Science
Discover facts about science. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Science
Why eucalyptus trees can burst into flames
Some eucalyptus leaves contain volatile oils that can add fuel when a fire is already burning. They don't make a tree ignite by themselves; the oils can help…
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Ice has more than a dozen solid forms
Pressure can keep some forms of ice solid even above 100°C. Squeezing water changes how its molecules fit together, and under the right pressure a solid…
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Geothermal mud pots continuously boil acidic clay
A hot spring has enough water to flow; a mud pot is more like a bubbling clay stew. Acidic water first breaks nearby rock into fine clay, then underground…
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Mars can be swallowed by planet-wide dust storms
A Martian dust storm can spread from one region until dusty air veils the whole planet. The dust blocks much of the sunlight reaching the ground, dimming Mars…
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Io is a moon covered in active volcanoes
Jupiter’s gravity keeps stretching and flexing Io as the moon orbits. That repeated bending creates friction inside Io, heating it enough to power eruptions…
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Aardvarks can outdig people in hard soil
An aardvark’s powerful shoulders and digging claws can rip through sun-baked soil that makes a person’s shovel struggle. That same speed at digging has a…
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How a laser can ride down a waterfall
Aim a laser into falling water at a shallow angle, and the light can stay trapped inside the stream as it curves downward. It keeps reflecting within the…
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How rivers leave behind crescent-shaped lakes
A river doesn’t have to keep following a bend forever. If it breaks through the thin strip of land across the bend, the main current bypasses the loop.…
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Saturn’s rings are vast—but astonishingly thin
The rings are a swarm of separate icy particles, not a solid plate. From far away, all those bits blur into a wide disk, but most of the space inside it is…
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A diamond can burn away without melting
A diamond is carbon arranged in a crystal. At a high enough temperature in oxygen, that carbon reacts to form carbon dioxide gas. The solid can disappear…
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Quicksort halves datasets to achieve rapid organization
A good pivot divides the unsorted entries into roughly equal groups, so each round cuts the remaining piles down. That repeated halving gives quicksort its…
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Brain plasticity reroutes damaged pathways
After an injury, the brain can sometimes find another route to a familiar task. With experience and practice, nearby or connected areas may reorganize and…
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Empty space can pull two metal plates together
Quantum fields fluctuate even in a vacuum. Between two close metal plates, fewer of those fluctuations can fit than outside, so the pressure outside is…
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Ugly rocks can hide crystals inside
A geode’s crystals grow in a cavity hidden inside an ordinary-looking rock. Mineral-rich water seeps in, then cooling or evaporation leaves minerals behind;…
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Free floating electrons are why metals conduct electricity
The electrons that power a lamp move surprisingly slowly through the wire. What travels quickly is the electric field, which sets electrons moving throughout…
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Predictable messages contain almost no information
Information is the surprise a message delivers. If you already know every character, each one arrives exactly as expected and adds nothing new; if the next…
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Reindeer see a layer of the snowy landscape humans cannot
Snow reflects ultraviolet light, but wolf fur and many lichens absorb more of it. Reindeer that can see UV therefore get extra contrast: dark shapes stand out…
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Your sourdough starter is a local microbial pet
Flour brings in many of the starter’s microbes, and hands and kitchen surfaces can add a few local residents. Yeasts make gas that puffs up the dough;…
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The Acid That Eats Through Glass
Glass is mostly silicon dioxide, and hydrofluoric acid can react with it in a way most acids cannot. The reaction etches or dissolves the glass, so the acid…
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Mount Kilimanjaro features three distinct volcanic peaks
Kilimanjaro is built from three volcanic peaks: Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira. Kibo, the central cone, has no recorded eruption, but scientists cannot rule out…
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Why Great Danes and Pugs Are Genetically So Similar
Genes don’t all turn the body’s growth dial by the same amount. A few differences in growth-regulating genes can have a big effect on adult size, and an IGF1…
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How Leopards Haul Heavy Prey Into Trees
A leopard uses powerful shoulders and forelegs to haul prey up a tree, gripping the bark with its claws. Once the meal is off the ground, scavengers such as…
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Shrink Earth to a billiard ball and it feels smooth
On a 2.25-inch billiard ball, Everest would rise only about 0.04 millimeters above sea level. Scale the planet down and its grand peaks shrink to tiny bumps,…
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Why polar bear liver can be deadly to humans
Polar bear liver can be dangerous because it packs in vitamin A, which your body stores instead of quickly flushing away. Eat too much and the supply can…
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