No. The Coriolis force (a twisting force caused by the Earth's rotation) causes tornados and hurricanes, but on a smaller scale its effects are negligible. It is commonly believed that water goes one way down the plughole in the northern hemisphere, and the other in the southern hemisphere, but this is not true. Factors such as movement in the water and the way the plug is removed have a far greater effect.
Diverse thinkers, from the ancient Greek philosophers through contemporary quantum cosmology and eternal inflation theory, have called time an illusion. For them, the perception of time passing...
Phlegm is the mucous secretion of the respiratory passages. The cilia cells that line these passages are continually driving the phlegm upward to the throat, where it triggers the swallow reflex...
Ordinary glass absorbs 97 per cent of the UVB rays that cause sunburn and some skin cancers, and 37 per cent of the less harmful UVA radiation. This translates to a protection of about SPF30, so...
It depends on how high (or low) you set the bar of fluency. Ziad Fazah, born in Liberia, brought up in Beirut and now living in Brazil, claims to be the world's greatest living polyglot, with a...
Vomiting is a deliberate response by the body that evolved as a purging mechanism to remove toxins or foreign bodies from the stomach and oesophagus. Since stomach contents are highly acidic,...
The powder is actually tiny scales made from modified hairs. Moths, like butterflies, belong to the order Lepidoptera, which means 'scale wing'. The scales are pigmented but they also contribute...
Insects are arthropods and the basic arthropod body type is to have bilaterally symmetrical body segments with a pair of legs on each one. Segments on the most primitive arthropods tended to...
The bladder holds 400-600ml of urine. Normal urine production is around 1.5 litres every 24 hours, so that would give you nine or 10 hours to completely fill up. However you can drop to as little...
There is no 'point' to slugs, any more than there's a point to lions, mosquitoes or humans. Organisms do not exist to serve a role as part of some higher purpose; they exist because they are able...
Mobile phones operate on a high-frequency signal that's easily blocked by soil or concrete. Signals further down the spectrum travel relatively unhindered. For instance, medium wave radio stations...
If frequency response is important to you, then ear buds and over-ear headphones claim to have similar ranges of about 15-20kHz. As someone who loves his MP3 player and has worked in radio for a...
CDs have a wide dynamic range. In other words, there's a big difference between the quietest and loudest sounds they can reproduce. In some cases, the music might not be mastered to use all the...
Yes they can, so if you’ve been having an affair or doing something dodgy at work, beware! Messages are laid out on the SIM card as data files. When you move messages around or delete them, the...
Telephone wires can pick up external interference and their electrical resistance means frequent repeater stations are needed. Optical fibres don't have these problems and can carry much more...
It depends on the poison. The best thing to do if you suspect someone's been poisoned is to dial 999 or take the person to a casualty department. Do not, under any circumstances, try to make them...
Advertisement feature
Use our recruitment directory to discover who's hiring near you!
Advertisement feature
A selection of some of the most desirable Northern Light holidays
Advertisement feature
The Astronomers Retailer Guide 2013
There’s no better place to buy than from a specialist retailer
Focus picks the five best bits of tech at the UK's largest technology show
The Red Kite
Back-of-an-envelope calculation about c and w... this mans a star Landsat and a Changing Earth Pilotless Passenger Planes Prepare for Take-o... Does anything exist outside of the universe? book review: Lazarus Effect pg 104 May 2013 Company Develops System to Raise Intellectual... Star Wars returns.... Researcher Urges New Scientific Study of UFOs
Diverse thinkers, from the ancient Greek philosophers through contemporary quantum cosmology and eternal inflation theory, have called time an illusion. For them, the perception of time passing...
Air crash investigators have found that flight stewards in rear-facing seats have suffered less severe injuries in accidents than forward-facing passengers. This is because the energy from the...
While Britons have pioneered all sorts of things from the steam engine and the computer to passenger jets and rugby football, we have dismally failed to maintain world dominance in much at all...
Most people agree that the years seem to pass at an ever-accelerating rate. That’s because traditions, anniversaries and celebrations gradually accumulate and merge, so that the difference...
Ordinary glass absorbs 97 per cent of the UVB rays that cause sunburn and some skin cancers, and 37 per cent of the less harmful UVA radiation. This translates to a protection of about SPF30, so...