Mental Floss

WEATHER

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What does it really mean when the weatherman says it feels like minus-20 today? Is there a wind chill thermometer somewhere, or is he just using a mathematical formula? Let's answer these and some of the other pressing questions about the ubiquitous winte

Ethan Trex






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Climate models are predicting that this fall, there's a 75 percent chance that an El Niño will occur. But just what is this weather phenomenon, and how does it affect us?

Hannah Keyser


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Winter is officially here, and for those of you at more northern latitudes, you know what that means: snow and ice. And while walking in a winter wonderland is certainly wonderful, slipping and sliding can mean some nasty injuries.

DeAnna Kerley
Parhelia of "sun dogs" appear over a field in Iowa.

When winter bears down, it can be hard to think of anything outside of how much you hate (or love!) the snow and ice. Here are a few of the words and phenomena that could define this season.

Arallyn Primm
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When this refracted light reaches you, your brain and eye don’t account for all the bending it did along the way. What you see is an inferior mirage where the mirage is under the real object.

Matt Soniak


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This summer, you’re bound to hear emergency broadcasts, news reports, and videos of massive thunderstorms, with commentary and terminology you might not be familiar with. Knowing what those words mean can tell you a lot more about what’s going on than jus

Arallyn Primm


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Oklahoma City holds the dubious distinction of being the unofficial Tornado Capital of the United States. The U.S. city and its suburbs have endured more tornados than any other city—100 since 1890, as far back as National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administ

Jessica Bloustein Marshall




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It's time to pull out those calculators and do the math with the density and volume to determine the total water content of the cloud.

Matt Soniak
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Don’t be surprised if you hear a meteorologist refer to the nor'easter that’s about to hit the East Coast as “Athena.” They’re just following the example of The Weather Channel, which recently announced that it will name “noteworthy winter storms,” just a

Erin McCarthy


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As recovery efforts begin in areas ravaged by Hurricane Sandy, rebuilding may seem like an impossible task right now. But rebuilding will happen. We’ve talked about historic disasters like the Great Chicago Fire and the 1906 earthquake that devastated San

Adrienne Crezo




We've all heard about the dangers of global warming and climate change. It's going to make the oceans rise, drown our cities, kill plants, cause hurricanes and ruin the Earth for our grandkids. But that's all secondary to the real effects of global warmin

Jason Plautz