Physicist Dmitri Krioukov knew he didn’t deserve the traffic ticket he received for disobeying a stop sign. If it came down to his word against the police officer’s, however, he knew he […]
Physics Comes to the Rescue for Traffic Ticket Defense
Flavorful Physics
Quarks are elementary particles that combine to form atomic particles. They were theorized by Murray Gell-Mann and George Zweig in 1964. Originally they were pronounced “kwork” by Gell-Mann. He settled on the […]
Pleasing Pendulum Poetic Limerick
Thanks to Lesser Mutterings for pointing us to this wonderful science-based limerick. The primary equation that describes how a pendulum works is: T is the period of time it takes for a […]
How To See Impossible Colors
This is an article about colors, written by a person who is colorblind. Impossible, you say? So did this writer. In the course of protesting this assignment, however, it was pointed out […]
How Fast is a Finger Snap?
Snapping one’s fingers is a universally-understood way of communicating how easily and quickly something can be accomplished. If you want to be a bit more precise, you might want to know just […]
Learn What Prompted The Most Intelligent Photo Ever Taken
When John F. Kennedy welcomed a gathering of Nobel Prize winners at the White House in 1962, he said, “I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, […]
Does the Way Music is Tuned Explain Why the World is a Mess?
Welcome, Dear Reader. How are you doing? Are you having a good day? Did you have a nice time during the holidays? Gee, that’s wonderful. You obviously did not spend those hours […]
Relativity and Fine Fashion Sense
Unquestionably, Albert Einstein had one of the greatest minds of all time. Even the most casual student of science associates the great man with relativity, unlocking the secrets of the atom, and […]
Sweden’s Scale Model of the Solar System Spans the Whole Country
As young students, we all got our first introduction to the solar system through pictures that showed the planets orbiting the sun. Those pictures frequently showed equal distance between the planets and […]
Space Cadets: TV’s Most Expensive Hoax
The age of space tourism is upon us. At this writing, the world (and Trekkies, in particular) is reveling in William Shatner’s recent journey into space, becoming the oldest person to do […]
Is a Cat a Liquid or a Solid?
Cats are paradoxes. They are adorable and cuddly, yet they can abruptly become fierce and unapproachable. Perhaps their dual nature is what compelled Erwin Schrödinger in his famous thought experiment, in which […]
How to Tell Whether the Large Hadron Collider Has Destroyed the World
When the Large Hadron Collider went active in 2010, fears abounded that it would trigger the end of the world. Hypothetically, the world’s largest particle collider could generate stable microscopic black holes […]
Did Cleopatra’s Nose Change History?
Could something as seemingly insignificant as the size of a person’s nose change the course of human events? According to Blaise Pascal, the answer is yes. Pascal (1623-1662) was one of the […]
Work Out and Lose Weight By Mouse Clicking
If your lifestyle finds you seated in front of your computer for most of the day, that’s no reason to give up the quest for physical fitness. You can turn everyday activities […]
Dreams So Powerful That They Shaped History
Scientists, philosophers, and theologians have long pondered and theorized about dreams. What are they? What causes them? What purpose do they serve? The debates about dreams continue, but one thing is certain: […]
Commonplace Fun Facts 