Surprising Science — March 7, 2014

Turning Lemons into Batteries

The most counterintuitive, surprising, and impactful new stories delivered to your inbox every Thursday.

How many lemons does it take to power a light bulb? This video shows you how to turn lemons into batteries. Maybe you won’t get a sour, juicy lemon powering your remote control anytime soon, but the science behind this demonstration is fascinating.

Image credit: Craig Murphy/Flickr

The most counterintuitive, surprising, and impactful new stories delivered to your inbox every Thursday.

Collage of classical art suggesting a theme related to somatic markers.

Business

How “somatic markers” can transform your decision-making

Ditch the old brain vs. heart assumptions, and instead think about a heart-led brain.

A black and white image of a bunch of spheres, symbolizing the multiverse concept discussed by scientists.

Starts With A Bang

How logic and reasoning can fail as scientific tools

In logic, ‘reductio ad absurdum’ shows how flawed arguments fall apart. Our absurd Universe, however, often defies our intuitive reasoning.

A wooden sign indicating "assisted migration rep 2" in a pine forest under a clear blue sky.

Life

Moving trees north to save the forests

As the world warms, trees in forests such as those in Minnesota will no longer be adapted to their local climates. That’s where assisted migration comes in.

Historical map illustration depicting a planned city layout with a circular central area and radiating streets.

Strange Maps

Ohio’s Circleville ditched the grid system. Then it got squared.

A small Ohio town tried to escape America’s addiction to rectangular grids. It didn’t last long.

Bullet Cluster separation mass gravity x-ray lensing

Starts With A Bang

Flagship NASA space telescope faces a penny-pinching death

NASA’s only flagship X-ray telescope ever, Chandra, still works and has no planned successor. So why does the President want to kill it?

Up Next

Surprising Science

Mysterious Ubiquitous Earth Creature Can Survive in Space

If these mysterious creatures can survive in Space then maybe they came from space, according to this video from Vice. Tardigrades look like a George Lucas-depiction of a caterpillar. Researchers […]