Science

#152 What is the difference between Celsius, Centigrade, Fahrenheit, and Kelvin?

I learned this today. What is the difference between Celsius, Centigrade, Fahrenheit, and Kelvin? Fahrenheit was invented first. Celsius came next. Celsius and centigrade are the same thing. Kelvin came last. The Fahrenheit scale was invented in 1724 by the physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit. He was German by birth, but spent nearly all of his […]

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#148 What is a tokamak?

I learned this today. A tokamak is a device that uses a strong magnetic field to keep a gas plasma in a donut shape in order to achieve nuclear fusion. Tokamaks were invented in Russia in the 1960s and the word comes from Russian. It means “toroidal chamber with magnetic coils”, which is тороидальная камера с магнитными катушками

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#146 How do gas masks work?

I learned this today. Gas masks work by blocking bacteria and viruses, or by absorbing or altering chemicals. Gas masks have to be effective against bacterial, viral, and chemical agents. Bacteria and viruses are technically the easiest because all the gas mask has to do is block them. This is done with a filter. The

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#140 How does an eraser work?

I learned this today. Erasers work because of friction. They become sticky when they are hot and hold onto the graphite particles. Before we look at how erasers work, I think we need to look at how pencils are able to write on paper. Pencils are made with graphite. These days the graphite is mixed

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#127 How does cancer kill people?

I learned this today. Cancer kills people because it grows into key organs, nerves or blood vessels and impairs their function.  Cancer is caused when cells start to change abnormally. New cells in our bodies form through growth and division. When cells become old and need to be replaced, they are switched off and die.

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#118 What exactly is pykrete?

I learned this today. Pykrete is a frozen material made of 14% sawdust and 86% water. It is as strong as concrete. Pykrete was put forward during World War II by Geoffrey Pike, who was the head of Project Habakkuk, an idea to use pykrete to build a floating aircraft carrier. The material was like

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