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Whether the water emptying from a basin flows in a hemisphere-dependent direction has been the topic of much interest since talk of the Coriolis effect, often credited for the phenomenon, breached popular

From celebration to conversation to commiseration, most of us have no trouble rationalising the occasional drink. Whatever your brand of alcoholism, scientific curiosity, like most cognitive functions,

Electricity separates man from ape. The fruits of mankind's greatest intellectual labours have granted us the ability, unique to the animal kingdom, to harness energy. Humanity wields energy like a weapon

Few inventions have had an impact on everyday life like the microwave; tried and tested by the tight-scheduled, impatient and downright lazy, it has become a modern-day kitchen mainstay. Yet the workings

If you've ever received a shock from a metal object like a shopping trolley or doorknob then you've encountered the phenomenon behind lightning, Van de Graaff generators and slide-induced bedhead: the

The average human produces a litre of sweat every day, so in a world of ever-mounting social pressures it's no surprise that, since the first commercial deodorant in the late 1800's, personal hygiene

In the most basic sense, glue 'sticks things together'. Children come to terms with the idea of stickiness at a very young age, and most quickly come to associate stickiness with glue - in the form of

Many useful substances discovered by humans throughout history have proven a poisoned chalice - we've already looked at one such material, asbestos. Another handy metal whose practicality belies its danger

At first thought, it seems unremarkable that bodies of water freeze from the top down; after all, why wouldn't they? Surely the surface layer is closest to the cold air and should freeze in place first?

Chances are you've come across the old wives' tale that 'buttered toast always lands face down'. This gloomy adage likely represents a metaphor for Murphy's Law (or Sod's Law to us here in the UK), which

Here in the UK, snowfall is a relatively rare occurrence. When we finally do get our white Christmas, it wreaks havoc on the unprepared transport system, providing a convenient excuse for many 'not to

Even the best works of science-related cinema ask that you suspend your disbelief from time to time, with entertainment often delivered at the expense of accuracy. While these sci-fi slip-ups often represent

Ever spot the five-year-old bottle of honey at the back of your kitchen cupboard and wonder if it's time to throw it out? Fear not; harmless crystallisation (the result of supersaturated soluble sugars

An old, well-known myth claims that holding a seashell up to the ear channels the sound of the ocean. Conch shells are popular among children for the ocean-swell sound they produce. While it's true that

Archaeological digs in Finland have found pottery, dating back almost 5,000 years, containing what we now know as asbestos. Asbestos is the name given by the scientific community to a group of six fibrous

Perhaps the most well-known, everyday scientific phenomenon is the rainbow, a source of wonder - and even folklore - for young and old alike. Children learn the word 'rainbow' long before the words 'chemistry'

What causes the rainbows in a shallow puddle of oil? Why doesn't the surface of a barrel of oil shimmer in the same way? Technicolour puddles The key lies in a phenomenon called thin film interference.

Rheology and Temperature-Dependent Viscosity of Honeys Abstract Some household honeys are known to exhibit interesting ‘non-Newtonian’ properties. One such property is a viscosity (often thought of as

For millennia, the celestial beauty of the sky above has seduced and terrified humankind in equal measure. During much of this period, the nature of the cosmos was unknown, and it has only been in the

Deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA as it is commonly known, is the molecule responsible for the passing of genetic information during cell division and the synthesis of proteins. Chain Backbone DNA is a polymer