A ham sandwich is, for some, the perfect lunch. ATU Images/The Image Bank via Getty Images Anna Dilger, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to [email protected]. How is deli meat made? – Arabelle, 17, […]
ALMA, a powerful radio telescope in the Atacama Desert of Chile. J.F. Salgado (ESO), CC BY Olivia Harper Wilkins, Dickinson College You may have heard the phrase “we are made of star-stuff.” This statement by the astronomer Carl Sagan refers to the fact that elements heavier than hydrogen and helium were forged in the centers […]
Vibrio vulnificus infections are spreading across the U.S. because of climate change. CDC/Colorized by James Gathany Bill Sullivan, Indiana University Flesh-eating bacteria sounds like the premise of a bad horror movie, but it’s a growing – and potentially fatal – threat to people in the U.S. and beyond. Vibrio vulnificus, a type of flesh-eating bacteria […]
Trebuchet!Watch this video on YouTube Forget tanks. Forget fighter jets. If you were attacking a castle 800 years ago, what you really wanted was a ridiculously oversized wooden contraption that could yeet a 500-pound boulder through someone’s living room from hundreds of feet away. Medieval warfare was wild. In this video, The History Guy explores […]
We (accidentally) broke garlicWatch this video on YouTube For thousands of years, we’ve been happily planting garlic cloves, stuffing them into recipes, warding off imaginary vampires, and generally treating the poor plant like an endless flavor factory. Turns out, we’ve been accidentally breeding it into a genetic corner. A new video from Minute Food begins […]
Physicist Brian Greene Answers Quantum Physics QuestionsWatch this video on YouTube Quantum physics is one of those subjects where you nod along, pretend you understand, and secretly hope nobody asks a follow-up question. Thankfully, theoretical physicist Brian Greene is here to tackle the internet’s biggest brain-melters, including whether string theory is dead, if we’re living […]
Mercury wave.Watch this video on YouTube Marcel Clemens’ Mercury Wave Machine uses 20 spring-mounted vials filled with precisely measured amounts of mercury. As they bounce at slightly different frequencies, they form a hypnotic vertical wave that continuously morphs into mesmerizing new patterns. It’s essentially a pendulum wave turned upright and a beautiful reminder that physics […]
Is spider web really stronger than steel?Watch this video on YouTube We’ve all heard the claim that spider silk is stronger than steel, but could it actually support a human swinging through the air like your friendly neighborhood web-slinger? The folks at Veritasium decided there was only one reasonable way to find out: gather the […]