Physical Science
Physical science is the study of the physical world around you. Learn about everything from electricity to magnetism in this section.
You Know White Noise, But What's Pink Noise and Brown Noise?
Skipping Stones on Ice Makes Crazy Sci-fi Sounds
Mystery Behind Cuba's Alleged Sonic Attack Deepens
How Do Disposable Hand Warmers Work?
Why Do Bubbles Pop?
What's the World's Strongest Superacid?
Static Electricity Can Cause Way More Than a Bad Hair Day
Light Pollution Is Stealing the Night
Party Trick Breakdown: Why Do Balloons Stick to Hair?
The Surprising Silver Lining of the Atomic Age Nuclear Tests
How Are Coroners and Medical Examiners Different?
Viking Warrior in Ancient Grave Was a Woman
Time May Not Exist, Say Some Physicists and Philosophers
How Alchemy Paved the Way for Chemistry
Who Was the First Scientist?
A Kid-friendly Introduction to Magnets and Magnetism
How Solenoids Work
Why Does Ice Stick to Your Fingers?
How to Calculate the Percent Error Formula
What Is the Area Formula for a Rectangle, a Triangle and a Circle?
How to Subtract Fractions
Kummakivi, Finland's Balancing Rock, Seems to Defy the Laws of Physics
What Is Energy?
Could Newly Measured W Boson Break the Standard Model?
U.S. Scientists Achieve a Breakthrough in Nuclear Fusion. What Does That Mean?
Hisashi Ouchi Suffered an 83-day Death By Radiation Poisoning
Could Thorium Power the Next Generation of Nuclear Reactors?
Why Are School Buses Yellow?
Is This Black Hole Coming for You? It's Just an Optical Illusion
Why Distant Mountains Appear Blue to the Naked Eye
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We take the mystery out of reporting the percent error correctly and show you how to use it in real life.
By Mark Mancini
The iconic "school bus yellow" was the invention of an educator named Frank Cyr. But if yellow is so good for visibility, why don't all fire trucks use it too?
By Dave Roos
Want to know the area of your pizza or the kitchen you're eating it in? Come on, and we'll show you how to figure it out with an area formula.
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The very idea of trying to subtract one fraction from another may send you into convulsions of fear, but don't worry — we'll show you how.
It's called fusion ignition and it's being hailed as a historic development in nuclear fusion that could pave the way for clean energy. We talked to a nuclear physicist who explained it all.
You can find the distance between two points by using the distance formula. It's an application of the Pythagorean theorem. Remember that from high school algebra?
By Mark Mancini
The science is pretty simple. It's all about oxidation (the chemical reaction that makes rust). It's just sped up super fast.
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When a peta and a tera won't do, you can now call on the quetta or the ronna prefixes. But just how big are these new metric systems of measurement?
By Alia Hoyt
A rise in carbon-14 in the early 1960s from nuclear bomb testing and radioactive contamination had some unexpectedly useful side effects. It's called the bomb pulse, but its benefits won't last forever.
How large does a random group of people have to be for a 50 percent chance to exist that at least two of the people will share a birthday?
It looks completely impossible that this rock should stand, balanced as it is, but it has not moved since the last ice age.
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In 1999, a worker at a Japanese nuclear fuel plant was exposed to critical levels of radiation. He's still thought to have suffered the worst radiation burns in history. He lived for 83 agonizing days afterward as his body all but disintegrated.
There are many types of energy in the world, from potential and kinetic to electrical and thermal, along with many others. But what exactly is energy?
By Mark Mancini
All bubbles pop — that's a fact of life. But what's the science behind the short life and inevitable pop of a bubble?
Scientists created this expanding black hole illusion to show how your mind can trick your eye.
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With a little patience, you can master this trick of converting binary code to decimals — and have fun doing it!
By Mark Mancini
The answer to the question "Does time exist?" may seem obvious, but is it? And what if time doesn't exist, but is merely a human construct?
By Sam Baron
A decade of science and trillions of collisions show the W boson is more massive than expected. A physicist on the team explains what it means for the reigning model of particle physics.
By John Conway
Superacids are those with an acidity greater than sulfuric acid. So which is the most super of superacids and what exactly is it used for?
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Your eyes aren't playing tricks on you. Those mountains way off in the distance really do look blue, and it's because of how light wavelengths scatter in the atmosphere.
By Mark Mancini
Both degrees and radians represent the measure of an angle in geometry. So, how do you convert one to the other?
By Mark Mancini
Most of the world uses meters, apart from the U.S. and a few other countries. So what's an easy way to convert from meters to feet and vice versa?
By Mark Mancini
Finding the range of a set of numbers is an easy subtraction problem!
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We all have favorite colors. But have you ever considered why you like one color more than another?
There was a time (4,000 years ago) when simply being able to add might get your name on a clay tablet or help you accumulate vast wealth.
By Dave Roos