SOAP BUBBLES AND WINE LEGS
SOAP BUBBLES make for a fascinating physics lab, even on your own table top. Knvul Sheikh gives proof of this in “Watch Soap Bubbles Turn Into Tiny SnowGlobes as They … Continue reading
ON QUARKS, ROBOTS, AND PANDEMONIUM
PROFESSOR MURRAY GELL-MANN died, age 89, on May 24, 2019. He was an American physicist who received the 1969 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the theory of … Continue reading
GODZILLA—AND CHANGING TIMES
SINCE ITS 1954 film debut, Godzilla has doubled in size, breaking all sorts of guidelines in evolutionary theory. It’s more along the lines of the Hollywood dictum that if one … Continue reading
LEAF MATHEMATICS
HOW COME THE common Japanese shrub Orixa japonica breaks all the rules of leaf arrangement? Basil, for instance, is decussate: Each leaf is about a quarter-turn, 90 degrees, from the … Continue reading
ON FRACKING, EGS, AND QUAKES
MOTHER NATURE DOESN’T take kindly to poking, even when administered with the best of intentions. Science has documented that the extraction of petroleum or natural gas by fracturing subterranean rock … Continue reading
CATS ARE SOCIALLY SMART—BUT ONLY IF THEY CHOOSE TO BE
SCIENTISTS ARE CONFIRMING what cat fanciers have suspected all along: Cats are just as smart as dogs. But I can imagine the cat saying, “As if I care…..” David Grimm’s … Continue reading
TIDBITS FROM AAAS
THE AAAS, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and its weekly Science magazine share knowledge with an audience broader than readers of pure scientific journals. These tidbits gleaned … Continue reading
RARE EARTH PRODUCTION—NIMBY
RARE EARTHS, DESPITE their name, are ubiquitous in mobile phones, computer hard drives, automotive catalytic converters, and other features of modern life. Back in 2016, “As Rare As… Earth?” here … Continue reading
WHAT DOES CLIMATE CHANGE HAVE TO DO WITH SEX?
THERE. NOW THAT I have your attention, I’ll cite “Atmospheric Scientists Join Pheromone Quest” by Kai Kupferschmidt, in Science, April 12, 2019. And, before we’re done here today, there’s an … Continue reading
ON PSEUDOARCHAEOLOGY
DID ALIENS BUILD the Egyptian pyramids? Were the Americas first populated by Western Europeans? A growing number of people believe in such claptrap, according to Science magazine, published weekly by … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 