Inside a sealed clean room near Toulouse, France, Maurice Sylvestre points out something called SuperCam. Tall, with square-frame glasses, a corduroy jacket and a full head of brown hair, he resembles a mid-1980s version of actor Michael Caine, if Caine […]
I’m not what you’d call a coordinated man, so basketball horrifies me. All the dribbling, all the shooting—all while running and dodging people trying to smack the ball out of your hands. Basketball players have to be one with the […]
It’s no secret that the pharmaceutical industry wields big influence over doctors who prescribe painkillers. But the data is mounting on the extent of that relationship and the many thousands of lives it has cost. This week came new revelations […]
We as a species would be miserable without yeast. Baker's yeast has given us leavened bread for thousands of years. And I don’t even want to begin to imagine a world without beer and wine, which rely on yeast to […]
What's the difference between weight and mass? Many people use these terms interchangeably, but that only works because all but a few of us live on Earth. If we start taking up residence in space colonies, on the Moon or […]
Last Wednesday, Hurricane Michael slammed into the Florida Panhandle at 155 miles per hour, flattening neighborhoods, turning subdivisions into rubble, and plunging the coast into darkness. On Friday, Trevor Lewis packed up two trucks with crowbars, chainsaws, sledgehammers, ropes, walkie […]
Could you cook a chicken by slapping it? This recent meme may not sound like a good physics question at first glance, but it is, in fact, a great question. In fact, I thought I'd already answered it. Back in […]
Click:duplex stainless steel ball valve In September 16, 2011, an anime fan posted a math question to the online bulletin board 4chan about the cult classic television series The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Season one of the show, which involves […]
Outdoorsy types are well-versed in the differences between down feathers and synthetic fibers, the two most common fillings for puffy gear like jackets, gloves, and sleeping bags: Down compresses, but stops insulating when it gets wet. Synthetics keep you warm […]
On June 15, 1991, Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines blew its top in an eruption of staggering proportions. It sent an ash cloud 28 miles high, filling surrounding valleys with deposits 660 feet thick and destroying almost every bridge within […]