Science
Discover facts about science. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Science
Why groups wait for someone else to act
Imagine a group project where everyone gets credit whether they do the work or not. Each person has a reason to hang back and hope someone else contributes;…
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How cave formations grow sideways
Helictites begin when water seeps through tiny channels and leaves minerals behind. Capillary forces and growing crystals can steer the deposit sideways,…
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The bizarre dance ferrets do when excited
An excited ferret may twist, hop, and crash around in what’s called the “weasel war dance.” It looks like a tiny fight scene, but it’s usually play or extra…
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Why a piano and guitar sound different on one note
A note isn’t just one pitch; it comes with smaller overtones that give it its character. Piano strings are struck while guitar strings are plucked, so each…
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How mosquitoes can deliver worms to a dog’s heart
While a mosquito takes a blood meal, it can pass tiny heartworm larvae into a dog. The larvae develop and travel through the body; adult worms usually live in…
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The internet has no central authority
When you send a message online, it may cross several networks run by different operators. Those networks pass data along through voluntary agreements, so no…
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Cheetahs can't roar—they meow instead
Cheetahs make several kinds of calls, including chirps, purrs, and meow-like sounds. A mother separated from her cubs can use a high-pitched chirp to help…
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Sulfuric acid can turn sugar into black carbon
Sulfuric acid strips water from sugar molecules, leaving behind a black mass made mostly of carbon. The reaction releases heat, and the water turns to vapor;…
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Alpine marmots sleep through up to eight months
An alpine marmot gets through months underground by spending its stored body fat slowly. Its heart rate and body temperature drop, so it burns less energy…
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The armadillo that gives birth to four identical babies
A nine-banded armadillo’s four pups begin when one fertilized egg divides into four embryos. Because they all come from that one egg, they’re genetically…
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Mount Etna blows white rings without needing smoke
A pulse of gas from Etna’s vent can curl into a spinning ring, much like air blown into a smoke ring. Water vapor in the ring condenses into tiny droplets…
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Why squaring a circle is impossible
With only a compass and straightedge, you can build lengths through a limited set of geometric steps. Squaring a circle exactly would require a length…
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Magnetic fields loop continuously without ever ending
Snap a bar magnet in half and you do not get a north piece and a south piece. Each fragment becomes a smaller magnet with both ends, because its magnetic…
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Australia moves north about seven centimeters a year
GPS doesn’t measure a place against the continent; it measures it against a global frame. Because Australia rides a tectonic plate moving north about seven…
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Drumlin fields look like swarms of giant hills
As a glacier moves, it shapes streamlined hills beneath it called drumlins. Their long, aligned forms tend to point along the ice’s direction of travel, so a…
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Why springboks leap when predators charge
A springbok’s leap may tell a predator, “You’ll have to work for this one.” Jumping high can make the animal look difficult to catch, and if the predator…
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Model train layouts require specific voltage drops
Rails have resistance, so some voltage is lost as current travels along a long model-train layout. The motor may get plenty of power near the connection but…
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Fabry and Buisson discovered the Earth ozone layer
Fabry and Buisson didn’t spot the ozone layer as a colored band in the sky. They measured sunlight and detected the wavelengths ozone absorbs, revealing its…
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An echo spends its delay traveling out and back
Sound takes about a tenth of a second to reach a wall 17 meters away and return. That delay can separate a short sound from its reflection. Move the wall…
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'Globetrotter' is older than the airplane
The word was already in use in the 1870s for people traveling widely around the world. Its jaunty 'trot' makes a vast journey sound like a casual outing. The…
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Exceptional statistical performance aggressively declines
An unusually great result is often followed by one closer to a person’s usual level, not because their skill vanished but because luck may have helped the…
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Why rubbing things together creates heat
When two surfaces rub, friction resists their motion and turns some of that motion energy into heat. At the tiny scale, atoms and molecules start jiggling…
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The metal that can shut down a nuclear reaction
A nuclear chain reaction keeps going when neutrons from one fission trigger more fissions. Hafnium control rods absorb some of those neutrons as they pass…
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Why giraffes sometimes eat bones
A giraffe chewing a bone may be after minerals, not meat. If its plants have not supplied enough calcium or phosphorus, gnawing bone can top up those…
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