Though the common ancestor of all modern birds could fly, many different bird species have independently lost their flight. Flight can have incredible benefits, especially for escaping predators, hunting and traveling long distances. But it also has high costs: consuming huge amounts of energy and limiting body size and weight. Gillian Gibb explores what makes […]
Ada King, Countess of Lovelace, was more than just another mathematician. Watercolor portrait of Ada King, Countess of Lovelace by Alfred Edward Chalon via Wikimedia Corinna Schlombs, Rochester Institute of Technology Ada Lovelace, known as the first computer programmer, was born on Dec. 10, 1815, more than a century before digital electronic computers were developed. […]
Aerosol plumes from commercial toilets can rise 5 feet above the bowl. John Crimaldi/Scientific Reports, CC BY-NC-ND John Crimaldi, University of Colorado Boulder Every time you flush a toilet, it releases plumes of tiny water droplets into the air around you. These droplets, called aerosol plumes, can spread pathogens from human waste and expose people […]
A ball on a spinning turntable won’t fly off as you might expect. In fact the ball will have it’s own little orbit that is exactly 2/7th the angular speed of the table. Here’s why. [Steve Mould | Via Neatorama]
Want to brew an awesome cup of joe at home using the power of science? Look no further than the Belgian balance siphon! Check it out in action below, courtesy of Youtuber and photographer Peter McKinnon. Want one? Amazon has the device right here! Please note that Geeks are Sexy might get a small commission […]
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI Melvin M. Vopson, University of Portsmouth Physicists have long struggled to explain why the universe started out with conditions suitable for life to evolve. Why do the physical laws and constants take the very specific values that allow stars, planets and ultimately life to develop? The expansive force of the universe, […]
Supernovae are the most powerful explosions in the universe, unleashing enough energy to outshine galaxies. We have no real metaphor for their power – if the sun were to magically go supernova it would feel like you were being hit by the energy of a nuclear explosion, every second. For weeks. While supernovae are the […]
Shrödinger’s cat is world famous, but what does it really mean? Robert Couse-Baker/Flickr, CC BY-SA Alessandro Fedrizzi, Heriot-Watt University and Mehul Malik, Heriot-Watt University Quantum mechanics, the theory which rules the microworld of atoms and particles, certainly has the X factor. Unlike many other areas of physics, it is bizarre and counter-intuitive, which makes it […]
Fireflies’ synchronized light shows have fascinated observers for ages. Raphael Sarfati, CC BY-ND Raphael Sarfati, University of Colorado Boulder Imagine an old-growth forest in the fading light of a summer evening. As the last of the sun’s rays disappear beneath the horizon, a tiny flash catches your eye. You turn around, hold your breath; it […]
NASA is going back to the Moon. NASA/Bill Ingalls Jack Burns, University of Colorado Boulder NASA’s Space Launch System rocket lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, in the early hours of Nov. 16, 2022. The rocket carried the Orion Crew Capsule as the centerpiece of the Artemis 1 mission. The […]