What is a Stirling engine? A Stirling engine is an engine that uses the expansion and contraction of a gas when heated and cooled to carry out mechanical work. A Stirling engine works on the principle that gases expand when heated and contract when cooled. When thermal energy is applied to a gas, the molecules […]
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What causes a hangover? A hangover is caused by a combination of things, including acetaldehyde poisoning, dehydration, inflammation, irritation of the stomach, low blood sugar, and lack of sleep. As an interesting aside, the word “hangover” only became associated with the morning after drinking too much in 1904. It was used in the Foolish Dictionary,
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How much air does a hovercraft need? The amount of air a hovercraft needs obviously depends on its weight, its size, the speed of its fans, and the quality of the skirt around it. Hovercraft work by producing pressurized air underneath them, which lifts the hovercraft off the ground. A second fan at the back
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How does a fountain pen work? A fountain pen works because of gravity, surface tension, and capillary action. The fountain pen essentially has three parts. At the back, underneath the part you hold, is the ink reservoir. This is usually a disposable cartridge, but it can be a refillable one. The cartridges are sealed until
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What is the Kessler syndrome? The Kessler syndrome is a situation where there is so much space debris in low Earth orbit that pieces start to collide, breaking them into smaller pieces, and causing the collisions to increase. The Kessler syndrome was named after a study written by Donald Kessler and Burton Cour-Palais in 1978
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Was there an intelligent civilization on Earth before us? There almost certainly was not an intelligent civilization on Earth before us. They would have left signs that could not be mistaken. The thought that an ancient civilization might have existed on Earth is called the Silurian hypothesis, named after such a species that exist in
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What were penny auctions? Penny auctions were a way for communities to stop farms and properties being sold by the banks that foreclosed on them during the Great Depression. The 1920s and the 1930s were a hard time for a lot of Americans. The Great Depression began in 1929, which destroyed the life savings of
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How did Bubble Wrap start? Bubble Wrap began as a type of wallpaper. We see Bubble Wrap fairly often, probably more so since Amazon has taken over our shopping. Bubble Wrap is actually a trademarked brand, and it is owned by Sealed Air Corporation, although it has become somewhat like Kleenex, Aspirin, and Kerosene, in
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How did they find the Chicxulub crater? They found the Chicxulub crater, the remains of the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs, when they were looking for oil. The Chicxulub crater was made when an asteroid ten kilometers in diameter hit Earth. It landed just over 66 million years ago and left a crater that
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How does a TCAS system work? A TCAS system works by analyzing another aircraft’s position, altitude, and speed and working out if a collision is likely, before offering advice to both planes. TCAS stands for Traffic Collision Avoidance System, and it has been installed on most commercial aircraft since the 1980s. A need for such
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