ScienceIQ.com

The Devil's In The Details

Did you ever make a mistake converting English numbers to metric numbers? Let's hope that your mistake didn't cost anyone $125 million dollars. That's what happened to NASA. The Mars Climate Orbiter's mission to study Martian weather and climate was a part of NASA's faster-better-cheaper philosophy of the 1990s. On September 23, 1999, after firing ...

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TheDevilsInTheDetails
Astronomy

Ancient Planet

Long before our Sun and Earth ever existed, a Jupiter-sized planet formed around a sun-like star. Now, almost 13 billion years later, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has precisely measured the mass of ... Continue reading

AncientPlanet
Astronomy

Starburst, No, Not The Candy

A starburst galaxy is a galaxy experiencing a period of intense star forming activity. Although this activity may last for ten million years or more, that is like a month in the life of a ten billion ... Continue reading

StarburstAstro
Astronomy

Introduction to Constellations

'Constellation' is the name we give to seeming patterns of starsin the night sky. 'Stella' is the Latin word for star and a constellation is a grouping of stars. In general, the stars in these groups ... Continue reading

IntroductiontoConstellations
Biology

What Causes Wrinkles?

Elastin and collagen are proteins in the skin's underlying layers that give it firmness and elasticity. As we age, skin begins to lose its elastin fibers. The fibers start to tangle in disorganized ... Continue reading

WhatCausesWrinkles

Mobius Strip

MobiusStripA Mobius Strip is an amusing three-dimensional object whose surface has only one side. Huh? Well, most objects you can imagine have a surface with two sides. For example, an ordinary piece of paper has two sides; you can paint one side blue and the other red. Now, a Mobius Strip has no other side! Don’t believe me? Try it yourself: cut a piece of paper about 1/2 inch (1 cm) wide and about 10 inches (25 cm) long. Close this strip of paper on itself - almost making a ring; however, rotate one end of this strip by 180 degrees. Tape the joint. Now take a red pen and start painting. You will very soon realize that you will be able to paint the whole Mobius Strip with red color without ever lifting the pen off its surface.

Mobius strip was named after the astronomer and mathematician August Ferdinand Mobius (1790-1868). He came up with his strip in September 1858. Independently, German mathematician Johann Benedict Listing (1808-1882) devised the same object in July 1858. Perhaps we should call it the Listing Strip?