Why Do Door Knobs Feel Cold?
By touching a door knob or a metal object, heat is transferred from one’s hand into the metal object. However, it is not the heat transfer that makes metals feel cold, otherwise wood would feel just as cold.
The Physics of Carbon Dating
Radioactive carbon used in radiocarbon dating is carbon that is radioactive. Since it is active, it is unstable, and therefore tends toward stability. This is common in nature; for example, if you hold an object at a certain height, it has the potential to fall, the potential energy that is.
Phosphorus: 350 Years After Its Discovery, This Vital Element Is Running Out
The story of how the 15th element on the periodic table was discovered stands as one of the great accidents of human endeavor.
Linux Is the Quiet Revolution That Will Leave Microsoft Eating Dust
As long as you are capable of writing the software to solve the problem, Linux will allow you to create your own complex supercomputer for free.
How Many People Are Enslaved in the World Today?
In 2017, a coalition of states and non-government organizations estimated that there were some 40 million people enslaved worldwide.
THE EFFECTS OF LOANS ON SOCIETY
Next time people witness the opening of a new business they ought to say, “that ought to buy me more stuff.
How CIA’s Secret Torture Program Sparked Public Reckoning in North Carolina
In 2005, The New York Times reported that two planes used in the CIA torture program were operated by a contractor based in North Carolina.
Climate Change Resilience Could Save Trillions – but How to Fund It?
Adapting to climate change will be a big challenge for cities and citizens around the world. The good news is that investing in it can be cost-effective.
Apollo 8 Realized in 1968 the 2000-Year-Old Dream of a Roman Philosopher
Apollo 8 is the space mission for the humanities. This was the moment in which humanity realized a dream conceived in our cultural imagination.
THE SHEPHERD IS EATING GRASS
The shepherd is walking while his sheeps are standing still.
What about now?
Still, his herd is standing still.
The shepherd starts playing around the field and eating grass,
while its shepherd rests and contemplate.
The Mysterious Radioactive Atomic Nuclei That Will Be in Tomorrow’s Technology
Nuclear science strives to develop new techniques for discovering new isotopes, understanding their properties, and eventually harvesting them efficiently.
Wind Turbines Are Making Songbirds Change Their Tune
Noise pollution from wind turbines should be measured during environmental impact assessments to ensure effects on the surrounding wildlife are minimized.
ODD TRIBE
A Tribe with a one unit less than a prime number of people worshiped evenness.
They feared oddness.
One was born. Their fear manifested.
Little did they know that primes are indivisible, that one is unity.
In Defense of Conspiracy Theories (and Why the Term Is a Misnomer)
Conspiracy is a common form of human behavior across all cultures throughout recorded time, and it has always been particularly widespread in politics.
Open Source Hardware Could Defend Against the Next Generation of Hacking
Making open-source hardware systems more available increases regular people’s security by giving them verifiable secure options.
Recycling All the Plastic Garbage in the World Can Make You Buy the NFL, Apple and Microsoft
How much plastic is in the ocean? According to statistician Liberty Vittert, there are 7.2 trillion grocery bags of plastic waste on Earth today.
The EU steps up action against disinformation
European Commission – Press release Brussels, 5 December 2018 To protect its democratic systems and public debates and in view of the 2019 European elections as well as a number of national and local elections
The EU awards 12,000 travel passes for 18 year-olds to explore Europe in 2019
European Commission – Press release Brussels, 29 November 2018 The European Commission is launching a second DiscoverEU competition. From today (12:00 CET) until Tuesday, 11 December (12:00 CET), young people aged 18 can apply for
Oil and Gas Execs Out-Earn Their Peers Thanks To the Pay-for-Luck Process
Oil prices are highly variable and completely out of the control of individual executives. So why do executives earn more when oil prices go up?
Why Do Innocent Suspects Confess To Crimes They Did Not Commit?
The Reid technique can even convince some innocent suspects that they are guilty. Suspects will sometimes reenact a crime they did not commit.
De Beers to Sell Lab Diamonds: Here’s How They’re Made
High-quality fake diamonds are made by growing layers of carbon atoms using methane and stripping hydrogen away in super-clean vessels using hot plasmas.
Michael Jackson Could Have Set a Legal Precedent
In a quite extraordinary French legal judgement, five Michael Jackson fans had successfully sued the former King of Pop’s doctor.
It’s Harder Than You Might Expect for Charities To Give Back Tainted Money
When these scandals strike, charities face a dilemma – keep the money given by the now-tarnished donor or return the tainted funds.
Cracking the Mystery of the Worldwide Hum
The classic description of the Hum is that it sounds like a truck engine idling. For some, it’s a distant rumbling or droning noise. It can start and stop suddenly or wax and wane over time.
Experiment Shows Einstein’s Quantum Spooky Action Approaches the Human Scale
Nothing in the formulation of quantum mechanics that mandates that it should apply only to the very small, and not to the human scale.