A smoke alarm is a white plastic disc with a button and a battery, and the assumption is that something inside it can somehow see smoke. Neither of the two…
There is a difference between knowing something exists and knowing what shape it is, and the ocean floor was in the first category for a very long time.
That it…
The height is the mechanism, not the storage. Here are sixteen.
1. The Height Is the Pressure
Water pressure at a tap comes from the vertical distance down from the…
A few metres can be worth a couple of degrees and three weeks. Here are fourteen.
1. A Wall Facing the Sun Is a Storage Heater
Masonry absorbs heat through…
The Metaphor Is the Wrong Way Round
Almost everybody carries the same mental picture of what a kidney does. Blood arrives dirty, passes through something like a coffee filter, and…
The Reflex That Will Not Take Instructions
A sneeze is one of a very small number of things the body does that a person can feel approaching, can do absolutely…