[This is follow up to Gold Part One.] A pupil asked… Will the earth naturally produce more gold for us to extract? How long will this take? How long is the half-life of gold and what does it decompose into? Would it be possible to industrially produce gold from different atoms? A. Pupil Esq. When …
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Category:Space
The Dzhanibekov Effect…
Also known as the Tennis Racket Theorem. Or intermediate axis theorem. When a gyroscope spins it stays upright because the spinning weight at its core resists any attempts to knock it off its access. This is called rotational inertia. Inertia refers to the tendency for moving objects to remain moving or stationary ones to remain …
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Mysterious Yellow Orb…
Yesterday dawned bright and cold. The overcast skies were now blue and dominated by a large yellow object that appeared to be a source of both light and heat. A little research and I discovered it is called the Sun and it is the ultimate source of all Earth’s energy. Even more amazingly, every star …
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How Science Works #1…
In science, a hypothesis is a speculation that might explain a particular observation. This can then be tested to try and show that it is wrong. If it cannot be demonstrated to be wrong, if it explains the observed facts and if it allows accurate predictions to be made then it may be promoted to …
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Let’s Go To Mars…
As I was working out how easy it would be to control a remote vehicle on Mars, I came across this video about how long it would take to travel to Mars. I think the young girl who said half a year should get some credit – youngest person asked but by far the closest …
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Boeing Starliner…
Boeing’s Starliner capsule (CST-100), launched on an Atlas V rocket, has failed to reach its intended orbit. This mistake was blamed on the capsule burning too much fuel after it had separated from the rocket. It is unmanned and the error occurred when it was passing between the range of two satellites and was briefly …
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OK Pinheads, How’d The Moon Get There?
One of the reasons I love science so much is that it gives you the tools to find answers to questions. Asking good questions is one of the most important skills a scientist will learn. A scientific question is one that can be investigated; one that has the possibility of being answered. A question that …
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Putting Things In Perspective…
In one of Douglas Adams’s Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy stories, Zaphod Beeblebrox is sentenced to the Total Perspective Vortex. This imaginary machine is the ultimate sanction in the galaxy. It destroys your mind by giving you perspective; by showing you just how insignificant you are compared to the enormity of the Universe. You can …
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Video With YOU In It…
If you look really carefully you can see yourself in the background of this video. A real astronaut, on a real space station making a YouTube video. It is just one of several that he completed during his time in space. A genuine hero!
Small Blue Dot…
Look at the picture above. Do you see the small blue dot in the band of pale brown to the right? Do you know what that is? Go on guess! I will give you a clue. This photograph was taken by a NASA spaceship called Voyager some time between February the 14th and June the …
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