The Tube Oven In our previous exploration, we discovered London’s subway system – the Underground, lovingly called the Tube – features some strange mosquitoes. The scientific oddities of the Underground don’t stop there, however. The British constructed the earliest tunnels near the surface, but they quickly realized they could produce conduits deeper in the earth. One […]
Denizen’s of London’s Underground The British constructed the world’s first underground passenger railway in London in 1863. The first tunnels built for the Metropolitan Railway used the cut-and-cover method, forming conduits just below the surface. Circular holes at deeper levels soon became the preferred method. The round tunnels provided a nickname by which locals
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The Shape of Sound The air on our planet is (mostly) transparent. Sound is a mechanical phenomenon. A sound is caused by the pressure changing in a medium, as particles of the medium bump into other particles of the medium. Here on Earth, since that medium is air, it’s kind of hard to see a sound wave. Barring
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Loch Ness One could make a decent argument that Loch Ness is one of the most famous bodies of water in the world. Loch is the Scottish Gaelic word for “lake” (it can also signify a fjord). Most lakes in Scotland take the word as part of their nomenclature, including Loch Lomond and today’s topic. Located in the
How Long Can You Hold Your Breath? Give it a shot. We’ll wait. According to the National Library of Medicine, the average human can hold their breath for 30 to 90 seconds. In the realm of survival skills, the ubiquitous maxim is the Rule of Threes. One can survive three weeks without food, three days
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Miracle Fruit In 1725, French explorer, cartographer, navigator, and slave-ship captain, Chevalier des Marchais noticed something incredible as he journeyed through West Africa. In addition to charting the continent, des Marchais also took a keen interest in the native flora of the region. He noticed the Indigenous people rummaging through forest undergrowth for a particular
Chipmunks For the last several years, we’ve been blessed with the company of adorable creatures on our back porch. In addition to the usual sparrows, cardinals, and hummingbirds, a wonderful slew of chipmunks visits to munch on birdseed. My childhood in Ohio did not feature many chipmunks, but the summers my family spent in the
National Parks Week Saturday kicked off National Parks Week here in the United States! Each year from the 16th to the 24th of April, we celebrate what documentarian Ken Burns called “America’s Best Idea.” The National Parks of our nation are true marvels, a melting pot of biomes, history, and spiritual renewal. We’ve covered
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Sun Dogs “two mock suns rose with the sun and followed it all through the day until sunset.” – Aristotle, Meteorology In our previous examination, we learned how it’s possible for snowfall to occur on cloudless days in the form of diamond dust. This precipitation transpires when water vapor turns into ice crystals near the
