Surprising Science
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What’s the opposite of inhaling helium? Inhaling sulfur hexafluoride. While helium makes you sound like a Merry Melodies character, sulfur hexafluoride will make you sound like, well, Satan. Adam Savage […]
Back on July 15, 2012, stargazers across planet Earth received a special treat in the predawn sky. Many had the opportunity to see an extra-bright Jupiter cozied up to a […]
A “swan” and “tulip” combine to form this beautiful image. The Tulip Nebula is in the constellation Cygnus the Swan. NASA explains: Framing a bright emission region this telescopic view […]
Sometimes images captured by NASA look like works of art. This one looks painted in the style of Chiaroscuro, sharp contrasts between light and dark. NASA explains why: Deep shadows […]
A black hole has never been seen directly. There are always clear indicators of a black hole at work. For instance, this image released by NASA shows a swirling whirlpool […]
Dust surrounds the Orion Nebula, a hotbed of star formation some 1,600 light years away. Who knew dust could be this beautiful? The “intricate and picturesque filaments of dust,” as […]
This is exactly what the world needs: a trash-talking robot. Victor likes to think that he’s a a master Scrabble player, and it gives him a superiority complex that he […]
Electrical engineering maestro Steve Ward, then a college student in Illinois, programmed this Tesla coil in 2007 so that each spark sounds like a musical note. In this now classic […]
There’s a reason why the French are the masters of making wine. The earliest evidence of wine-making discovered in France dates back to 425 BC. The French have had time […]
Are we getting closer to building an invisibility cloak? According to new research out of Duke University, science may have built an early ancestor to the science fiction device. Watch […]
Last month in Iceland, a photographer captured this incredible aurora. Iceland’s volcano Öræfajökull can be seen in the foreground. The constellation of Orion is visible to the left of the […]
It’s Monday, and after a relaxing weekend it’s time for coffee. A lot of coffee. But do you know what can happen if you drink too much? There’s such a […]
This summer, fire up the 3D printer! Here’s another impressive success story from the 3D printing revolution: a kayak. Engineer Jim Smith, founder of Grass Roots Engineering, created a 3D […]
The night sky isn’t actually dark to begin with, according to MinutePhysics. Then why does Space at night appear dark to us? Because our universe is constantly changing and expanding, […]
Recent research suggests that our ancient cousins, the Neanderthals, may have been able to speak. Does this mean that Neanderthals had their own version of “The Ellen DeGeneres Show”? We […]
Stargazers, now you can have a telescope that does the heavy-lifting for you. The Celestron Cosmos 90 GT is costly ($400), but it works with your Wi-Fi to search the heavens […]
From base to summit, Yosemite’s El Capitan is around 3,000 feet, and hiding the north celestial pole in this photograph. But follow the star trails, and you’ll of course get […]
The radiating “donut shape” around Earth has a surprising structure discovered this week. The scientists who made the discovery have dubbed it “zebra stripes.” Wired has the story: The Van […]
It used to be commonly believed that the human nose can pick up 10,000 odors. We were wrong “by a factor of a hundred million,” according to The Washington Post. […]
Popular television shows have actually shaped scientific experiments? Mental Floss provides 9 examples of when researchers used TV shows to study test subjects’ behavior. The shows include classics like Cheers, […]
One day we may need to use the Moon as a “refilling station” or for upscale retirement communities. Before Space commercial developers get any ideas, they better count on engineering […]
Alchemy was once all the rage in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Yes, people actually practiced this witchcraft-like form of chemistry. It centered around uncovering an elixir of life, […]
Happy equinox! The Sun will cross the celestial equator at 4:57 UT, heralding the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere. To honor the day, NASA released this cool […]
A mysterious gully has been spotted on Mars that wasn’t there in 2010, according to NASA images. What caused the gully? Wired has more: A new gully has appeared on […]
The latest trend today is sitting down to a meeting and noticing that the person across from you, and the person next to you, are wearing sleek plastic bracelets. You […]
Tonight, Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson will host a debate about the benefits and pitfalls of the private sector monetizing the many needs of exploring space and beyond. The Isaac Asimov […]
March 20th is the spring equinox, a time when day and night will be nearly equal. NASA provides this cool video on what you need to know about the equinox. […]
The biggest news in science since the Big Bang Theory confirmed that the universe indeed underwent an epoch of rapid expansion. One of the main authors of the inflationary universe […]
NASA released another 3D image. This time it’s of the Apollo 17’s Lunar Rover, parked in the Taurus-Littrow valley of the Moon. NASA explains: The color anaglyph features a detailed […]
This incredible image released by NASA looks as though it’s a galaxy in the shape of the continent of Africa. “The African Galaxy.” It is, in fact, two galaxies that […]