WEIRD SCIENCE
Cape Town residents queued up for water as the taps nearly ran dry in 2018. Morgana Wingard/Getty Images – Author: Yadu Pokhrel, Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Michigan State University Contributor: Farshid Felfelani, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Michigan State University 2021 Jan …
The bizarre sanitarium staple that became a spreadable obsession. Veteran food critic Florence Fabricant has called peanut butter “the pâté of childhood.” (Dan Saelinger) – By Kate Wheeling Smithsonian Magazine 2021 Jan/Feb – North Americans weren’t the first to grind peanuts—the Inca beat …
The whereabouts of the documents remains a mystery to this day. In 1953, the eminent physicist and H-bomb advocate took an ill-fated overnight train from Philadelphia to Washington, DC, that would indirectly lead to the Robert Oppenheimer security hearing. Michail_Petrov-96/iStock/Getty Images – By …
KSTAR, the so-called “Korean artificial sun,” has set a record for maintaining plasma at temperatures over 100 million °C. Michel Maccagnan – Own work, (CC BY-SA 3.0) – By Darren Quick 2020 Dec 28 – While harnessing the power of the Sun has progressed …
Venice’s small footprint, dense population, unusual governmental structure, and its devotion to trade was a unique combination that fostered innovation, entrepreneurship, and creativity. – By Meredith F. Small 2020 Dec 06 – When Venetians invented quarantine in 1348, the government proclamation was based …
New Atlas revisits some of 2020’s strangest science stories. prometeus/Depositphotos View 9 Images – By Michael Irving 2020 Dec 26 – Curing cancer is a noble goal and all, but sometimes scientists just want to see what happens when you give octopuses ecstasy. From …
A snowflake is a small weather feature that can pack a big punch. – By Allison Chinchar, CNN meteorologist 2020 Dec 23 – Many are made up of just one single ice crystal while some, more elaborate snowflakes are comprised of as many …
Behind the scenes, natural history museums store biological samples from the field. Ryan Stephens, CC BY-ND – By Jocelyn P. Colella, Assistant Professor of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and Assistant Curator of Mammals, University of Kansas – Bryan McLean, Assistant Professor of Biology, …
The SprayCare Band dispenses hand sanitizer when and where you need it. – 2020 Dec 14 – In 2020, hand sanitizer has become the must-have accessory, but even a small bottle of the stuff can be a hassle to carry in a bag …
In ancient New Mexico, cold air in cavernous spaces carved out by lava flows preserved blocks of ice. An ice core extracted at El Malpaís National Monument in New Mexico connects water collection to periods of droughts. (jonnyphoto via Flickr under CC BY-NC-ND …
