Cara Santa Maria

Cara Santa Maria

How Old Is Life On Earth, And How Do We Know?

HuffingtonPost.com | Cara Santa Maria | Posted 05.24.2012

The Earth is 4.54 billion years old; 3.8 billion years ago, the very first life form came into existence; 225 million years ago, dinosaurs came on the...

Cara Santa Maria

WATCH: Is Stem Cell Treatment As Advanced As You Think?

HuffingtonPost.com | Cara Santa Maria | Posted 05.21.2012

2012-05-21-Screenshot20120521at3.05.45PM.jpgIn the future, stem cells may hold the key to treating some of mankind's most challenging diseases. Unfortunately, the future is not now. And stem cell scammers know this all too well.

Cara Santa Maria

A Real-Life Doctor Frankenstein?

HuffingtonPost.com | Cara Santa Maria | Posted 05.16.2012

2012-05-16-Screenshot20120516at3.52.36PM.pngGiovanni Aldini may not be a household name, but his contributions to science cannot be ignored. Neither can his macabre demonstrations of the power of electricity on the human body.

Cara Santa Maria

How To Make A Digital Human

HuffingtonPost.com | Cara Santa Maria | Posted 05.14.2012

2012-05-14-Screenshot20120514at12.29.01PM.jpgHave you ever wondered just how they make digital characters like Benjamin Button? Apparently, the trick is all in the lighting.

Cara Santa Maria

Is Cannibalism Good For You?

HuffingtonPost.com | Cara Santa Maria | Posted 05.09.2012

2012-05-09-Screenshot20120509at1.36.03PM.jpgIs eating people dangerous? Nutritional? Healthy? What actually happens, physiologically, when human flesh is consumed?

Cara Santa Maria

WATCH: Liberal, Conservative: Are You Born That Way?

HuffingtonPost.com | Cara Santa Maria | Posted 05.07.2012

2012-05-07-Screenshot20120507at1.18.50PM.jpgDo we have traits that can be used to reliably predict whether someone is liberal or conservative in nature?

Cara Santa Maria

WATCH: Asteroid Mining, The Republican Brain, Science Education On 'The Point'

HuffingtonPost.com | Cara Santa Maria | Posted 05.05.2012

I was recently invited to guest host "The Point," presented by "The Young Turks'" YouTube channel, TownSquare. As the Science Correspondent (and resid...

Cara Santa Maria

WATCH: Virtual Humans In The Wild Wild West

HuffingtonPost.com | Cara Santa Maria | Posted 05.04.2012

Have you ever had a conversation with a computer that wasn't one-sided? Virtual humans are the newest attempt to cross the uncanny valley and present ...

Cara Santa Maria

WATCH: Does Prayer Work?

HuffingtonPost.com | Cara Santa Maria | Posted 05.10.2012

An overwhelming 83 percent of Americans say that God answers prayers--which raises the question, does prayer work? Is it something that we can even be...

Cara Santa Maria

WATCH: Is The Internet Changing Your Brain?

HuffingtonPost.com | Cara Santa Maria | Posted 04.25.2012

2012-04-25-Screenshot20120425at3.31.27PM.jpgIs the internet bad for our brains? Is it affecting our ability to remember things, form meaningful relationships, or make decisions?

Cara Santa Maria

WATCH: Next Steps For Virtual Reality

HuffingtonPost.com | Cara Santa Maria | Posted 04.23.2012

2012-04-23-Screenshot20120423at4.21.12PM.jpgThe worlds we can now enter with virtual reality technology are so stunningly authentic, it's hard to tell where true life ends and the virtual landscape begins.

Cara Santa Maria

WATCH: It's 4/20, Time For Stoned Science

HuffingtonPost.com | Cara Santa Maria | Posted 04.23.2012

2012-04-20-Screenshot20120420at12.54.25PM.jpgI reached out to Dr. Igor Grant, the director of the University of California Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research to get a scientific perspective on the benefits of medical marijuana.

Cara Santa Maria

WATCH: Does Gender Define Us?

HuffingtonPost.com | Cara Santa Maria | Posted 04.18.2012

2012-04-18-Screenshot20120418at12.28.13PM.jpgWhat makes us male or female? What happens when our biological gender is out of sync with our gender identity?

Cara Santa Maria

WATCH: Pain And Progress In Burn Care (NSFW)

HuffingtonPost.com | Cara Santa Maria | Posted 04.09.2012

What actually happens to the body when it catches fire, and what technological advances in burn treatment await on the horizon?2012-04-09-Screenshot20120409at11.24.01AM.png

Cara Santa Maria

WATCH: Can You Hear Colors, Taste Sound?

HuffingtonPost.com | Cara Santa Maria | Posted 05.16.2012

2012-04-05-Screenshot20120405at9.40.24AM.jpgSynesthesia is a fascinating neurological condition that causes an individual to experience perceptual information through a sense modality that is unlinked to its source.

Cara Santa Maria

WATCH: 'The Young Turks' Turns Heat Up On Climate Change

HuffingtonPost.com | Cara Santa Maria | Posted 04.04.2012

As the science correspondent for The Huffington Post, I am often afforded the opportunity to discuss science topics on television and radio. This week...

Cara Santa Maria

WATCH: Are You Ready For The 'Big One?'

HuffingtonPost.com | Cara Santa Maria | Posted 04.04.2012

2012-04-03-Screenshot20120403at9.26.01AM.jpgI spoke to Dr. Thomas Heaton to get a clearer picture of what early earthquake warning systems are and how they can save lives.

Cara Santa Maria

WATCH: The Mind Of A Mass Murderer

HuffingtonPost.com | Cara Santa Maria | Posted 03.28.2012

2012-03-28-Screenshot20120328at10.35.41AM.jpgOn August 1, 1966, Charles Whitman murdered his mother and his wife before traveling to the campus of the University of Texas, climbing inside the tower, and killing fourteen others.

Cara Santa Maria

WATCH: Is The Near-Death Experience A Really Good Trip?

HuffingtonPost.com | Cara Santa Maria | Posted 05.23.2012

2012-03-27-Screenshot20120327at2.35.35PM.jpg

Cara Santa Maria

WATCH: Science And Sex On 'The Point'

HuffingtonPost.com | Cara Santa Maria | Posted 03.23.2012

As the Science Correspondent here on HuffPost Science, I am sometimes offered the opportunity to appear on radio, television, and internet shows to ta...

Cara Santa Maria

WATCH: Tennessee Passes Anti-Evolution Law

HuffingtonPost.com | Cara Santa Maria | Posted 05.20.2012

2012-03-21-Screenshot20120321at2.33.10PM.jpgMonday evening, a new bill was approved by the Tennessee Senate that will protect teachers who wish to promote "alternate" scientific theories. What does this mean for the students?

Cara Santa Maria

WATCH: Neil deGrasse Tyson Talks Origins, Aliens, And Multiple Dimensions

HuffingtonPost.com | Cara Santa Maria | Posted 03.20.2012

2012-03-19-Screenshot20120319at10.31.42AM.jpgFrom intelligent alien life to our stellar origins, how to think outside of the three-dimensional box to what baffles one of the great thinkers of our time, this was a conversation I won't soon forget.

Cara Santa Maria

WATCH: Of Multituberculates And Men

HuffingtonPost.com | Cara Santa Maria | Posted 05.15.2012

2012-03-16-Screenshot20120316at2.18.41PM.jpgAlthough humans never walked with dinosaurs (you hear that, Santorum?), some of our earliest ancestors seem to have done so.

Cara Santa Maria

WATCH: Pi Maven's Amazing Feat Spotlights Celebrated Constant

HuffingtonPost.com | Cara Santa Maria | Posted 05.13.2012

2012-03-14-Screenshot20120314at1.11.56PM.jpgToday is March 14, also known as 3.14, also known as Pi Day. Geeks around the world will unite today to celebrate one of the most unique and beautiful constants in all of mathematics.

Cara Santa Maria

WATCH: This Is Your Brain On Music

HuffingtonPost.com | Cara Santa Maria | Posted 05.09.2012

2012-03-12-Screenshot20120312at9.01.42AM.jpgDo you want to learn how to play an instrument but think that you "can't teach an old dog new tricks?" Then you'd be interested in what Gary Marcus has to say.