Muse: The magazine of science, culture, and smart laughs for kids and children February 2016

Right Back at You For a Muse Reader, I know I am ancient and decrepit at 17 years of age. Yet there is no lack of love from my side and I can only hope that it is reciprocated by the publishing of this letter. It is rather in tradition to make a threat of some kind, but I shall accept my fate in the FMP. It may be warm and comfortable. My letter can form a knitting club and orchestra with the other rejects. They can have weekly yoga classes and pity parties about their fate. Before the conclusion of this letter, I must inquire after information regarding the science of string instruments as it (violin) is my chosen profession, and send much admiration of…

Where I Actually Live I really enjoy all of your articles and wait for every mag to come in. I then read them cover to cover. I am also an ULTRA-nerd. I live in the great place of Bellville, Texas, where it gets very hot. Where I actually live is in my realm of imagination, where I stay nine out of ten hours of the day. If you throw this in the pit, I will send an army of magical creatures to find it. —NATHAN T. / age 13 / Texas P.S. You should really call the Fan Mail Pit the Fan Mail Pit of DOOM!! P.P.S. [Above] are just a couple of the creatures that would come.…

COMPUTER SCIENCE Liar, Liar, Pants on WiFire HAVE YOU heard of the Turing test? It’s a test of artificial intelligence. To pass, a computer program has to answer questions from a human judge and fool that judge into thinking she is talking to another human. An artificial intelligence system developed in California has passed another kind of test: it can trick you into thinking it’s human, but only when it’s telling lies. In an experiment, human judges typed online conversations with either computers or people. No matter the question, the program or person had to answer with false information. Afterward the judges guessed which they were speaking to. A program called Pinokyo passed the test with flying colors, fooling all eight judges into thinking it was human. This is a…

A few years ago, in his advisor’s lab at Harvard University, Bhart-Anjan Bhullar carefully removed another batch of specimens from their shells, placed them into containers with preservatives, and packed them up. The specimens were chicken embryos, but from what Bhullar could see, they didn’t appear to have beaks—they had something that looked more like a dinosaur’s snout. He’d have to wait for the final pictures to be sure. The specimens were on their way to get a CT scan. (Computerized tomography, or CT, provides highly detailed X-ray images.) Bhullar is a paleontologist. He and his team study how vertebrates (organisms with backbones) have evolved over time to the animals we see today. He’s now a professor at Yale University, but he earned his PhD at Harvard, where he spent…

In case you don’t already discuss genetics in casual conversation, here are some genetically relevant terms: DNA—Stands for deoxyribonucleic acid. You’ve probably heard the shape of DNA described as a double helix. However, the long, spiraling double helix usually sits in the nucleus of a cell as a tangled blob called chromatin. Chromosome—A group of genes. When a cell reproduces, its DNA untangles and organizes into pairs of chromosomes. Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes. Chimpanzees have 24 pairs. Gene—A section of DNA that controls a specific function, like eye olor. Genome—Your entire set of 46 chromosomes; your personal collection of genes. Embryo—The name for an unborn, growing organism while it’s still in an egg or a womb. Humans are called embryos for the first eigh weeks of their development.…

If you go to the hospital to have your appendix removed, your parents will sign a form giving permission for the surgery. This form may say that tissue taken during surgery could be used for scientific research Most likely, your parents quickly sign the form without reading it so you can get to the O.R., stat! You’re doubled over in pain and don’t really care what happens to that nasty appendix anyway, right? But what if a researcher uses your appendix cells to find a cure for cancer? What if that cure generates millions of dollars for a drug company? Should you receive payment for the use of your cells? Should you be told how your cells were used? Are they still “your” cells once they’re removed from your body?…