Science
Discover facts about science. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Science
You can estimate pi by throwing sticks
Buffon's Needle is a bizarre geometric probability trick. If you drop a bunch of identically sized straight sticks onto a floor made of parallel parallel…
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Googolplex is too large to write down
It is a number so unapologetically large that if you tried to write it out, there isn't enough matter in the entire observable universe to physically produce…
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Giant cosmic voids contain absolutely nothing at all
There are pockets of the universe where absolutely nothing happened. Vast spans of intergalactic real estate exist with virtually zero galaxies or matter…
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Starfish digest prey outside their bodies
The starfish looks cute in cartoons, but it is actually a horrific, slow-motion nightmare for clams. When they find an oyster, they pry it open just a…
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Voyage implies you brought your provisions
It sounds incredibly romantic and nautical, but 'voyage' comes from the Latin 'viaticum', which essentially translates to 'provisions for the way'. It was…
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Right angles mathematically maximize rectangular area
If you have a strict length of fencing and want the most spacious rectangular enclosure, slanted walls are your worst enemy. Any deviation from a perfect…
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Electric motors essentially reverse electric generators
If you spin a magnet inside a wire coil, you get electricity; if you pump electricity into a wire coil, you spin the magnet. It is basically the same machine…
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Mosquitoes pee on you while they drink your blood
As if stealing your precious hemoglobin wasn't insulting enough, they leave a little parting gift. Blood is heavy and severely compromises a mosquito's…
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Frisbee rims stabilize flight via gyroscopic force
A plastic disc has no aerodynamic business flying gracefully through the air. The only reason a frisbee doesn't immediately flip over and crash is due to the…
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Kilauea maintains an almost continuous state of eruption
While most volcanoes blow up once and sleep for centuries, Hawaii's Kilauea behaves like an overactive fountain. It has been erupting almost non-stop for…
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Why we give genders to forks and tables
Ask someone if a bridge is male or female, and they will surprisingly have a definitive answer. Depending on our native language and its grammatical…
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Superposition uniquely allows multiple waves to overlap
Unlike physical solid objects, sound waves have absolutely zero respect for personal space. Multiple waves can occupy the exact same space simultaneously…
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How cave grit turns into stone pearls
When a tiny piece of grit sits in a shallow subterranean puddle, dripping water constantly spins it around. Minerals slowly coat the rolling grain evenly on…
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Mars has a canyon thousands of miles long
Valles Marineris stretches across the Martian equator like a massive, jagged scar proving our local planet's features are laughably tiny. It runs for…
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Roman numerals had no zero
The entire Roman Empire managed to build vast aqueducts and colosseums while operating on a number system that didn't acknowledge the concept of 'nothing.'…
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The sheep that changed cloning forever
Dolly the sheep completely altered biology by proving that a fully differentiated adult cell could be artificially reset to create a perfect genetic…
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Acoustic waves travel more than four times faster through liquid water than they do through open air
If you want to be heard faster, start screaming underwater. Sound is just a mechanical pressure wave, meaning it requires particles to bump into each other to…
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Why blowing across a bottle makes it whistle
When you blow forcefully across the exact top of an empty bottle, you force a small plug of air to bounce violently up and down into the enclosed neck. This…
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Carborundum functions as a nearly diamond-hard abrasive
Silicon carbide, brilliantly branded as Carborundum, is what happens when silicon and carbon decide to form a gang. Sitting right below diamonds on the…
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Kimberlite rock formations contain deep unmined diamonds
Diamonds are formed too deep to reach, so we have to rely on violent 'kimberlite pipes' to bring them up. These are carrot-shaped, supersonic volcanic…
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Barium metal rapidly oxidizes when exposed to regular air
Barium is incredibly needy when it comes to oxygen. Cut a chunk of pure, shiny barium metal, and within mere seconds, it turns dull and black as it furiously…
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Wheat strains possess six full sets of chromosomes
While mammals get by with two basic sets of chromosomes, modern bread wheat is a massive genetic hoarder possessing six complete sets. This absurd cellular…
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Phenolphthalein exposes basic liquids by turning them pink
Sitting completely clear and boring in acidic or neutral solutions, phenolphthalein dramatically reveals itself the second a liquid turns remotely basic by…
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Glass is neither a liquid nor an ordinary solid
Your windows are actively having an existential identity crisis. Glass lacks the ordered crystalline structure of a true solid, but its molecules don't move…
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