ScienceIQ.com

A Great Sunset Takes A Few Clouds

Although the twilight sky can certainly inspire awe even when it is devoid of clouds, the most memorable sunsets tend to be those with at least a few clouds. Clouds catch the last red-orange rays of the setting sun and the first light of the dawn. But certain types of clouds are more closely associated with eye-catching sunsets than others. Why? To ...

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AGreatSunsetTakesAFewClouds
Astronomy

Solar Spitwads

Take a piece of paper. Make a little wad. If you're a kid, spit on it. Put it in a straw and blow hard. If your teacher sends you to the principal's office, here's your excuse: you were making a model ... Continue reading

SolarSpitwads
Engineering

Making Cars Out of Soup

There was an old TV show set on a spaceship some time in the future which included a machine about the size of a microwave oven. Whenever people wanted something like a meal or a component to repair ... Continue reading

MakingCarsOutofSoup
Astronomy

Big Fish

The phrase 'big fish eat little fish' may hold true when it comes to planets and stars. Perhaps as many as 100 million of the sun-like stars in our galaxy harbor close-orbiting gas giant planets like ... Continue reading

BigFish
Medicine

Why Is Blood Pressure Two Numbers?

Blood pressure might better be called heart pressure, for the heart's pumping action creates it. To measure blood pressure, health workers determine how hard the blood is pushing at two different ... Continue reading

WhyIsBloodPressureTwoNumbers

Word Power of the Very Young

WordPowerChildrenBefore they turn 2, most children have a vocabulary of about 50 words. From 1st to 5th grades, according to some estimates, their vocabulary increases by about 30,000 words. That's 20 words a day! How can they do that? Part of the answer lies in the fact that they learn how to figure out what a word means, and how to create new words, without having to be told. Let's take an example.

Say you learn the word culpable. All of a sudden, a whole slew of new words enter your vocabulary in addition to that one: culpably, culpability, non-culpable, semi-culpable, and so on. You get the idea. Although we take it for granted, mastering these word-formation patterns is an impressive feat, allowing us to understand and produce words that we've never even heard before. It's a skill that children learn gradually, after they begin to acquire a vocabulary and master the syntax of the language.