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'Science is the great antidote to the poison of enthusiasm and superstition.' -Adam Smith, the Wealth of Nations, 1776 Columbus never set foot in America. Piranhas are the deadliest fish. A purring cat is a happy cat. Cleopatra was insanely beautiful. All natural products are safe. Oranges are the richest source of vitamin C. You can tell a liar just by looking in their eyes. The Roswell alien autopsy proved that intelligent aliens visited us. And,...
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In the next book in Dr Karl's mega-selling science series, Australia's favourite scientist answers more curly questions about life, the universe and everything; questions such as Are virgin births possible? (they are) Will a black hole suck you in? (it won't) Is the most radioactive device in our homes the microwave? (it's not, it's the smoke detector)No-one conveys the excitement and wonder of science quite like Dr Karl and this, his twenty-fifth...
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KIRKUS REVIEW: "Pattison takes a complicated scientific theory and makes it not just fairly understandable, but entertaining as well." In 1915, British astronomer Arthur Stanley Eddington was fascinated with Einsteins new theory of general relativity. The theory talks about how forces push and pull objects in space. Einstein said that the sun's gravity could pull and bend light. To test this, astronomers decided to photograph a solar eclipse. The...
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WHAT MAKES A CANDLE BURN? Solid wax is somehow changed into light and heat. But how? Travel back in time to December 28, 1848 in London, England to one of the most famous juvenile science Christmas lectures at the Royal Institution. British scientist Michael Faraday (1791-1867) encouraged kids to carefully observe a candle and to try to figure out how it burned. Known as one of the best science experimenters ever, Faraday's passion was always to answer...
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Sound and Sound Waves What if your science experiments were so interesting that even an Emperor wanted to know more? In 1806, scientist Ernst Chladni (KLOD-nee) left Germany for a three-year road trip, entertaining Europeans with his science. He made wires, columns of air, and solids vibrate. He wrote about this in his native German language, but his French scientist friends wanted to read about it in French. How could he get the cash he needed to...
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The stage was set for a showdown: Man v. Machine.
On March 9, 2016, the AlphaGo artificial intelligence computer program played the board game, GO, against the world champion, Lee Sedol.
The Game: Go is the oldest board game in the world. Games are perfect tests for A.I because they keep score. It's easy to see when the A.I. is improving.
The Man: Korean Lee Sedol was the world's top Go player. He expected to win all five games of the match. Could...
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In 1915, British astronomer Arthur Stanley Eddington was fascinated with Einstein's new theory of general relativity. The theory talks about how forces push and pull objects in space. Einstein said that the sun's gravity could pull and bend light.
To test this, astronomers decided to photograph a solar eclipse. The eclipse would allow them to photograph the stars before and during the solar eclipse. If the star's position moved, then it was evidence...
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How long does it take for science to find an answer to a problem? On January 25, 1862, naturalist Charles Darwin received a box of orchids. One flower, the Madagascar star orchid, fascinated him. It had an 11.5 inch nectary, the place where flowers make nectar, the sweet liquid that insects and birds eat. How, he wondered, did insects pollinate the orchid? After experiments, he made a prediction. There must be a giant moth with a 11.5 inch proboscis,...
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People were dying! Malaria is a deadly mosquito-borne disease that causes fevers, chills and often death. In 1969, the People’s Republic of China created a task force to find a cure.
Working in the 1970s, Chinese scientist Tu Youyou reviewed the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) scrolls for ideas on where to start her research. She found 640 traditional treatments, and methodically started extracting compounds and testing them against malaria....