Professional pitchers try to outsmart batters by throwing baseballs that wobble, curve, or go extra fast. But try as they might, pitchers cannot always make the ball do exactly what they want it to do, and sometimes they use tricks that many consider unfair. Recently, an American ballplayer discovered a baseball in Japan that could help pitchers perform more evenly on the mound. Listen to learn more about the ball and why it could be a game-changer.
Story Length: 3:11
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February 15, 2022
4:10
Electric vehicles (EVs) are becoming popular all around the world. EVs are considered “clean” because they run on electricity rather than gasoline, which spews harmful gasses into the air. It takes precious resources to make EVs, though, and they are more expensive to buy, although that may change soon. Listen to learn more about electric vehicles and why one European country sells an unusually high number of them.
Read MoreDecember 14, 2021
3:05
People with arachnophobia can feel panicked or paralyzed with fear when they see a spider. Their fear may limit where they go and what they do. A new app is designed to help. It exposes people with arachnophobia to realistic, 3-D images of spiders – some that appear to crawl across their hands! Listen to learn how and why a new app helps people conquer their fears.
Read MoreDecember 7, 2021
4:13
Microchips are tiny pieces of silicon with electronic circuits that can store lots of information. Now scientists have found a way to make them fly! Microchips traveling through the air can alert people to danger – and give them time to reach safety – by gathering information about potential disasters like wildfires. Listen to learn more about flying microchips and how scientists are using clever tricks of nature to design them.
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