Science for Dummies
Wednesday, 10.10.07 @ 12:07AM 
Thanks to some luckily-placed links, my previous science post Schroedinger's Cat has become one of my most-viewed posts ever! Combine that with my experiences at mental_floss this year, and I have become convinced that people really love to learn new stuff as long as the information can poke itself in the eye occasionally. I don’t know that I’m knowledgable enough to keep up the information, but I am getting pretty good at internet research. And I certainly know how to poke myself in the eye occasionally! If we can pass this love of learning to our children, they’ll enjoy science for a lifetime. I started this blog with the premise that (just about) any subject can be funny if you look hard enough. May I recommend some light-hearted science blogs for you? Check out Bad Astronomy Blog, Retrospectacle, Cocktail Party Physics, and The Loom. I’ll have more for you as time goes on.
The history of perpetual motion machines.
Chemists ALWAYS hold a flask of liquid at eye level or above to examine it.
How to make a Glowing Tomato. (via Ursi’s Blog)
When you are three years old, you ask “why?” a lot. When your dad is a chemistry professor, the answers can get a little, um, involved. (via Grow-A-Brain)
Gravity, explained in a retro animation.
College offers course on bad movie physics.
Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, explained in words of four letters or less.
How to make your own non-Newtonian slime.
The truth about a career in marine biology.
I can has faultline? Geology image macros. (via Grow-A-Brain)
A Simpleton's Guide to Science
Terms
Relativity: Family get-togethers at Christmas.
Gravity: Strength of a glass of beer.
Time travel: Throwing the alarm clock at the wall.
Black holes: What you get in black socks.
Critical mass: A gaggle of film reviewers.
Hyperspace: Where you park at the superstore.
Facts
Gravity was discovered by Sir Isaac Newton. It is chiefly noticeable in the autumn, when the apples are falling off the trees.
You can listen to thunder after lightning and tell how close you came to getting hit. If you don't hear it, you got hit, so never mind.
When people run around and around in circles, we say they are crazy. When planets do it, we say they are orbitting.
The tides are a fight between the Earth and moon. All water tends towards the moon, because there is no water in the moon, and nature abhors a vacuum.
The moon is more useful than the sun, because the moon shines at night when you want the light, whereas the sun shines during the day when you don't need it.
To remove air from a flask, fill it with water, tip the water out, and put the cork in quick before the air can get back in.
Isn't it meaningless to speak of a 45 degrees angle unless you specify Fahrenheit or Celcius?
An object at rest will always be in the wrong place. An object in motion will always be headed in the wrong direction.
For every action, there is an equal and opposite criticism.
Doppler effect is the tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when you come at them rapidly.
TODAY’S PHYSICS LESSON
The following theorem can now be supported using some basic physics and two well known propositions, namely :
Knowledge is Power.
Time is Money.
As every physicist knows, Power = Work/Time.
Therefore, Knowledge = Power = Work / Time = Work / Money, or
Money = Work / Knowledge
Thus for any given amount of work, as Knowledge approaches zero, Money goes to infinity (the executives). And conversely, as Knowledge gets larger, Money gets smaller (scientists and academics). QED
Thought for today: Scientific discovery may not be better than sex, but the satisfaction lasts longer -- Stephen Hawking
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