The fraud who worked with Einstein

The fraud who worked with Einstein

Emil Rupp spent the late 1920s and early 1930s being lauded as the most impressive experimental physicist in the world. He managed to pull off experiments that no one else could. He worked with Einstein. And he'd made it all up. Read more... … [Read more...]

The terrifyingly specific phenomenon that makes your jaw glow green

The terrifyingly specific phenomenon that makes your jaw glow green

Did you know that working around a certain chemical can make your jaw glow green and have to be chopped off? Not your teeth. Not your bones. Not your head. Your jaw. Learn what happens when biochemistry gets terrifyingly specific.Read more... … [Read more...]

An experiment shows how people deliberately sabotage themselves

An experiment shows how people deliberately sabotage themselves

If you got a great score on a test, you'd like to continue your winning streak, wouldn't you? One experiment proves you wouldn't. You'd self-sabotage. Not unintentionally and not subconsciously. You'd knowingly and deliberately screw up.Read more... … [Read more...]

When forests glow green in the night

When forests glow green in the night

There are certain times when the woods begin to glow. Sometimes they glow so much that people call the Park Service and ask them to send a hazmat team. What they're actually seeing is foxfire. And although we know how it happens, we don't know exactly why.Read more... … [Read more...]

Unglamorous Space Catastrophes That You’ll Never See in a Movie

Unglamorous Space Catastrophes That You'll Never See in a Movie

We were all impressed with the dramatic trailer for Gravity, with George Clooney weathering an explosion on an orbiting space station and Sandra Bullock spinning off into the void of space. Things like that make good cinema. There are other space crises, though, that will never get their own movies. Here are some space disasters that are just too awkward for the cinema.Read more... … [Read more...]

Cataplexy: When emotions paralyze you

Cataplexy: When emotions paralyze you

And not figuratively, either. Sometimes people have found that certain emotions literally cause their muscles to unhook from their brains. They collapse entirely. This is not some strange disease, or weakness — tt's the misapplication of a necessary function.Read more... … [Read more...]