Yay, it’s Friday! It’s also time for your first-ever STEAM to Fuel Your Weekend recap. Every Friday afternoon on the Thinkery blog, we’ll bring you kid-friendly, STEAM-focused news your family can share and enjoy together. It’s fuel for your weekend.
Between school, homework, practice and spending time with loved ones, it’s easy to miss out on the latest in science, technology, engineering, art and math. But don’t worry, Thinkery’s got you covered. Here are some of our favorite discoveries from the previous week.
The Sarmientosaurus musacchioi, an herbivorous dinosaur that lived 95 million years ago, hung its head like an enormous Eeyore. After its intact, fossilized cranium was discovered in Argentina, scientists noted many unique characteristics about the newly-named titanosaur. The Sarmientosaurus had humongous eye sockets, a droopy head and was able to pick up on low-frequency sounds.
Levon Biss’ macro photographs of insect specimens are truly something you have to see to believe. Each intricate, close-up image required between 8,000 and 10,000 shots, with each photograph taking more than two weeks to complete. The results are both mesmerizing and beautiful.
Why does your cat act so weird all the time? Well, it really comes down to their evolutionary history. Cats today retain many of the same instincts that allowed them to thrive in the wild. This entertaining TED-Ed video breaks down your cat’s bizarre habits—why it squeezes into small spaces, why it prefers a clean litterbox and why it loves to scratch so much. Boy, do they love to scratch.
Peekaboo! The Hubble Space Telescope just spotted a brand new moon hiding in plain sight. Orbiting the dwarf planet Makemake, this newly-discovered moon is currently called S/2015 (136472) 1, or “MK2” for short. One reason the moon was hidden for so long? It’s incredibly dark—the initial Hubble discovery images suggest that MK2 is a dark charcoal color. Can you spot the secret moon?