ScienceIQ.com

Now You See It, Now You Don't

What we call light is simply a narrow band of electromagnetic radiation that our eyes are sensitive to. This radiation enters our eyes and is conveyed to the brain by the process we call sight. While the mechanics of seeing is quite complex, the process of seeing is, in a different sense, quite extraordinary. Here are two examples. ...

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EMRadiation
Biology

Palm Trees and Prickly Pears

If you drive around Southern California you'll see a lot of palm trees and prickly pear cacti. If you drive around Southern Spain you will too! How did it happen that two places an ocean apart have ... Continue reading

PalmTreesandPricklyPears
Geology

Pyroclastic Flows: Deadly Rivers of Rock

A volcano, during a violent eruption, blasts massive amounts of heated rock fragments, hot gas and ash out vents and collapsing domes. This sudden outpouring of superheated material reaches ... Continue reading

VolcanoFlows
Biology

Sweet Dolphin Dreams

Imagine if your breathing wasn't an automatic response. That might work during the day. But what about when you went to sleep? You wouldn't get a good night's sleep if you had to wake up every few ... Continue reading

DolphinDreams
Engineering

For Want Of An O-Ring

Who can forget the Challenger disaster of 1986, the culprit, a failed O-ring. But what exactly is an O-ring and how did it cause the destruction of this space shuttle? When surfaces are flat, gaskets ... Continue reading

ForWantOfAnORing

Vibrational Energy

VibrationalEnergyWhy is hearing such a rich and powerful sense? Maybe because it alone of all the senses has the power to fill our entire body with vibrational energy. We sometimes think of hearing as one of the 'distant' senses, distant because we can use it to perceive things from a distance without having to get too close. In some ways, though, hearing is a much 'closer' sense than even taste or touch.

All the senses gather energy, but only sound can set your body vibrating like a giant tuning fork. Sound is, in fact, vibration. When vibrations in the air beat against the thin skin of your eardrum, stretched tight like the skin of a real drum, it commences to vibrate at almost exactly the same frequency. So the first step in hearing is when your ears internalize and match the external vibrations traveling through the air, and a part of your body begins to vibrate in harmony with the soundwaves themselves.