There is a category of discovery that arrives sideways, as the residue of an argument about something else entirely.
The argument concerned whether a space containing nothing could exist. The…
There is a category of living thing that is truly difficult to classify, and lichens are the standard example.
The difficulty is not that they are obscure. They are everywhere…
Texture is not a minor component of eating. It is perceived through an entirely different set of senses from flavour, and it decides more about whether something is acceptable than…
The number on the dial describes the air. What actually cooks the food is a combination of that air, the surfaces radiating at it and whatever it is sitting on…
Two facts explain most of this: freezing requires a starting point, and water vapour can turn directly to ice without becoming liquid first. Here are twelve consequences.
1. Freezing Needs…
There is a demonstration that has been used to teach chemistry for well over a century, and it works because a candle is far more complicated than it looks.
The…