A fantastic video by “Real Engineering” explaining why transistors are probably the invention that most changed the world, ranking it even above the mastery of fire! [Real Engineering | Via LS]
A variant on X-rays could scan the pages of a closed book according to MIT researchers. Tests already show the technique working on a bundle of nine sheets of paper. The research is detailed in the snappily-titled Nature Communications article “Terahertz time-gated spectral imaging for content extraction through layered structures.” It’s based around using T-rays, […]
[After setting your car on fire] Listen, you car’s temperature has changed before… [Source: XKCD]
If you’re using a VR headset such as the Oculus Rift, you might have experienced what is called “Cyber Sickness,” a sickness similar to motion sickness that is related to moving around in a virtual reality world. If you want to know what this is happening, this out this episode of the Scishow to learn […]
Starch could be a taste in its own right, newly-published research suggests. Tests found subjects could detect the taste as separate from sweetness in carbohydrate-rich foods. While we can detect countless flavors — each a combination of taste and aroma –, the standard explanation at the moment is that we can only detect five distinct […]
Public bathrooms are teeming with microbes! You know to wash your hands, but when choosing between a hand dryer or a paper towel to dry them off— what’s your cleanest bet? [SciShow]
You may have heard that chocolate is high on the list of things that dogs should not be eating, but have you ever wondered why? One molecule, theobromine, is the central culprit to chocolate’s toxicity to dogs. Today Reactions is taking a closer look at the stuff, how much is too much, and also give […]
Scientists have found fossils that show life appearing on Earth much earlier than we thought. Meanwhile, could there be a new fundamental force? [SciShow]
In this episode of “It’s Okay to Be Smart”, host Joe Hanson takes a look at our Microbiome, the system of invisible (to us) Microbes that keeps us alive. [It’s Ok To Be Smart]
Salt dissolves in water; oil does not. But why? You can think of that glass of water as a big, bumpin’ dance party where the water molecules are always switching dance partners — and they’d much rather dance with a salt ion. John Pollard explains how two chemistry principles, energetics and entropy, rule the dance […]