Physical Science
Physical science is the study of the physical world around you. Learn about everything from electricity to magnetism in this section.
Why Can You Hear the Ocean When Holding a Seashell to Your Ear?
Can a sound wave kill you?
Can two cans and a string really be used to talk over a distance?
Why Do Bubbles Pop?
It's Elementary: The Periodic Table Quiz
10 Things You Should Never Mix With Alcohol
How Electricity Works
How Faraday Cages Work
How Gasoline Works
What do bugs have to do with forensic science?
5 Things You Didn't Know About Autopsies
Can you explain the diameter measurements used in bullets, wire and nails?
How Alchemy Paved the Way for Chemistry
How did Nikola Tesla change the way we use energy?
Time May Not Exist, Say Some Physicists and Philosophers
Why Does Ice Stick to Your Fingers?
What if I forgot to remove a piercing before an MRI?
A Kid-friendly Introduction to Magnets and Magnetism
We've Got Your Numbers Quiz
HowStuffWorks: Illustrated: Scutoids! Just Like Spheres and Cubes, But Not
11 Basic Math Symbols and How to Use Them
5 Hugely Fun Facts About Mass (Not Weight)
Antarctica's Spooky Cosmic Rays Might Shatter Physics As We Know It
Could Newly Measured W Boson Break the Standard Model?
Could an 'X17 Particle' Hint at a Fifth Force in the Universe?
Where do they get the particles for accelerators?
5 Baffling Subatomic Particles
Why Are School Buses Yellow?
Why Spinning Blades Look Weird on TV
HowStuffWorks: How To Draw An Impossible Shape
Learn More / Page 13
What is white noise? There's a little more to it than the ambient noise you associate with a humming air conditioner or whirring fan.
Researchers have come up with the most precise determination of Planck's constant ever, making it possible to reframe the idea of what a kilogram even is.
The seriously ambitious experiment aims to understand the mysterious neutrino and maybe even figure out why matter won out over antimatter during the Big Bang.
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A reinterpretation of an ancient Babylonian tablet shows that trigonometry might be 1,000 years older than thought. But there's some disagreement.
If you're one of those people who chooses invisibility as your desired superpower, it could mean you have a dark side.
By Alia Hoyt
Scientists have figured out why some objects stick more to each other. And it's a very cool trick.
By Alia Hoyt
They say gunshot residue is not a good way to ID a suspect.
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Nights on Earth are getting artificially brighter, bringing unintended consequences.
It's a force of habit to shake spray canisters, but when it comes to canned air, that inclination could cause frostbite.
The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor plant aims to demonstrate that nuclear fusion could be a viable source of power in the future.
Mary, Queen of Scots was in the news again when amateur cryptologists found the key to decoding some letters that had remained a mystery for 500 years. How did they manage to break the code?
By Dave Roos
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A new geometric shape called the "einstein" shape has been discovered and when you tile it, no repeating pattern emerges.
Math is a language of symbols and equations and knowing the basic signposts is the first step in solving mathematical problems.
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
There are two different scales of measuring temperature on Earth, but they merge at just one very cold number.
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Metallurgy involves studying how metals behave and using that understanding to manipulate and shape them into various forms.
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!
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
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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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
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.
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.
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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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?