PHYSICS

Why Are the Blue Ridge Mountains Blue?

It’s more than a poetic name: the Blue Ridge Mountains really do appear blue, thanks to the human eye and Earth’s atmosphere.

In space, it isn’t just number one and done.

To Boldly Go: The Science Behind Pooping in Space

Coming up with a practical way of replicating the earthbound poop experience took many years, many engineers, and a whole lot of ingenuity.

Why Do Cars Catch Fire?

A car accident in a movie usually ends in a huge fireball. But what really causes vehicle fires?

An old-timey fireman with some dead weight.

What Exactly Is ‘Dead Weight’?

Why your drunk friend feels so much heavier than your sober buddies.

Mantis Shrimp Remain Unharmed While Dealing Deadly Punches, Study Shows

Mantis shrimp can deal incredible blows without damaging themselves, but how? The makeup of their armor is key.

How Do Snowshoes Work?

Hiking over several feet of snow becomes possible with some clever physics and nature-inspired design.

Why Are Tennis Balls Fuzzy?

Why the humble tennis ball needs to sport a little hair, explained.

Nobody likes to get zapped when they're bundled up.

How To Prevent Static Cling on Clothes

Discover what causes static electricity on clothes, along with how to keep it from becoming a recurring problem this season.

Here‘s how people are able to stay warm in igloos.

How Do Igloos Keep People Warm?

The interior of an igloo can be 40 to 60 degrees warmer than its surrounding environment.

Rosemary Fowler (seated) receives her doctorate from Sir Paul Nurse, chancellor of the University of Bristol, at a ceremony at Darwin College, Cambridge, UK.

A 98-Year-Old Physicist Finally Got Her Ph.D., 75 Years After Her Major Discovery

Rosemary Fowler discovered a type of subatomic particle, the kaon—but left the university before earning her doctorate.

Lightning strikes over the Freedom Tower (a.k.a. One World Trade Center) in New York City.

Did Ben Franklin Really Invent the Lightning Rod?

Ben Franklin’s famous experiment with the kite and key gave him a better understanding of the nature of electricity. But did that event lead to the lightning rod?

Wetness is a battle between cohesive and adhesive forces.

Is Water Wet? The Answer is Surprisingly Elusive

It depends on the properties of water, the definition of wetness, and whether you can trust when your senses inform you if something is wet or not.

Leona Libby, the Pioneering Nuclear Physicist Who Helped Build the Atomic Bomb

To win a nuclear arms race, Leona Libby hid a pregnancy and brushed off being irradiated.

A galaxy cluster surrounded by blue-toned cosmic microwave background radiation left over from the Big Bang.

8 Mind-Blowing Facts About the Big Bang

The birth of our universe happened at least 13 billion years ago—and you may have seen it on TV.

Watch an Early Silent Film About the Theory of Relativity

In 1923, filmmakers attempted to demonstrate Einstein's theory of relativity with pistols.

The position he's in could actually increase his chances of surviving a high fall.

How Far Can You Fall and Still Survive?

How and where you land is one of the major factors in whether you get up from the ground or go 6 feet further into it

Some string theorists predict at least 10 dimensions, most of which humans can’t perceive.

How Many Dimensions Are There in the Universe?

According to string theory, there are at least 10 dimensions of space, most of which are impossible for humans to perceive.

Scientists who worked on the Chicago Pile-1, a component of the Manhattan Project. Leo Szilard is pictured in the middle row in the trench coat.

“I Will Have Nothing to Do with a Bomb!”: The Scientists Who Opposed the Manhattan Project

Before J. Robert Oppenheimer had a change of heart, some of his fellow scientists opposed the U.S. government’s plan to make and deploy an atomic bomb.

10 Fascinating Facts About J. Robert Oppenheimer

The enigmatic physicist at the center of Christopher Nolan's newest film may have come to regret being known as the “Father of the Atomic Bomb.”

A neutrino has interacted with an ice molecule, producing a muon that moves at relativistic speed in the ice, leaving a trace of blue light behind it.

10 Freaky Facts About Neutrinos, the Weirdest Particles in the Universe

Trillions of neutrinos zoom through you every second. Here's what you should know about these mysterious, nearly mass-less subatomic particles.

A photograph on display at the Bradbury Science Museum at Los Alamos National Laboratory shows the first thermonuclear test on October 31, 1952.

9 Explosive Facts About the Manhattan Project

America’s greatest physicists assembled under the Manhattan Project to create the deadliest weapon the world had ever seen—an atomic bomb.

There have been major advancements in Oreo science.

Plot Twist: Science Has Figured Out If You Can Split an Oreo Cookie Perfectly

Researchers at MIT looked at "postmortem crème distribution" to see if two Oreo wafers can have an equal amount of filling after being twisted.

11 Radiant Facts About Marie Curie

Marie Curie, who was born in Warsaw, Poland, on November 7, 1867, is still the only person to receive Nobel Prizes in two different sciences.

19 Brilliant Facts About Albert Einstein

Once a simple patent clerk, Albert Einstein changed the world with his theories of special and general relativity.