• Entertainment & Gaming

    Build a Bridge

    By Paul Adams Posted on 2.19.2009 7 Comments

    Here we have a fun and frustrating little game that exploits our engineering skills. How to build a stable bridge is what this game is all about. At each level of the game you're given a limited amount of imaginary cash with which to purchase your beams and supports. It's usually just enough to get the job done, if you do it right. Which isn't so easy.

  • Science

    Large Hadron Collider Probably Won't Destroy Earth

    By Paul Adams Posted on 6.23.2008 11 Comments

    The Large Hadron Collider, the giant particle accelerator that's scheduled to begin colliding protons in August, has the potential to produce the long-sought Higgs boson. That elusive particle is a missing link in the commonly accepted model of physics. Observing it would be an important milestone in our understanding of the fundamental forces of the universe.

  • Technology

    If The Sun Went Out, How Long Would Life On Earth Survive?

    By Paul Adams Posted on 10.20.2008 25 Comments

    If you put a steamy cup of coffee in the refrigerator, it wouldn’t immediately turn cold. Likewise, if the sun simply “turned off” (which is actually physically impossible), the Earth would stay warm—at least compared with the space surrounding it—for a few million years. But we surface dwellers would feel the chill much sooner than that.


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February 2012: The Future of Fun

Science is reinventing play, from extreme sports to gamification to ridiculous roller coasters to the playgrounds of tomorrow, and this issue is chock full of fun. Also, on a less fun note: Did global warming destroy my hometown?


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