Physical Science

When speed is everything and light marks the universe's speed limit, lasers are bound to be the answer. At least, that's what NASA and a bunch of Wall Street types are betting on.

By Nicholas Gerbis

If you have trouble sleeping you might have been told to get a white noise machine. But white isn't the only color of noise out there.

By Talon Homer & Austin Henderson

We'll show you both a quick and dirty way, and a precise, more complicated formula for converting Celsius to Fahrenheit (and vice versa).

By Sydney Murphy & Austin Henderson

Discovered in the early 1800s from a chunk of smuggled platinum ore, rhodium is the most valuable precious metal on the planet today, used mainly for keeping car emissions in check.

By Allison Troutner & Austin Henderson

The main function of the Krebs cycle is to produce energy, stored and transported as ATP or GTP, to keep the human body up and running.

By Jesslyn Shields & Austin Henderson

Many people get speed and velocity confused. It's no surprise because the terms are often used interchangeably. But they're not quite the same thing. So how do you find the velocity of an object?

By Mark Mancini

Cadmium is a natural metal and the leading component in rechargeable batteries and solar cells. It is also highly toxic and heavily regulated.

By Allison Troutner

Converting kilogram measurements into pounds is not hard. We'll show you the textbook way plus two quick-and-dirty shortcuts.

By Mark Mancini

We all have favorite colors. But have you ever considered why you like one color more than another?

By Allison Troutner

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

Both degrees and radians represent the measure of an angle in geometry. So, how do you convert one to the other?

By Mark Mancini

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

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?

By Allison Troutner & Austin Henderson

Hand warmers work through simple chemistry. A massively sped-up version of oxidation (the chemical reaction that makes rust) is to thank.

By Kristen Hall-Geisler

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 & Desiree Bowie

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.

By Jesslyn Shields & Austin Henderson

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.

By Thomas Harlander

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 Collatz conjecture can be worked on by 9-year-old math whizzes, but it's flummoxed some of the greatest minds of the past century. Will it ever be solved?

By Jesslyn Shields

A new geometric shape called the "einstein" shape has been discovered and when you tile it, no repeating pattern emerges.

By Jesslyn Shields

Math is a language of symbols and equations and knowing the basic signposts is the first step in solving mathematical problems.

By Thomas Harlander

It's seeped into movies and popular culture, but what does "six degrees of separation" really mean? Are we really that connected to each other?

By Dave Roos

Metallurgy involves studying how metals behave and using that understanding to manipulate and shape them into various forms.

By Desiree Bowie

If you're already familiar with subtracting fractions, learning how to add fractions will be a piece of cake for you. And if you haven't learned how to subtract fractions yet, don't worry - we've got you covered!

By Jesslyn Shields

It looks completely impossible that this rock should stand, balanced as it is, but it has not moved since the last ice age.

By Jesslyn Shields