
Algae that thrive in warmer water says, people might find less value
can tint lakes green or brown in less-blue lakes.
But the color changes might not
A
bout a third of warming might tip them away mean the lakes are any less healthy.
the world’s lakes from blue. By 2100, scientists “[People] don’t value lots of algae in
are currently blue, think Earth could average up to 3 a lake,” O’Reilly notes. “But if you’re
according to the first degrees Celsius (about 5 degrees a certain type of fish species, you
worldwide tally of lake Fahrenheit) warmer than today. might be like, ‘This is great!’ ”
color. But if average air temps in That rise could turn another Color also can hint at the
summer rise just a few degrees, 3,800 lakes green or brown. Why? stability of a lake’s ecosystem. A
some of those crystal blue waters Warmer water can boost algae change in hue might signal shifting
could turn a murky green or brown. growth, Yang says. And more algae conditions for the critters that live
Lake color depends in part on can tint the water green-brown. there. One benefit of the new study
what’s in the water. Compared Yang’s team shared its findings in is that it gives scientists a baseline
with blue lakes, green or brown Geophysical Research Letters. for spotting future changes. Warmer summers
lakes have more algae, suspended Studying 85,000 lakes may “[The study] sets a marker that may boost algae
growth, tinting more
sediment and organic matter. sound like a lot. Still, it’s just a small we can compare future results to,”
of the world’s lakes
That’s according to Xiao Yang. share of the world’s lakes. So it’s says Mike Pace. He’s an aquatic brown (inset) rather
A hydrologist, he works at tough to know how these results ecologist at the University of than blue.
Southern Methodist University in might apply everywhere. “We don’t Virginia in Charlottesville. He
Dallas, Texas. even know how many lakes there says: “That’s, to me, the great
Yang was part of a team that are in the world,” says Catherine power of this study.”
analyzed the color of more than O’Reilly. An aquatic ecologist at — Jennifer Schmidt ◗
85,000 lakes around the world. The Illinois State University in Normal,
researchers used satellite photos she worked on the study.
from 2013 to 2020. They then
looked at local climates during
the same time period. That can
be tricky. For many spots on the
globe, records of temperature
and precipitation don’t exist. The
scientists had to piece together
info from fairly sparse records to
make climate “hindcasts.” (That’s
the opposite of a forecast.)
Average summer air
temperatures and lake color were
linked, the researchers found.
FABIAN PLOCK; SHUANG LI/SHUTTERSTOCK
Lakes were more likely to be blue

in places where summer temps
averaged less than 19° Celsius
(66° Fahrenheit).
About one out of every seven
now-blue lakes in the study are
near that temperature threshold.
CREDIT
That means just a bit more

Strange But True
CHEMISTRY Keep the creaminess, Knoxville. He and his team are

trying to find better ice cream
hold the ice stabilizers. They’re testing cellulose

nanocrystals, or CNCs, which
are non-toxic and made from
processed wood. CNCs may stick
A new ingredient could prevent to the ice crystals and prevent
gritty ice crystals in ice cream them from growing.
In one experiment, the
scientists added CNCs to a sugar
I
ce cream researchers are testing a grittier-tasting ones. Only if the ice solution (as an ice cream stand-in).
new way to keep this treat more cream is kept really frigid, Hartel After 24 hours, the ice crystals
cream-y than ice-y. says — as in below –40° Celsius completely stopped growing. A
Ice cream contains tiny ice (–40° Fahrenheit) — will its ice week later, they were still no bigger
crystals. Those crystals grow as it crystals stay tiny. than 25 micrometers. But a gum
sits in your freezer, explains Richard To help limit the crystals’ allowed the crystals to reach 50
Hartel. He’s a food engineer at the growth, ice cream companies add micrometers in just three days.
University of Wisconsin–Madison. substances called stabilizers. These Wu’s team reported its findings at
If the crystals get too big, they make are usually gums (such as guar or the American Chemical Society
the treat coarse and gritty. locust bean gum). Gums help but meeting in San Diego, Calif.
The ice crystals grow because don’t completely stop ice crystal CNCs need more research
of how a freezer slightly warms growth. Once those crystals hit before they become common
and cools over time. That cycle 50 micrometers (0.0002 inch) in ingredients in food. Until then, you
lets the ice melt a bit and refreeze. diameter, the ice cream gets gritty. still have a good excuse to eat your
Smaller crystals melt more quickly Tao Wu is a food scientist at family’s ice cream quickly.
and tend to reform as bigger, the University of Tennessee in — Anna Gibbs ◗
BAIBAZ/SHUTTERSTOCK; MIN LI
Ice crystals formed in a frozen sugar

solution (upper right). Adding tiny
crystals of cellulose before freezing
kept the ice crystals from growing
as large (lower right). Smaller ice
crystals keep frozen treats (left)
tasting creamy and smooth.

What’s This?!
Think you know

what you’re
seeing? Find out
on page
32
CREDIT

ARDEA-STUDIO/SHUTTERSTOCK

By Lisa Grossman

These new mission goals will require 21st century Modern astronauts are already different from
astronauts to have different knowledge, skills and those of Apollo. For its first class of astronauts in
temperaments than Apollo crews did. Fortunately, 1959, NASA recruited only military fighter pilots.
NASA is now picking from a much wider array They all had to be shorter than 5 feet, 11 inches (1.8
of candidates. meters) to fit inside NASA’s space capsule. At the
NASA’s Apollo missions in the 1960s and 1970s time, all military test pilots were white men. So, all
sent 24 white men to the moon. But thanks to social, astronauts were too.
political and scientific changes over the last 50 years, NASA recruited its first class of “scientist-
today’s astronauts are more diverse in sex, race and astronauts” in 1964. The move drew criticism from
NASA astronaut
field of expertise. NASA has declared that upcoming pilots. One was Eugene Cernan, who went to the
Zena Cardman
moon missions will include the first woman and moon on the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. In an (above, and
first person of color. Some groups are even thinking interview, Cernan called science “a parasite” on the right wearing a
about how to include people with disabilities moon program. “Science is not the reason we learned prototype space
in spacefaring. to fly,” he griped. suit with astronaut
This progress doesn’t just broaden the pool of But according to NASA’s mission report, Apollo Drew Feustel) was
talent available for creating a more permanent 17 was “the most productive and trouble-free one of the first
human presence in space. Future lunar crews may manned mission.” It “demonstrated the practicality women to undergo
reflect our lives on Earth more faithfully, opening of training scientists to become qualified astronauts.” training for a
space to everyone. Today, 42 percent of NASA’s active astronauts have potential moon
training in science or medicine. Their fields range mission.
Meet the modern astronauts from oceanography to physics.
NASA hasn’t selected the next visitors to the moon
yet. But there are only about 50 people to choose What makes an astronaut
from. That includes at least 40 active astronauts NASA’s definition of “astronaut” doesn’t actually
and 10 astronaut candidates still in training. The require going to space. Once you’ve made it through
members of that cohort come from a variety of the application and training process, you’re a member
backgrounds. The list includes medical doctors of the astronaut corps. That’s true whether you
and military pilots. It also includes geologists, leave Earth or not.
microbiologists, engineers and others. Of NASA’s The first step in applying is “underwhelming,”
active astronauts, about 37 percent are women. says Zena Cardman. This geobiologist joined the
NASA/ROBERT MARKOWITZ
“The astronaut corps is, of course, NASA’s most astronaut corps in 2017. She has not yet been to
visible workforce,” says Lori Garver. She was NASA’s space. “You submit a very short resume,” she says.
deputy administrator from 2009 to 2013. “Because of “Then you wait for a long time” for a response.
that, NASA has, I think, a responsibility to have an There are a few basic requirements to apply.
astronaut corps that reflects the nation.” First, you must be a U.S. citizen. You also need a
master’s degree in science, engineering or math, plus geology and microbiology. But she’s getting trained
two years of work experience. Pilots can swap out in engineering and aviation. Her test pilot colleagues,
the work experience with 1,000 hours of jet-flying meanwhile, are learning geoscience.
time. Candidates who make it through that first Beyond technical skill, the next most important
round travel to Houston, Texas, for a two-round quality NASA looks for is: “Are you a team player?”
interview process. Wiseman says. Working together was important on
Astronaut Reid Wiseman offered more details the Apollo missions. But those missions lasted 12
in an August 2022 news briefing. “What we’re days at most. Up to three days were spent on the
looking for in these first few Artemis missions … lunar surface. Astronauts on a weeks-long Artemis
first and foremost, is technical expertise,” he said. A mission to the moon or a years-long mission to
lot of those desired skills revolve around acquiring Mars will need to survive in stressful, isolated
resources to support long stays on the moon. environments. Getting along becomes crucial
Artemis III plans to send people to the lunar to staying alive.
south pole as soon as 2025. That could be a good That’s why the interview process includes
place to put a long-term base. The south pole has teamwork exercises, Cardman says. Those activities
regions that will be in sunlight for the entire 6.5-day mimic the kinds of situations astronauts might
Artemis III mission. The light will help generate find themselves in.
energy from solar power. The lunar south pole also The interview also involves medical screening.
NASA engineers has regions in permanent shadow. Those pockets The details are not public. But “they really go
(above) wear
spacewalk hold water ice that future human settlements could quite in depth,” Cardman says. There’s no official
backpacks with use for water and fuel. requirement for any particular body type. Nor are
NASA; BILL STAFFORD/NASA
headlamps to The goal of finding and using resources on there standards for physical fitness, such as running
practice collecting
lunar samples in New the moon is part of why science backgrounds — a mile in a certain time. “It’s more functional,”
Mexico. At the lunar especially in geology — are now more important for she says. As long as you can meet the mental and
south pole, some astronauts. But in the astronaut corps, everyone does physical demands of a spacewalk, it doesn’t matter
regions will be in
permanent shadow. everything, Cardman says. Her background is in how you get in shape.
Rethinking radiation risks She’s modest about it. “I would be thrilled to go
There’s one more medical requirement for the next to the moon, of course,” she says. “Depending on the
people to walk on the moon. They can’t have already timeline, who knows. But it’s pretty exciting to know
spent too much time in space. I work with the people who will be the first ones
Over time, exposure to the harmful charged setting foot on the moon in half a century.” Sheri Wells-Jensen
particles that zip around space can increase a (upside down) and
person’s risk of cancer. For astronauts’ safety, NASA The new right stuff other AstroAccess
limits how much radiation an astronaut can absorb Even though there are no official astronaut health ambassadors here
over their career. standards, NASA does end up selecting the healthiest float in a zero-
gravity flight.
From 1995 until 2021, that limit depended on people, Antonsen says. But private spaceflight
This adventure in
an astronaut’s age and sex. Women were thought companies in the United States and space programs
weightlessness
to have higher risks of dying from radiation-related in other countries are expanding the pool of people was meant to test
cancers than men. So female astronauts were not who get to go to space. SpaceX and Blue Origin are out what life would
allowed to fly as much. This may have unfairly already sending customers on space joyrides. Those be like in space
limited female astronauts, says Erik Antonsen. This companies might be more willing to take risks — or for people with
emergency physician and aerospace engineer works more focused on making money — than NASA is. disabilities.
at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Antonsen “The beautiful thing about this is, the goal is
notes that no openly transgender astronauts have eventually to send just people,” Antonsen says. “It’s
flown. But he can’t think of any medical issues that changing. And it should change.”
would hold them back. SpaceX won’t say how it chooses who it sends to
In 2021, the National Academies of Sciences, space. But Antonsen suspects that some companies’
Engineering and Medicine released a report urging only criteria for their customers will be “making sure
NASA to change its radiation limit. The new limit they can walk up the stairs to get to the vehicle.”
amounts to about 400 days in orbit around the moon Even that might not be a barrier for long. Some
The most recent
or 680 days on the lunar surface. organizations are exploring how disabled people can class of NASA
Since Cardman hasn’t been to space yet, she’s live and work in space. astronaut
as far from NASA’s radiation limit as she could “Disability inclusion affects how we design our candidates, who
are eligible for the
be. Her cohort is beginning to fly missions to spacecraft,” says AJ Link. He’s the communications Artemis mission
the International Space Station. They are likely director of the nonprofit AstroAccess. “If we can to the moon, is
candidates for Artemis III. Cardman herself could be make [outer] space accessible, we can make any much more diverse
than their Apollo
NASA
the first woman on the moon. space accessible.” predecessors.

AstroAccess has organized by blind people could help all astronauts navigate
flights for disabled people on those situations.
zero-gravity aircraft. Those Likewise, if an astronaut loses use of their legs,
flights aim to show that disabled knowing how people without certain limbs navigate
people have strengths that could a spacecraft will give them options. “For able-bodied
be useful in space. In October 2021, people who acquire a disability in space, we’re not
12 people with various disabilities took a just going to send them home,” Wells-Jensen says.
parabolic flight. (That’s a flight where the plane “How do we make sure they’re safe and can still
takes repeating upward and downward turns to give do their jobs?”
passengers a few minutes of weightlessness.) Wells-Jensen hopes that sending disabled people on
“It was wicked fun,” says Sheri Wells-Jensen. She’s weightless flights will raise awareness of how capable
a linguist at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. they are, too. “A disabled person could take a [space]
Wells-Jensen, who is blind, was one of the people on flight tomorrow,” she says. “I think at this point, the
that flight. “I’m not a thrill seeker. I don’t even like limiting factor is cultural, rather than technological.”
roller coasters,” she says. But while weightless, she was The European Space Agency, or ESA, is also
“surprised by how not terrified” she was. recruiting disabled astronauts. These “parastronauts”
She was also surprised at how useless her normal will help study the kinds of adaptations needed for
instincts were. When feeling about as weightless as disabled people to fly in space. This past November,
To show how she would on the moon, a tiny hop sent her flying to ESA named its first parastronaut. His name is John
disabled people’s conk her head on the ceiling. The plane was so noisy McFall, and he’s a British paralympic sprinter and
strengths could that her normal ways of orienting by sound didn’t orthopedist. His right leg was amputated after a
be useful in space,
AstroAccess took work. She felt like there was no up or down. motorcycle accident when he was 19.
the crew above on a Learning how disabled people behave on Both ESA and AstroAccess argue that now is the
zero-gravity flight. spaceflights will help all astronauts in the future, time to consider accessibility in space. It should be
ASTROACCESS/ZERO G CORPORATION
The team included

linguist Sheri Wells- regardless of disability, Wells-Jensen says. done before future spacefaring vehicles are finalized.
Jensen (back row, “Space is a profoundly disabling environment. It’s “Retrofitting is hard,” Wells-Jensen says. “Building
second from left), always trying to kill you,” Wells-Jensen says. What things the way you want them is much easier.”
who is blind. She
was surprised that happens if an astronaut loses their vision, whether “We want to fundamentally change the way
her usual instincts temporarily or permanently, on the way to Mars? humanity goes to space,” Wells-Jensen says. “We
worked differently Or if the spacecraft lights go off ? Or smoke makes can’t become a spacefaring species if only some
in a weightless
environment. it hard to see? Designing a spacecraft to be used of us can go.” ◗
This astronaut took
a winding journey
into space
Kjell Lindgren treated NASA crew
members before joining their ranks
K
jell Lindgren wanted to be an astronaut for as long as he could
remember. He spent much of his childhood abroad with his family
on U.S. Air Force bases. The straightest path seemed to be serving
as an Air Force test pilot. After all, many astronauts have come
from that background. But Lindgren’s dreams ended when he
was diagnosed with asthma, a serious respiratory disease, after
graduating from the U.S. Air Force Academy and enrolling in pilot
training. The Air Force decided to medically discharge him.
So Lindgren pivoted to medical school, eventually specializing in emergency
medicine. After new tests showed he didn’t have asthma, though, he could again
think of going to space. He first worked as a flight surgeon at NASA, treating crews
preparing for spaceflight. And then, in 2009, he was selected as a NASA astronaut.
He has since flown into space twice, performing more than 100 scientific
experiments. Now he is a member of the Artemis Team, a group of scientists and
astronauts working together to send people back to the moon in 2025. In this
interview, he shares his experiences and advice with Science News Explores.
(This interview has been edited for content and readability.)
— Aaron Tremper
Q How did you get where you across really cool opportunities that by sharing my expertise. I think
are today? weren’t necessarily on the path that when it comes to tasks we’re
A My passion for space came I had dreamed of for myself. proud of, we immediately think of
from reading science fiction and something that went smoothly.
watching science fiction movies. Q What’s one of your I think it’s really gratifying, though,
I grew up as a Star Wars fan. biggest successes? when we meet challenges and
Then, in the second grade, we A During my most recent mission, are able to overcome those.
watched the very first launch of we had a research project that It’s a great lesson in resilience NASA astronaut Kjell
Lindgren (right) has
the STS-1 space shuttle Columbia was very complex. We ran into for when we encounter obstacles made two trips into
on April 12, 1981. And that’s when several instances where we at school, at our jobs or even space. On his most
this passion really grabbed me. encountered obstacles, and it at home. We can choose to recent trip aboard the
International Space
The number one thing that made things very difficult. We stay frustrated or depressed. Station in 2022 (above,
opened doors for me and had to figure out a path forward. Or we can see our obstacles as and inset with Bob
established opportunities was just I tried to be a good teammate, a an opportunity to overcome a Hines), he served as the
commander for SpaceX
hard work. By working hard, I came good leader and a good scientist problem and work toward success. Crew 4 for 170 days.

Q What’s one of your biggest
failures, and how did
you get past that? I am incredibly grateful to have
A Being medically discharged these opportunities to live and
from the Air Force was a very work in space. I’m fairly certain
challenging time. It obliterated this that I would not be in this job
dream of not only becoming a pilot today if I had become a pilot.
but really the dream of getting to What I once saw as a curse was
serve as an astronaut at any point. truly a blessing. It was a lesson in
I had to figure out what the next recognizing that an obstacle may
step was. I really had to lean on my not be as bad as you think it is.
family, friends and especially my How trying to have a great attitude
faith to determine what the future and figuring out what is next on
NASA
was going to look like. that path is really important. ◗

FA N D O M
WHY D —
F E E LS G O O
M AY B E
AND Y O U
G O O D F O R ons a n d r e w ar ds
t h e r e a s
t s e x p lo re f i c t i o n > >
Sc i e n ti s i n l o v e w it h
of falling Maria Temming
By

N
ew York Comic Con 2022 bustles with a huge cast of
characters. One group of friends dressed like Stranger Things
teens hangs out in the food court. Others decked out like
characters from Super Mario and Avatar: The Last Airbender
pose for photos. All around, fans sporting everything from
Pikachu onesies to T-shirts and jeans wander through a sea of booths
selling paintings, figurines or LEGO sets of fictional characters.
Every October, nerds of all stripes descend on Falling into fandom

the Javits Center in Manhattan for this festival of “People are drawn to fandom — no matter what
fandom. They show off homemade costumes, get it is that they’re drawn to — for a lot of the same
actor autographs and more. No matter what type reasons,” says Lynn Zubernis. She’s a psychologist Many fans
of fiction someone loves, they’re bound to find at West Chester University in Pennsylvania. “This dress up,
fellow fans among these tens of thousands of people is how our brains are wired,” she says. “We get a lot or cosplay,
gathered to geek out about their favorite media. of pleasure from indulging in the things that we as favorite
Of course, attending a comic con is only one way love … and the intensity of those feelings is very characters,
to experience fandom, or be a fan, of fiction. Every reinforcing.” Basically: “When we like something, such as
day, people dissect new episodes of TV shows on that is immediately connected to us wanting more.” these teens
social media. Fans build and maintain elaborate But people don’t only become fans of fiction in costumes
from the show
Wikis for books and movies. They create fan art of because it’s fun. Research suggests that fiction
Stranger
beloved characters and reimagine stories through also helps people make sense of the world around Things.
fanfiction. Even casual fans devote time to rereading them. It can help them find inspiration. It also can
or rewatching series. offer insights into human nature and what gives
“We all are either fans or know people who our life purpose.
are fans of a movie or a TV show or a book,”
says Cynthia Vinney. She’s an independent pop-
culture researcher and psychologist. She and
other scholars are now taking a closer look at the
widespread phenomenon of fandom. By studying
the many types of media fans, they are gaining
new insights into why people get so invested in
fictional worlds. They’re also learning about the
benefits of fandom.
Have you ever gotten so absorbed

in a STORY that the world around
you just seems to fade away?
That sense of immersion is called
“transportation.”

mental immersion can make stories feel more real.
That, in turn, can foster fandom.
Taylor’s research has shown some support for
this. In a 2015 study, he did an online survey of
nearly 400 fans of various media. He also surveyed
about 160 Star Trek fans standing in line for a
movie premiere. Both groups rated how much
they agreed with statements such as “movies and
shows often affect my mood.” (That gauged each
person’s tendency for transportation.) People also
rated how much they agreed with statements
showing empathy. These included things like, “I
often have tender, concerned feelings for people less
fortunate than me.”
People higher in empathy tended to be
transported more readily. And that, in turn, was
linked to being a bigger fan. Taylor shared these
findings in Psychology of Popular Media Culture. But
this study shows only that empathy, transportation
and fandom are related, he cautions. Proving
that certain traits cause stronger fandom would
require studying people throughout the process of
becoming fans.
Perks of fandom
Laramie Taylor is a communications researcher There’s a lot to like about being a fan. Fictional
at the University of California, Davis. He asked 360 stories can offer a distraction from stress or a way
U.S. adults about why they were fans of their favorite to connect with other people. And thinking about
media. People ranked how much they agreed with such imaginary worlds may have very real benefits
various statements. Some statements were about the for mental health.
fun of fiction, such as “my favorite series … makes Take anticipation. Looking forward to stuff — be
me laugh.” Others were about fiction helping people it a sequel or a new season — is a big part of the
make sense of the world. For example, “my favorite fan experience. And some research suggests that
series … has profound meanings or messages.” anticipating positive events can help relieve stress.
People agreed with both types of statements about In one 2014 study, researchers recruited about 70
equally. Taylor shared these results in Psychology of college students. About 30 were promised that at the
Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts. Clearly, people end of the study they’d get to view some cartoons
have a range of reasons to be fans of fiction — from they were looking forward to. The other 40 were
ILLUSTRATIONS: SUNRISE ILLUSTRATIONS, KAPITOSH/SHUTTERSTOCK; FANS: M. TEMMING
casual fun to intellectual fulfillment. “But that doesn’t told they’d get some cartoons they were not excited
really explain why this happens to some people and it to see. Then, everyone was told to prepare a speech
doesn’t happen to other people,” Taylor says. in five minutes.
Having to prepare a speech made both groups of
Fandom-prone people students feel worse than they did before. But those
The question of who’s most likely to fall in love with who were looking forward to seeing cartoons later
a fictional world is still murky. But some research reported more positive feelings both before and after
has connected personality traits to becoming a fan. their speech prep. Researchers shared these findings
One of those traits is empathy. That’s the tendency in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.
to put oneself in another person’s shoes. People What’s more, many fans do not just sit around
with stronger empathy seem to get more invested in waiting for new content to drop. They make fan
fictional characters, Zubernis says. That can lead to art, write fanfiction, do cosplay and make fandom-
becoming a bigger fan. related memes. “Whatever it is, if it’s tapping into
Comic conventions The other personality trait affecting whether creativity and allowing self-expression, that’s really
aren’t just for comic
fans. Left: Two fans somebody becomes more of a serious fan is how good for people,” Zubernis says. “It can be really
show their love much they tend to get absorbed in fictional story wonderfully stress-relieving.” Research also shows
for video game lines. Experts refer to this as “transportation.” Some that spending time on such creativity can put people
characters Mario and
Princess Peach. people are transported more easily than others. Such in better moods.
One 2016 study in New Zealand, for instance,
tracked more than 650 young adults for around two
weeks. Each day, participants reported how much
time they had spent on creative activities such as
playing music, painting or writing. Participants
also shared how good or bad they felt each day and
their level of “flourishing.” That included elements
such as having a sense of purpose in life and
social connections.
People tended to have more good feelings on days
after they spent more time than normal on creative
pursuits. This was especially true for high-energy
good feelings, such as enthusiasm or excitement.
People also tended to report greater flourishing
on days after they were especially creative.
Researchers shared these findings in The Journal of
Positive Psychology.
Finding identity through fandom

For some, the impacts of fandom go beyond mere
mood boosts. Relating to fictional characters can
help people learn about and embrace aspects of who
they are. Fan communities can play a role, too. As
such, “fandom can be part of identity development in
a healthy way,” Zubernis says.
Lauren McInroy has studied this among
young LGBTQ+ people. McInroy is a social work
researcher at Ohio State University in Columbus.
Online fan communities, she notes, often
produce creative works that add queer elements
to media narratives. Many works of fanfiction
and fan art, for instance, portray characters with
LGBTQ+ identities.
Fans “are essentially taking [mainstream] content,
remixing it and creating representational narratives
with their own LGBTQ identities,” McInroy says.
This fan-made media, she says, “is a way to see a
rich, complex queer story, and to sort of seek yourself
out in the content.” This network of creators and
consumers can also offer young people an accepting
ILLUSTRATIONS: DOYANDESIGN, KAPITOSH/SHUTTERSTOCK; FANS: M. TEMMING

community in which to explore queer identities.
McInroy looked at how fandom impacted the
development of young people’s queer identity. She
and her colleagues surveyed nearly 5,000 LGBTQ+
people. All were ages 14 to 29 and living in North
America. About 3,500 said they had participated in
online media fan communities.
Seventy-two percent of those who were
involved in fan communities online said this
experience had contributed to the development
of their LGBTQ+ identity. How? Many said that
LGBTQ+ representation in fanworks expanded
their knowledge of queer identities. Some had uki
explored their identities by creating their Kats go!
own fanworks. Fan communities also offered Baku
opportunities to meet other queer people.
or
Doct ge!
n
Stra
Have you ever drawn a picture of bigger fan also was linked with greater well-being.
one of your favorite characters? But that link was not as strong as the one seen
That’s fan art! between fan connectedness and well-being. Reysen’s
team found similar trends in a survey of more than
2,800 people recruited from anime fan clubs and
Those relationships helped young people feel anime-related websites. The team published its
like their queer identities were normal and valid. findings in Leisure Sciences.
McInroy and her colleague Shelley Craig shared “It’s really [a fan community] that leads to the
these findings in 2020 in Psychology of Popular Media. well-being,” Reysen says. “It’s the connection with
other human beings that really helps you.” At least,
Better together that’s what the researchers think is happening.
Fan communities create supportive environments for A correlation between fan community and well-
many types of people. And that sense of community being doesn’t prove the first caused the second.
seems to be good for fans’ overall well-being, says Maybe people with greater psychological well-being
DRAWING: WIRESTOCK CREATORS/SHUTTERSTOCK; FANS: M. TEMMING
Stephen Reysen. He’s a social psychologist at Texas just tend to connect more with other fans.
A&M University–Commerce. But it would make sense for fandom friendships
Reysen found evidence of this in his research. to promote well-being, Reysen says. “Belongingness
In one study, Reysen and his colleagues surveyed and participating with groups, in general, in
more than 200 college students with different fan psychology research shows that you’re happier.”
interests. The survey measured such things as a sense That’s not to say fandom is all sunshine and
of purpose in life, self-acceptance and having positive rainbows. “There are positives and negatives in
relationships with others. The survey also measured everything, as well as your fandoms,” Reysen says.
how much people identified as a fan of their favorite Groups of fans, like all communities, can become
interest and how connected they felt with other fans. embroiled in drama. TV shows get canceled. Book
Research suggests
that doing creative In general, the more people felt a connection with endings disappoint. But overall, fandom seems to
activities, such as other fans, the better their psychological well-being. be a normal, healthy and productive part of many
making costumes or This seemed to be because these people had more people’s lives. So, to all the teen media fans out
drawing, can boost
mental health. friends who shared their interests. Identifying as a there: Nerd on. ◗
Try This!
CHEMISTRY Keep candy cool with evaporation

Use evaporation to keep chocolate from melting
By Science Buddies
O
n a hot summer EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
day, your body is 1. Cut a paper towel into strips 5. Place a glass upside down on
bound to sweat. about 7.5 centimeters (3 inches) the edges of the paper strips to
That perspiration wide. keep the candies in place.
keeps you cool. As
sweat evaporates off your skin, 2. Lightly wet one paper towel 6. Hold a hair dryer about 20
it carries heat away from your strip by dripping water on it. centimeters (8 inches) above
body. But can such “evaporative the candies.
cooling” help other objects — such 3. Tightly wrap one chocolate
as chocolate candies — stand the
heat? Let’s find out!
candy (still inside its wrapper) in 7. Use the dryer to blow hot air
the wet paper towel strip. Tightly on the candies for five minutes.
wrap another chocolate candy in
OBJECTIVE
Discover how to use the
a dry paper towel strip. 8. Observe how the paper towel
strips have changed. Remove the
evaporation of water to keep 4. Place the two candies side paper towel strips and open the
chocolate candy from melting. by side on a heatproof surface. candy wrappers.
9. In a lab notebook, record

what happened to the candy
wrapped in the wet paper towel
versus the candy in the dry
paper towel.
10. Repeat steps 1–9 twice

more with new candies and new
paper towels.
Find the full activity,

including how to
analyze your data,
at snexplores.org/
chocolate. This activity is
brought to you in partnership
ILLUSTRATION BY STEVE MCCRACKEN
with Science Buddies.

Word Search
These words are hiding in this issue.

Can you find them?
The words below came from the stories in this magazine. Find them all in the word search, then search for them
throughout the pages. Some words will appear more than once. Can you find them all?
Check your work by following the QR code at the bottom of the page.
J B Z W L C V C T A E S I O T R O T C G
W I Q U M H A P S S I M E T R A R Y E V
H T N V K P C J E T A N T A K D I A L C
E A F A Z T O A Y R O F O A X B N Q L M
R M I G B D H T R O S S R I F V G V U O
X V J X S D I I U N C O F I T X R X L F
S S Y Y L V Z G U A I C N T C A P M O Z
G V D V A E A A C U R V H A K T I I S N
P X O R X C M I M T D R O D L C I D E P
Q G G E L I L E Q H D X Y R R I V O A I
R E V I L O B D B O T T K O O K T X N R
F H J P B K Z A H P T S N R M U D Y E Q
Z F N A E R C C B J N E A C Y F S K U T
W W R R A J U S H F E B Z M M U A S Q T
B A D R H V L A G D M E D I A L X I D O
P Q E B O J T C L T K T S Y M U B U F Q
P A L A T E U E U B V S D O S H I R G L
K P B J C R R L F K X M O O H H H G S U
P M T Y E N E C O S Y S T E M S B G D Q
X N D Q F R O R C Q Z Z E X R Z O U K U
ARTEMIS CULTURE LIVER PERSONALITY

ASTHMA ECOSYSTEM LUNAR RADIATION
ASTRONAUT FRICTION MEDIA RARE
CARNIVOROUS GRAVITY MICRONEEDLE TORTOISE
CASCADE ICE PALATE
PATPITCHAYA/SHUTTERSTOCK
CELLULOSE LAKE PARABOLIC

Innovations
TECHNOLOGY Robotic pills may one Designing a pill that could

reliably prick the stomach wall
day replace injections was a bit tricky. Once swallowed,

the small but heavy device settles
to the bottom of the stomach. In
order to prick the stomach wall
This could be a more patient- beneath it, the pill must land
friendly way to receive medicine injector-side-down. To make that
happen, the MIT team borrowed
an idea from the leopard tortoise.
D
o you hate getting an inch) long. Once swallowed, Contrary to popular belief, most
shots? If so, you’re the pill injects medicine directly tortoises can get back on their feet
not alone — and through the stomach wall. if flipped upside down. Leopard
you may be in luck. Unlike a normal shot, this tortoises are aided by steeply
Researchers are needle prick shouldn’t hurt, domed shells. If one of them is
devising new, pain-free ways to says Giovanni Traverso. He’s flipped on its back, the shape of
deliver drugs, including a robotic a physician and biomedical that shell helps it roll right-side up.
pill. It’s still in the early stages engineer who specializes in the That same shape ensures the new
of development. But someday, gut. He also helped develop the pill always lands upright, too.
such innovations could make robo-pill at MIT. Stomachs can Robert Langer is a chemical
delivering medicines more detect some sensations, such as engineer on the MIT team.
patient-friendly. the deep ache of a stomach ulcer. “Watch,” he says, as he drops
The robotic pill comes out Or the discomfort of feeling a chickpea-sized robotic pill
of a lab at the Massachusetts bloated. But those sensations onto a table. It bounces, then
Institute of Technology (MIT) are “more related to stretch rolls upright. “No matter how
in Cambridge. It holds a teeny, receptors,” Traverso explains. The I drop it,” he notes — and he
spring-loaded microneedle only stomach lacks receptors to detect drops it again — “it always
about 3 millimeters (a tenth of sharp pains, such as an injection. lands the same way.”
The robo-pill’s Medicine

shape—similar to a reservoir
leopard tortoise —plus Injector
a weighted base will roll and spring
upright when it lands. mechanism
Actual size
Weighted base

But what makes the pill’s tiny The new robo-pills also have must pass through the stomach
needle pop out to do its job? successfully delivered insulin in lining. “That’s like going through
“Sugar glass,” Langer explains. mini-pigs. Many people with a brick wall,” Traverso says. It’s
Hard and brittle, this material diabetes must inject themselves very difficult without the help
holds back a spring that is several times a day with this of a needle. And wasted drug is
attached to the needle. In the hormone. Normally, insulin cannot expensive — sometimes more
stomach, that sugar starts to be swallowed as a pill because it expensive than the device.
dissolve. “All of a sudden, the would break down in the stomach. One example is a drug used
thing breaks,” Langer says. This The robo-pill gets around that to treat diabetes. It’s called
releases the spring, which jabs problem by feeding insulin straight semaglutide. “It’s a giant seller
the needle into the stomach wall into the stomach wall. for people with diabetes,” Langer
to inject medicine. It’s possible This is a completely new way says. And when you give this
to control when that happens by to deliver the drug, notes Bruno medicine as a pill, he says, “you
adjusting the sugar’s thickness. Sarmento. He works at the lose 99 percent of the drug.” It
The MIT team unveiled its design University of Porto in Portugal. passes through the body before it’s
in 2019 in Science. Although he didn’t work on the absorbed. But the new robo-pill
pill system, as a nanomedicine would ensure the drug makes it
POTENTIAL PERKS researcher he’s interested in such right through the stomach wall
AND PRICING projects. “We know now that it’s and into the bloodstream. In the
In new experiments, these robotic possible” for a robotic system to end, that could save money.
A self-righting
pills have delivered an mRNA- reach the stomach and deliver After successful tests in turtle shell served
based medicine to mini-pigs. The injections, he says. animals, the robo-pill is now ready as the inspiration
researchers described their success Sarmento worries that the for human trials. The Danish for a new capsule-
based system to
in Matter. It was an important test new pill may be too expensive for pharmaceutical company Novo release insulin.
for showing that this new class widespread use. But Traverso says Nordisk, which works with the Animal tests show
of medicines could be delivered this could be offset by wasting MIT team, started recruiting its microneedles can
quickly release the
in this way. (Pfizer’s COVID-19 less medicine. When normal volunteers in March 2022. hormone into the
vaccine also relies on mRNA.) pills are swallowed, the drug — Katie Grace Carpenter ◗ stomach lining.
After the robo-pill settles, a tiny needle can

inject medicine into the stomach lining.
Dose
Stomach lining

Technically Fiction
PLANTS Could a plant ever eat a person?

Carnivorous plants can catch small animals,
but a people-eater would need a major upgrade
T
here’s no shortage of plants known to science Both of those fictional plants
human-eating plants in worldwide. But what would it take take cues from the real-life Venus
popular culture. In the for a carnivorous plant to capture flytrap, which, instead of sporting
classic movie Little Shop and consume a person? a pitcher, relies on jaw-like leaves
of Horrors, a gigantic to catch prey. When an insect
plant with shark-sized jaws needs DON’T FALL IN lands on these leaves, it triggers
human blood to grow. The Piranha Carnivorous plants come in many tiny hairs that prompt the leaves to
Plants of the Mario Bros. video shapes and sizes. One common snap shut. Triggering these hairs
games hope to make a snack out of type is the pitcher plant. These produces electrical signals that use
our favorite plumber. And in The plants lure prey into their tube- up valuable energy, Gilbert says.
Addams Family, Morticia owns an shaped leaves using sweet nectar. More energy is then needed to
“African Strangler” plant with a The lips of these “pitchers” have produce enough enzymes to digest
pesky habit of biting humans. a slippery coating. Insects and the plant’s prey. A giant flytrap
Many of these villainous vines sometimes small mammals that would need massive amounts of
are based on real vegetation: lose their footing on this coating energy to move electrical signals
carnivorous plants. These hungry plunge into a pool of digestive across its hefty leaves and also
A sundew’s flora use traps such as sticky leaves, enzymes. Those enzymes break the produce enough enzymes to
sticky slippery tubes and hairy snap- animal’s tissue down into nutrients digest a human.
secretions traps to catch insects, animal poop that the pitcher plant absorbs. Barry Rice says that the ideal
might be the and the occasional small bird or Pitcher plants aren’t equipped man-eating plant wouldn’t move.
most likely mammal. Humans aren’t on the to make regular meals out of He studies carnivorous plants
strategy to menu for the 800 or so carnivorous mammals, though. While larger at the University of California,
snare bigger species can trap rodents and tree Davis. All plants have cells lined
prey, like shrews, pitcher plants mainly eat with a rigid cell wall, Rice notes.
humans. insects and other arthropods, says This helps give them structure but
Kadeem Gilbert. This botanist makes them “terrible at bending
studies tropical pitcher plants and moving around,” he says. Real
for Michigan State University in carnivorous plants with snap-traps
Hickory Corners. And the few are small enough that their cellular
pitcher plant species large enough structure doesn’t limit any moving
to snare mammals are probably parts. But a plant large enough
after these animals’ poo rather to catch a person? “You’d have to
than their bodies. Consuming this make it a pitfall trap,” he says.
predigested material would use less Digesting a human may be
energy than digesting the animal more trouble than it’s worth,
itself, Gilbert says. though. The extra nutrients from
A people-eating plant would undigested prey would promote
want to save energy when it could. the growth of bacteria. If the plant
“The depictions in Mario Brothers takes too long to digest a meal, the
and Little Shop of Horrors seem corpse could begin to rot inside the
HHELENE/SHUTTERSTOCK
less realistic,” says Gilbert. Those plant, Rice says. “The plant’s got
monstrous plants chomp, flail to be able to make sure it can take
their vines and even chase after those nutrients out of there,” says
people. “It takes a lot of energy for Rice. “Otherwise, you’re gonna get
fast movement.” a compost pile.”
Pitcher plants
use sweet
nectar to lure
prey to tumble
into a pool
of digestive
enzymes.
A STICKY AFFAIR
Pitcher plants and snap-traps, The glue-like traps of sundews,
though, may offer humans too however, would prevent a person
many chances to wriggle free. from fighting back. These function properly,” says Cross. The
Large mammals could escape by carnivorous plants use leaves sundew would subdue a person
simply thrashing about, says Adam covered in tiny hairs and sticky through exhaustion.
Cross. He’s a restoration ecologist secretions to capture insects. The Sundews’ sweet scents may
at Curtin University in Perth, best human-trapping plant would entice insects, but that’s probably
Australia, and has studied meat- be a massive sundew that carpets not enough to lure humans into a
eating plants. A person trapped the ground with long, tentacle-like trap. Cross recommends a fleshy,
in a pitcher plant could easily leaves, Cross says. Each leaf would nutritious fruit or a reliable source
punch a hole through its leaves be covered in big globs of a thick, of water. “I think that’s the way
to drain the fluid and escape, he sticky substance. “The more you to do it,” says Cross. “Bring them
PLANTS: AN4OUSS; TAWEESAK SRIWANNAWIT; KUTTELVASEROVA STUCHELOVA/SHUTTERSTOCK; POSTER: PICTORIAL PRESS LTD/ALAMY
says. And snap-traps? “All you’d struggled, the more you would in with something tasty, and then
need to do is just cut or pull or become enmeshed and the more munch on them yourself.”
tear your way out.” your arms would be unable to — Aaron Tremper ◗
Mario Bros.’ piranha plants (left) and

the ravenous Audrey II from Little Shop
of Horrors (top) take some cues from
real Venus flytraps (right). But the fast
chomping and big movements needed to
take down a person would require too much
energy for a real plant.

Explainer
The other factor that affects

PHYSICS What is friction? friction is how hard the two
surfaces are pressing together.
Very light pressure between them
This force exists between any will result in only a small amount
of friction. But two surfaces
two surfaces in contact with pressing together strongly will
one another generate a lot of friction.
For instance, even two sheets
F
riction is a familiar force slow things down. And it depends of sandpaper rubbing together
in everyday life. It is on only two things: the nature of lightly will have only a little
the force felt between the surfaces and how hard one friction. That’s because the bumps
two surfaces when one presses against the other. can glide over one another
attempts to slide against The material a surface is fairly easily. Press down on the
the other — whether or not they made from affects how much sandpaper, though, and the bumps
are moving. Friction always acts to friction it creates. This is due have a much harder time moving.
to the “bumpiness” of each They attempt to lock together.
surface. Sandpaper, for instance, This offers a good model for
will create more friction what happens even on the scale of
than smooth metal. molecules. Some seemingly slick
surfaces will try to grab on to each
other as they slide across. Imagine
them as covered by microscopic
hook-and-loop tape.
You can see friction’s large-scale
effect in earthquakes. As Earth’s
tectonic plates try to slide past one
another, small “slips” cause minor
quakes. But as the pressure builds
up over decades and centuries, so
does the friction.
Friction can also lead to
dramatic fun, such as ice
skating. Balancing all of your
weight on skates creates a
much higher pressure under
their blades than if you
were wearing regular shoes.
This, in turn, melts the
ice beneath your skates to
create a liquid layer. And
this thin layer of liquid
allows your skate to glide —
with very little friction —
PEOPLEIMAGES.COM - YURI A/SHUTTERSTOCK
over the ice beneath it.

We feel the forces of
friction every day as we walk,
drive and play. We can lower
its drag with a lubricant. But
whenever two surfaces are in
contact, friction will be there to
slow things down.
— Trisha Muro ◗
TYPES OF FRICTION
Friction is involved
Sliding in many different
motions, from
friction sliding to cycling to
swimming. And it
can even be involved
when something isn’t
moving at all.
ACC
E LERA
TION
GRAVITY
FRI
CTI
ON
Static
friction
Rolling
friction
FORCE
GRAVITY
ACCELERATION
FRICTION
GRAVITY
FRICTION
Fluid
friction
ACCELERATION
GRAVITY
F LU I D F R I CT I O N Blue tint here

Test Your Knowledge
ANIMALS Sharks aren’t as scary “In some cases, we saw stuff

that was just not true or was
as they seem on TV exaggerated,” Whitenack says.

“That creates fear.” For instance, she
recalls one episode of Shark Week
that focused on possible encounters
Shark Week programs lack with a prehistoric shark. “The entire
research and give mixed messages episode was fiction,” Whitenack
says. But many viewers missed a
Y
ou can hear it in the eerie music. Or in the narrator’s tone. message about the show’s staged
Something bad is about to happen. On Shark Week, a week of events and thought the extinct
documentary-style shows on cable TV, suspenseful sounds often creature could be alive today.
cue terrifying tales of shark attacks. Many shark species are rare and
But such incidents are rare, says Lisa Whitenack. She’s a biologist and endangered. Shark Week shows
geologist at Allegheny College in Meadville, Pa. “You are more likely to provide some information about
get hit by lightning than to be bitten by a shark,” she says. And as long as sharks’ roles in ecosystems and how
sharks aren’t provoked, they usually leave people alone. to protect the animals. But the
Whitenack and other shark scientists were concerned that the scary team found that only six episodes
stuff on Shark Week was misrepresenting sharks. They also suspected gave viewers ways to help sharks.
that Shark Week didn’t contain much science. She and her colleagues “The messaging needs some work,”
set out to gather data on their hypotheses. “Because that’s what good Whitenack concludes.
scientists do,” she says. Just like scientists, viewers should
Her team watched 201 episodes of Shark Week. For each 40-minute ask lots of questions. And they can
episode, the researchers kept tabs on which species of sharks appeared, fact-check what they’ve heard on
what was said about them and the research methods cited in the shows. TV. “Don’t take it all at face value,”
The researchers shared their findings in PLOS One. Whitenack cautions. “Just because
Shark Week often gave muddled messages. Over half of the shows it’s on TV doesn’t mean it’s true.”
gave both positive and negative messages about sharks. — Carolyn Wilke ◗
Sharks may seem scary

because of what’s on TV
or in movies. But you’re
more likely to be struck
by lightning than to be
bitten by a shark.
ALESSANDRO DE MADDALENA/SHUTTERSTOCK

RESEARCH METHODS FEATURED ON SHARK WEEK EPISODES
Researchers watched over 200 episodes of Shark Week, filling out a worksheet on each one.
They tallied up all the research methods mentioned. The category “other” includes methods
that were only used once, such as research that measured how sharks’ muscles worked.
16.3% No research
15.5% Other
14.1% Acoustic tracking
Cameras/Drones/Remotely
13.2% operated vehicles
12.7% Satellite tracking
5.9% Measurements from photos
4.8% Photo ID
4.2% Genetics
2.8% Blood
2.8% Stomach contents
2.5% Bite analysis
2.5% Fincam/Camera tag
2.5% Ultrasound
DATA DIVE
1. What is the largest slice 4. What sort of 6. What is the

of the pie chart? information about animals percentage of methods
JULIA SALTZMAN; ADAPTED BY L. STEENBLIK HWANG
can researchers get from that analyze samples

2. Why does it matter that photos and videos? What — DNA, blood or
this is the most-cited method kinds of information stomach contents?
in Shark Week shows? will they miss?
7. Which methods
3. How many slices on 5. How many slices on track where animals
the pie chart relate to the the pie chart relate to travel? What’s the
use of photos or videos? measuring animals? What’s total percentage? ◗
Add them up. What’s the their total percentage?
total percentage?
What’s This?!
Sleeping glass
ANSWER being see-through matters a lot for the snack-sized
frogs. They spend the day hiding like little shadows
on the undersides of leaves.
frogs go into “The heart stopped pumping red, which is the

normal color of blood, and only pumped a bluish
liquid,” says Carlos Taboada. He works at Duke
stealth mode University in Durham, N.C., and studies how

life’s chemistry evolves. He’s part of the group that
discovered glass frogs’ hidden cells and shared the
findings in Science.
The animals make Catching red blood cells in the act inside
themselves harder to living frogs proved to be a tough puzzle. With a
regular microscope, the researchers couldn’t see
see by hiding away red through the mirrorlike outer tissue of the liver.
They also couldn’t do anything that woke up the
blood cells frogs. Otherwise, the red blood cells would rush
out of the liver and into the body. Even putting
A
s tiny glass frogs fall asleep, about 90 percent the frogs to sleep with anesthesia kept the liver
of their red blood cells can stop circulating trick from working.
through the body. The cells all cram inside the The researchers solved their problem with a
frog’s liver as the animal snoozes. That organ technique called photoacoustic imaging. It can reveal
can disguise the cells behind a mirrorlike surface. hidden interiors thanks to subtle vibrations created
Hiding their red blood cells can make the by light striking various molecules.
animals two or three times as transparent. And — Susan Milius ◗
SLEEPING ACTIVE
While sleeping, a
glass frog tucks
away most of its red
blood cells inside
its liver, making
the animal nearly
transparent (left).
When it wakes, its
Turning transparent while blood cells circulate
JESSE DELIA
again and the frog

sleeping helps camouflage becomes more
these snack-sized frogs. visible (right).

INSIDE THE MIND OF A YOUNG SCIENTIST
A winner of the Regeneron Science Talent Search — Society for Science’s most prestigious
competition — answers four questions about science
S
cience competitions can be fun and rewarding.
But what goes on in the mind of one of these young
scientists? Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS)
2022 2nd place winner Victor Cai shares some of his
science dreams and advice.
Q Which sci-bi advancement do you wish we had by now?

A Although likely impossible, I’d love to see the Alcubierre
warp drive become a reality. I’ve always been fascinated
by the human capacity for imagination in striving to bend
the laws of the universe and push the boundaries of what
we once thought was possible.
Q Which scientist — alive or deceased — would you want

to solve scientibic mysteries with and why?
A With my passion in electrical engineering, I would
love to work alongside Thomas Edison. I admire Edison’s
perseverance and his drive to improve society through his
inventions. I hope to become a resourceful and creative
engineer like Edison, who is talented at turning ideas into
useful applications.
Q What would you invent if you had all the resources in

the world?
A I would invent the Dyson sphere! Once we create
efficient and sustainable solar panel and energy storage
technology, a Dyson sphere would provide enough energy
to propel us to … higher civilization levels.
Q What advice do you have for young innovators?

A Don’t be afraid to pursue ideas no one else has tried
before. It is at these frontiers that the research really
starts. Pursue what inspires you, find out where others
have failed, and incorporate new perspectives that could
shed light on useful insights and breakthroughs.
2nd Place Winner

Victor Cai
Victor, of Orefield, Pa., won for creating a short-range, narrow-bandwidth radar that calculates distance
by transmitting two signals at different frequencies and then measures the phase difference between
them. This short-range distance-sensing radar could one day help the visually impaired navigate spaces
in their homes. Victor is now studying electrical engineering at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass.
Sponsored by Society for Science; Photos by Society for Science

EXPLORE
OUR SOCIAL MEDIA
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SCAN HERE
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June/July 2023

The perfect gift

than the last

www.snexplores.org | JUNE/JULY 2023 1

A magazine by the Society for Science

CONSULT DESIGN AND MARKETING

Robot pills could mean fewer shots

handling). Periodicals Rate Pending, Permit Acct Number: 3410866.

Q Why does hair turn lighter in the summer?

FIND OUT MORE USING THE QR CODES.

An estimated 170 trillion

Climate change could

mean fewer blue lakes If the water is more clogged with

Lakes were more likely to be blue

That means just a bit more

CHEMISTRY Keep the creaminess, Knoxville. He and his team are

hold the ice stabilizers. They’re testing cellulose

Ice crystals formed in a frozen sugar

6 JUNE/JULY 2023 | SCIENCE NEWS EXPLORES

Think you know

www.snexplores.org | JUNE/JULY 2023 7

8 JUNE/JULY 2023 | SCIENCE NEWS EXPLORES

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the first woman on the moon. space accessible.” predecessors.

12 JUNE/JULY 2023 | SCIENCE NEWS EXPLORES

The team included

14 JUNE/JULY 2023 | SCIENCE NEWS EXPLORES

was going to look like. that path is really important. ◗

www.snexplores.org | JUNE/JULY 2023 15

www.snexplores.org | JUNE/JULY 2023 17

Every October, nerds of all stripes descend on Falling into fandom

Have you ever gotten so absorbed

18 JUNE/JULY 2023 | SCIENCE NEWS EXPLORES

Finding identity through fandom

ILLUSTRATIONS: DOYANDESIGN, KAPITOSH/SHUTTERSTOCK; FANS: M. TEMMING

CHEMISTRY Keep candy cool with evaporation

9. In a lab notebook, record

10. Repeat steps 1–9 twice

Find the full activity,

22 JUNE/JULY 2023 | SCIENCE NEWS EXPLORES

These words are hiding in this issue.

ARTEMIS CULTURE LIVER PERSONALITY

CELLULOSE LAKE PARABOLIC

www.snexplores.org | JUNE/JULY 2023 23

TECHNOLOGY Robotic pills may one Designing a pill that could

day replace injections was a bit tricky. Once swallowed,

The robo-pill’s Medicine

24 JUNE/JULY 2023 | SCIENCE NEWS EXPLORES

After the robo-pill settles, a tiny needle can

ILLUSTRATION BY STEVE MCCRACKEN

www.snexplores.org | JUNE/JULY 2023 25

PLANTS Could a plant ever eat a person?

Mario Bros.’ piranha plants (left) and

www.snexplores.org | JUNE/JULY 2023 27

The other factor that affects

over the ice beneath it.

F LU I D F R I CT I O N Blue tint here

www.snexplores.org | JUNE/JULY 2023 29

ANIMALS Sharks aren’t as scary “In some cases, we saw stuff