The Principality of Sealand is a tiny, self-proclaimed nation that started on an old sea fort in the North Sea. A former British Army major declared it independent in 1967, and it's known for its quirky history. Even though it hasn't become a recognized country globally, Sealand has its own currency, passports, and devoted fans. In fact, for £99.99 you can become a knight of Sealand! It's a unique story of a small place dreaming big and capturing people's imaginations.
I know this is a science blog, but hear me out. I'm not sure what sort of stunt McDonald's is pulling here, but apparently they are removing the world famous Big Mac off their menu. Currently, the Big Mac has a whopping 550 calories and 29g of fat. It's probably the only reason I ever go to McDonald's, so I guess from now on it's going to be the Whopper instead.
This family tree illustrates the lineages of Indo-European and Uralic languages though-out human history, and how some of the world's most-used languages came to be. And it's pretty enough to put on your wall.
Colourized photo featuring some of the greatest science thinkers of our time, including Curie, Durac, Pauli, Einstein, Schrodinger and more. Can you name them all?
Every ship sails a mile a minute. A nautical mile is one minute of arc measured along any meridian. In other words, a nautical mile is based on the circumference of the planet Earth. If you were to cut the Earth in half at the equator, you could pick up one of the halves and look at the equator as a circle. You could divide that circle into 360 degrees. You could then divide a degree into 60 minutes. A minute of arc on the planet Earth is 1 nautical mile. This unit of measurement is used by all nations for air and sea travel. ...
Good news for pain-pill poppers: Ibuprofen (found in Advil) may help you live longer. A new study shows that it increases life span in lab organisms, raising the possibility it does the same thing in people.
To put ibuprofen through its paces, biochemist Michael Polymenis of Texas A&M University, College Station, and colleagues gave yeast, nematode worms, and fruit flies doses of the drug that are comparable to what humans would take. The life spans of all three types of organisms increased if they received ibuprofen, the researchers report today in PLOS Genetics. In yeast, for instance, ibuprofen stretched life span by 17%, half of what researchers can produce by cutting the cells’ food supply (another approach to increasing longevity). ...
When Henry Molaison (now widely known as H.M.) cracked his skull in an accident, he began blacking out and having seizures. In an attempt to cure him, daredevil surgeon, Dr. William Skoville, removed H.M.'s hippocampus. Luckily, the seizures did go away — but so did his long-term memory! Sam Kean walks us through this astonishing medical case, detailing everything H.M. taught us about the brain and memory.
Opossums, when they play dead, can emit an odor that resembles the scent of rotting carrion. This behavior is a defensive mechanism known as thanatosis or "playing possum." When threatened or cornered, opossums may go limp, fall to the ground, open their mouth, and emit a foul-smelling liquid from their anal glands. This odor, resembling that of decaying flesh, is believed to deter predators, as many animals prefer fresh prey over carrion. ...
An elephant takes the same amount of time to empty its huge bladder as a cat - despite holding 3,600 times more urine. That's a whole lot of pressure.
The controlling factor of urination duration is the length of the urethra, which gets longer at a predictable ratio as an animal gets bigger. All animals have urethras of the same aspect ratio: a length-to-width ratio of 18. This is rare among animals. Usually, body parts change in relative size, such as the eyes and brain.
As the urethra gets longer, the effects of gravity increase and there's more pressure pushing out the urine.
I've been advocating this for years. Just because you're a doctor and you're on TV, doesn't make you a know-it-all. Researchers from the University of Alberta have found that half the advice on Dr. Oz is wrong or has no evidence to back it up. In fact, on average, the shows give their viewers around 12 different recommendations per episode. But only half of them are supported by research. Just comes to show that people will believe anything they see on TV. When there is money to be made and an agenda to be pushed, lies will follow. ...
