• Technology

    If You Dropped a Corn Kernel From Space, Would it Pop During Re-Entry?

    By Stuart Fox Posted on 12.30.2008 21 Comments

    There’s a little bit of water inside each kernel of popcorn, and if you can heat the kernel above 212°F, that water should boil, turn into high-pressure steam, and pop the kernel. But in orbit, things aren’t so simple. First off, the cold vacuum of space would suck all the water out of the kernel before it could pop the corn. So any ordinary kernels would drop, not pop. But let’s say we figured out a way to keep the kernel watertight. In that case, it all depends.

    1.12.2009 at 12:16pm - Comment by ricoaztec

    Wow besides Beb most of you geeks are trying to trump one another. one guys says you learn it in college, another says friction has nothing to do with it, and a vacuum is not, not nothing, it's something. Maybe I should put said kernel between my butt cheeks, it may pop from all the hot air being blown up my @$$. hehehe

  • Science

    Pharaoh’s Feminine Figure Explained

    By SciIll Staff Posted on 1.5.2009 6 Comments

    The Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaton’s voluptuous body shape and elongated head and neck, recorded in ancient depictions of the male ruler, have long perplexed historians. But now Irwin Braverman, a professor of dermatology and an expert on visual diagnosis at the Yale University School of Medicine, is offering a theory on the characteristics, which are not found in representations of other pharaohs: Akhenaton may have suffered from two genetic disorders that affect body shape.

    1.12.2009 at 11:38am - Comment by ricoaztec

    Scientists should NEVER engage in speculation--they ought to stick to just reaffirming what we already know!-sci-hi-fi Reaffirming what we already know???? What the hell is the point of science then if not to improve what we already know or gain knowledge or insight on things we do not know or don't quite understand? Maybe you should change that name to low-tech-no-tech.. hehehe



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