The BrainSnail Blog
Small, practical ideas for learning more with less stress. Study tips, memory tricks and the science of slow and steady.
846 articles · page 4 of 36
What Is Pascal's Wager? Betting on God With the Mathematics of Chance
Pascal argued that since belief costs little if God does not exist and gains all if he does, the rational bet is to believe. What he said, and why it fails.
How Does a Guitar Make Sound? Strings, Bodies and Pickups
A plucked string on its own is nearly silent; the guitar is what makes it heard. How the string sets the pitch, how the body amplifies it, and pickups.
What Is the Phoenix? The Bird That Burns and Returns
The phoenix is the mythical bird that lives for centuries, dies in fire and is reborn from its ashes. Where the story came from, and why it endures.
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 Was the Sabre-Toothed Cat? Smilodon and the Teeth That Were Not for Biting Bone
Smilodon was a heavily built cat with canines up to 28 centimetres long that hunted large prey in the Americas. What the teeth were for, and why it vanished.
Did Dinosaurs Live in Herds? Bone Beds, Trackways and the Social Lives of Giants
Some dinosaurs died together by the hundred, walked in groups and nested in colonies, and some did not. What the fossils show about herds, packs and families.
What Is a Search Warrant? When the State May Enter Your Home
A search warrant is a court's written permission for the police to enter and search a place, given only when a judge is satisfied. The tests, and the exceptions.
What Is Confucianism? Ritual, Respect and the Order of a Good Society
Confucianism is the ethical and political tradition built on the teachings of a Chinese scholar of the sixth century BC. What he taught, and how it ran China.
What Is Mercury Like? The Scorched, Shrunken Planet Nearest the Sun
Mercury is the smallest planet, the closest to the Sun and the hardest to reach, with a day longer than its year and ice in its craters. What spacecraft found.
Why Is Copper Used for Wires? Free Electrons and the Metal of Electricity
Copper carries electricity better than any common metal because its outer electrons roam free through the crystal. Why silver is not used.
Why Do Cyclists Ride in a Pack? Drafting, Aerodynamics and the Tour de France
At racing speed nine tenths of a cyclist's effort goes into pushing air aside, and riding behind another cuts it by a third. How the peloton works.
Was Atlantis Real? Plato's Invention and the Search That Never Ends
Atlantis appears in two dialogues by Plato and nowhere before them, a lesson about a proud empire sunk by the gods. Why he made it up.
Who Invented the Wheel? Pottery, Carts and Why the Americas Did Without
The wheel appeared in several places around 3500 BC, and the hard part was not the disc but the axle. Where the evidence points, and why the Americas had none.
How Do Bridges Stay Up? Beams, Arches, Suspension and the Forces Between
Every bridge carries its load to the ground by one of a few strategies, and the strategy sets its shape and span. How beams bend, arches push and cables pull.
Why Are Frogs Disappearing? A Fungus, a Trade and the Animals That Breathe Through Their Skin
Amphibians are vanishing faster than any other group of animals, with two fifths of species threatened. The fungus behind it, and what is being tried.
Why Is Sugar So Hard to Resist? Sweetness, the Brain and an Industry Built on Both
Sweetness signals safe energy, and the brain rewards it before the stomach knows what arrived. Why the taste evolved, and how sugar became a fifth of the diet.
Why Was Pepper Worth Its Weight in Gold? The Spice Trade That Moved Empires
Black pepper was once so valuable that rents were paid in it and the hunt for its source sent Columbus west. Where it grows, why it cost so much, and its mark.
What Happened on Easter Island? The Statues, the Trees and the Argument
Easter Island's people raised nearly a thousand giant statues and then, the story goes, cut down every tree and starved. What the evidence shows instead.
How Do Submarines Dive and Surface? Ballast, Buoyancy and Staying Hidden
A submarine sinks by letting water into tanks and rises by blowing it out with compressed air. How it balances at depth, how deep it can go, and how it hides.
What Is Jupiter's Great Red Spot? A Storm Older Than Any Nation
The Great Red Spot is a storm on Jupiter wider than the Earth that has raged for at least 190 years. What drives it, why it is red, and why it is shrinking.
Where Do Vampire Legends Come From? Plague, Decay and the Undead of Eastern Europe
The vampire of folklore was a bloated peasant corpse blamed for village deaths, not a pale aristocrat. How decay, disease and burial customs made the legend.
What Is Geometry? From Measuring Fields to the Shape of Space
Geometry began as the measuring of land and became the study of shape and space. Euclid's system, the geometries that broke his fifth rule, and where it went.
How Does Fog Form? A Cloud That Touches the Ground
Fog is a cloud whose base is on the ground, made when air near the surface is cooled to its dew point. The main kinds, and why some places get so much.
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.
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