The BrainSnail Blog
Small, practical ideas for learning more with less stress. Study tips, memory tricks and the science of slow and steady.
797 articles · page 3 of 34
How Is Perfume Made? Notes, Fixatives and the Chemistry of Scent
A perfume is a solution of scented molecules in alcohol, built so that light ones open and the heaviest last for hours. Where the materials come from.
What Was Triceratops? Horns, Frill and the Last Great Plant-Eater
Triceratops was a three-horned, frilled dinosaur the size of an elephant that lived at the very end of the Cretaceous. What the horns were for, and its enemy.
What Is a Trade Deficit? Why Importing More Than You Export Is Not Always Bad
A trade deficit means a country buys more from abroad than it sells, and the gap is paid by borrowing or selling assets. What it measures, and when it bites.
How Are Tunnels Dug? Boring Machines, Blasting and the Channel Tunnel
A tunnel is dug by cutting rock or soil at the face and holding up the ground behind, by machine, explosive or shield. How each works, and the Channel Tunnel.
How Does a Curveball Curve? Spin, Air and the Magnus Effect
A spinning ball bends in flight because the air moves faster on one side than the other. The physics of a dropping curveball, a swerving free kick and a slice.
What Are Fungi? Neither Plant Nor Animal, and Closer to Us Than to Trees
Fungi are a kingdom of their own: organisms that digest food outside their bodies and grow as networks of threads. What a mushroom is, and what fungi do for us.
What Are Asteroids? Leftovers of the Solar System and the Odds of a Hit
Asteroids are rocky and metallic bodies, mostly between Mars and Jupiter, left over from the solar system's birth. What they are and the odds of a hit.
Who Is Hanuman? The Monkey God of the Ramayana
Hanuman is the devoted, immensely strong monkey god of Hindu tradition who leapt to Lanka to find Rama's wife. His story, his powers, and his worship today.
Who Was Hades? The God of the Dead Who Was Not the Devil
Hades ruled the Greek underworld, which took his name, and was feared but not evil. His family, his kingdom, his one famous crime, and why he had no temples.
Why Do Zebras Have Stripes? Four Theories and the Experiments That Tested Them
Zebra stripes have been explained as camouflage, confusion, cooling and fly repellent. What each theory predicts, and why the biting-fly explanation has won.
Take Away Every Property of an Object. Is Anything Left?
One position says an object simply is its properties occurring together, and the other says properties need a bearer that persists through change.
What Was Dunkleosteus? The Armoured Fish With Jaws Like Shears
Dunkleosteus was a Devonian predator with a bone-cased head and blades of bone for teeth, one of the first big animals with jaws. Why its kind died out.
What Is a Class Action? Suing Together When One Claim Is Too Small to Bring
A class action lets one lawsuit be brought for everyone harmed in the same way, so claims too small to bring alone can be pursued together. How it works.
What Is the Difference Between a Language and a Dialect? An Army, a Navy and a Line on a Map
Danes and Norwegians understand each other and speak two languages; Cantonese and Mandarin speakers do not and speak two dialects. Why it is political.
What Was Stegosaurus? Plates, Spikes and a Brain the Size of a Plum
Stegosaurus was a nine-metre Jurassic plant-eater with a double row of plates on its back and four tail spikes. What the plates were for.
What Is a Vector? Arrows, Coordinates and the Mathematics of Direction
A vector is a quantity with both size and direction, drawn as an arrow and written as a list of numbers. How they add, and why physics and computing use them.
What Is a Cartel? Why Rivals Agree Not to Compete
A cartel is an agreement among competitors to fix prices, limit output or divide markets, to charge as a monopoly would. Why they form and why they break.
Why Do Rivers Flood? Rain, Catchments and the Floodplains We Built On
A river floods when more water arrives than its channel can carry, a normal event on a floodplain we chose to live on. What causes floods, and why they worsen.
How Does Alcohol Affect the Body? From the First Sip to the Hangover
Alcohol is a small molecule that reaches every organ in minutes and is cleared by the liver at a fixed rate. What it does to the brain, and what a hangover is.
How Does Rubber Work? Why It Stretches, Snaps Back and Once Melted in Summer
Rubber stretches to several times its length and returns because its molecules are long tangled chains that straighten under load. What vulcanisation did.
What Is Opera? Drama Sung From Beginning to End
Opera is a play in which everything is sung, born in Florence around 1600 as an attempt to revive Greek tragedy. How it is built, and why the voices sound so.
How Do Helicopters Fly? Rotors, Torque and Why They Are So Hard to Control
A helicopter's rotor is a spinning wing, and tilting it is how the aircraft moves. How lift, steering and the tail rotor work, and what if the engine fails.
How Is Beer Brewed? Malt, Hops, Yeast and Time
Beer is water in which the sugars of malted grain have been fermented by yeast and flavoured with hops. The ingredients, and why ale and lager differ.
Who Were the Vikings? Raiders, Traders and Settlers From the North
The Vikings were Scandinavians who raided, traded and settled across Europe from about 790 to 1066. What drove them, where they went, and how it ended.
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