ScienceIQ.com

Rock, Mineral, Crystal, or Gemstone?

Rocks and minerals are all around us and used every day, perhaps without us even being aware of them. Besides making up the solid, supporting surface of the earth we live and move upon daily, rocks and minerals are used in surfacing roads, in the concrete foundations of our homes, in the brick and mortar of buildings, in clocks, and for scientific ...

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Geology

Is Earth Getting Fatter Around the Belt?

Besides being used for transmission of this email message to you, communication satellites are used for some neat science. By shooting a laser beam onto them and measuring how long it takes for light ... Continue reading

EarthBelt
Astronomy

Saturn: The Basics

To ancient astronomers, Saturn was a wandering light near the edge of the known universe. The planet and its rings have been objects of beauty and wonder ever since Galileo noticed the 'cup handles' ... Continue reading

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Astronomy

The Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP)

The cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation is the radiant heat left over from the Big Bang. It was first observed in 1965 by Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson at the Bell Telephone Laboratories in ... Continue reading

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Mathematics

Picture This

What 3 dimensional shape will pass through a rectangle, triangle and circle each time filling the whole space? The answer may surprise you in it's simplicity. Before I tell you what it is, see if you ... Continue reading

PictureThis

A Shear Mystery

ShearMysteryEveryone has had problems with a ketchup bottle at one time or another. After struggling and only getting a few drops, a flood suddenly gushes out and buries your food. With perfect timing, the ketchup changes from a thick paste to a runny liquid. If you find yourself wondering 'why?' you're in good company. Physicists are puzzled, too.

Ketchup is one of many complex fluids - including whipped cream, blood, film emulsions, nail polish and some plastics - that share a property called 'shear thinning.' Normally thick like honey, they can become thin and flow like water when stirred or shaken. The phenomenon is common enough, yet scientists aren't sure why it happens.

The ketchup-like behavior of pure fluids at their critical point is still only theoretical. Even simulations using supercomputers can't prove the theory. Think of that the next time you whack the bottom of a ketchup bottle. Even supercomputers can't predict the outcome!