Stick Your Head in a Particle Accelerator The Large Hadron Collider, operated by CERN, the famed European Organization for Nuclear Research, is the world’s biggest particle accelerator. Also known as “atom smashers” or “supercolliders,” accelerators are massive machines that use electromagnetic fields to launch particles at extraordinarily high speeds, usually near the speed of light. Particle […]
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There Is No Blue “And jealous now of me, you gods, because I befriend a man, one I saved as he straddled the keel alone, when Zeus had blasted and shattered his swift ship with a bright lightning bolt, out on the wine-dark sea.” — Homer, The Odyssey, Book V In 1858, then-future British Prime Minister William
The Winter Solstice Hallelujah! Today marks the Winter Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere. The shortening of daylight is finally over. For the next six months, our sunlight durations will only increase. Despite speaking of the solstice as a date, it is actually a moment. Precisely, the solstice is the moment one of our planet’s poles is
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GLOFs & Jökulhlaups When I was just a wee nerd, one year at the Ohio State Fair I happened upon a merchant selling packs of playing cards called Magic: the Gathering. I had no idea what they were. My mother and sister, who were with me, had no idea what the game was. But they looked
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Maximum Tree Height The tallest trees in the world are Coast Redwoods. The highest known specimen is named Hyperion and is located somewhere in Redwood National Park in California. Its exact location is a well-guarded secret to protect it from potential damage. One day, I’m sure, we’ll explore this grand tree in its own article,
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Fireflies: Suns of the Terrestrial Night In the dry summer field at nightfall,fireflies rise like sparks.Imagine the presence of ghostsflickering, the ghosts of young friends,your father nearest in the distance. –Marilyn Kallet For me, one of the greatest parts about summer is the emergence of fireflies. For a month or two each year, I love to
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The Summer Solstice Tuesday, 21 June, marks 2023’s summer solstice. The word solstice comes from the Latin solstitium, which combines sol (sun) and stit (stopped or stationary). Technically defined, the summer solstice is the point when one of Earth’s poles is tilted maximally toward the sun. Broadly defined, it is the day on which the sun reaches the highest position
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The Grand Canyon as Evolutionary Force* Certain spots on the globe are well known for their geographic isolation. The concept is easy to visualize simply by imagining an island. If an area is physically isolated from other spots very often there will be a drastic effect on the evolution of life in the region. Two
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