Physical Science

How effective is fighting a wildfire with controlled fire?

By Oisin Curran

In 1957, Hugh Everett first wrote about the multiverse - different realms where every choice spawns a separate universe in which another version of ourselves does something different. It sounds crazy, but here are some reasons it might be true.

By Patrick J. Kiger

Has this ever happened to you? The meteorologist calls for a massive snowstorm, but the flakes fail to arrive. Chaos theory can shed light on why forecasts fail (and why our orderly world may not be so orderly after all).

By William Harris

Seven ounces a ray! No, that's a lie. Measuring the weight of light is not as straightforward as that. So what's the more complicated explanation?

By Kate Kershner & Yara Simón

Atoms: the building blocks of life and the universe. We're all made of these microscopic bits of matter, but how many does it take to make a complete human being? And exactly what kinds of atoms do we have inside us?

By Laurie L. Dove

Nuclear waste epitomizes the double-edged sword of modern technology. It's a toxic and radioactive byproduct of nuclear medicine, nuclear weapons manufacturing and nuclear power plants.

By Nathan Chandler

You need to make a magnet stronger, but you're not sure how to do it. Learn about how to make a magnet stronger in this article.

By HowStuffWorks.com Contributors

Over the years, nuclear reactors have been viewed as both a miracle and a menace. How does a nuclear reactor do its job? And what happens when something goes wrong?

By Patrick J. Kiger

It's lunchtime, and you've spastically spilled soda all over your desk. Chances are you could tackle that mess faster than we could say "Mr. Clean." What do you do though when the spill is radioactive?

By Jonathan Atteberry

Nuclear meltdowns can be scary, but it's important to understand what causes them. Learn about how nuclear meltdowns work.

By Robert Lamb & Desiree Bowie

Mathematics achieves the sublime. Sometimes, as with tessellations, it rises to art. In their simplest form, tessellations consist of a single shape that repeats over a two-dimensional plane without any gaps. Why was M.C. Escher so fixated on them?

By Nicholas Gerbis

Fractals have been around forever but were only defined in the last quarter of the 20th century. Think you can wrap your brain around how fractals work?

By Craig Haggit & Yara Simón

We're all exposed to tiny levels of radiation, but a blast of it can leave you in agony - that is, if it doesn't kill you outright. What is it, what causes it and how can we treat it?

By Ed Grabianowski

What happens when there's too much voltage? Learn about the difference between voltage surges and spikes from this article.

By HowStuffWorks.com Contributors

Kaleidoscopes have been fascinating people since the early 19th century. Whether you think of kaleidoscopes as toys or as works of art, no matter how often you look inside, you'll never see the same thing twice.

By Melanie F. F. Gibbs

Who wants to reduce our complicated universe down to its simplest building blocks? A bunch of particle physicists, that's who. Why is the Higgs boson critical to that goal?

By Jonathan Atteberry & Sascha Bos

That's one seriously big number, and technically Amedeo Avogadro didn't even come up with it. So how did the Italian chemist make such an indelible (numerical) mark on the wonderful world of chemistry?

By Jonathan Atteberry

It's a force of habit to shake spray canisters, but when it comes to canned air, that inclination could cause frostbite.

By Laurie L. Dove

The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor plant aims to demonstrate that nuclear fusion could be a viable source of power in the future.

By Patrick J. Kiger

Developed in Israel, this foul-smelling liquid has been used on Palestinian and Israeli protesters - and it's showing up in the United States.

By Sarah Gleim

DNA found at a crime scene doesn't automatically mean the person matching it is guilty, say researchers of new forensics guide.

By Dave Roos

Bismuth is a naturally occurring element with many applications in our daily lives, but even more than that, it looks amazing when it cools!

By Jesslyn Shields

Denatured alcohol is useful for lots of things, but drinking definitely isn't one of them.

By Jesslyn Shields

Diatomic elements are molecules composed of only two atoms, every time, always. There are only seven of them on the entire periodic table.

By Kristen Hall-Geisler

Electrons are attracted to some atoms more than others. If two atoms are of equal strength, the electrons will be equally shared. If one atom is stronger, the electrons will be pulled in that atom's direction.

By Jesslyn Shields