Brainspaceの August/September 2023 の目次

botany from Latin pomum “fruit” + logy “study” The apple has a lot to live up to. One of the healthiest snacks, it's earned its own saying: “An apple a day keeps the…” Do I really need to finish? It's been used to make everything from cider to pies. And don't forget the way it's shaped history, from scientific Eurekas! to American folktales. With over 7,500 variations, the apple has earned its spotless reputation as a super food. ORIGINALLY CULTIVATED IN CENTRAL ASIA, THE APPLE HAS TRAVELLED FAR SINCE. TAKEN WITH TRADERS ALONG THE SILK ROAD, THEY WERE DISPERSED THROUGHOUT EUROPE AND THEN ON TO THE AMERICAS WITH THE IMMIGRATION OF EUROPEAN SETTLERS. DIFFERENT VARIETIES OF APPLE GROW IN DIFFERENT PLACES, FOR EXAMPLE THE BLACK OXFORD APPLE IN MAINE, U.S.A.,…

climate Air pressure is the force exerted by the weight of air molecules on a surface. It is measured by an instrument called a barometer, in units of pressure, such as pounds per square inch (psi) or pascals (Pa). Air pressure decreases with altitude, as there are fewer air molecules at higher elevations. Changes in air pressure can affect weather patterns. High pressure typically brings clear skies, while low pressure often signals the potential for storms. Air pressure is also important in aviation, as pilots need to consider it when planning flights and making altitude adjustments. DIY: Barometer You will need: • Balloon • Glass jar • Rubber band • Toothpick or popsicle stick • Tape • Piece of paper • Pencil or marker…

math HERE'S A TRICK WITH ALGEBRA Write down any three-digit number where the digits are in decreasing order, such as 842 or 951. Reverse the numbers and subtract the second number from the first. Then, whatever the answer is, reverse it and add those numbers together. Like this: TRY IT WITH A DIFFERENT NUMBER. Follow the instructions and you will always end up with 1,089! IT'S ALL ABOUT THE ALGEBRA! Start with the three-digit number abc where a > b > c. Just as the number 853 can be simplified to its base 10 value to (100 x 8) + (10 x 5) + 3, the number abc has a value of 100a + 10b + c. When we reverse the digits, we get cba, which has value 100c +…

climate Modern fishers and boaters use high-tech navigational tools such as radar, GPS, compasses and detailed charts to safely find their way around rivers, lakes and oceans. They even have electronic fish finders to locate fish. The sailors of ancient times had different tools: they used the clues provided by nature to develop their knowledge of the sun, the moon and the stars, the tides, the wind and waves, as well as an understanding of the local sea life. Sailers of the past didn't have depth finders, but they could detect the locations of potentially dangerous coral reefs just by observing the colour of the surrounding water. Experienced sailors could even tell, by the feeling of the rocking of their boats, when it was time to head for shelter from…

chemistry USE ZAPPAR TO WATCH Dr. Kistler 1931 Imagine taking the jiggle out of jello™? In 1931, Dr. Samuel Stephens Kistler bet another scientist that he could remove all the liquid from a gel – in this case jelly and replace it with CO2 gas and the jelly would remain the same shape. Kistler won that bet and the first aerogel was created. A gel is a bit of an oddball as it is made up of mainly liquid, but behaves like a solid. A cross-linking system within the fluid of the gel gives it structure and firmness. When liquid molecules are successfully removed, and gas molecules take their place, the gel retains its shape as a solid. It is now an aerogel! Up to 99.98 percent of the volume…

biology A new fish habitat was announced on January 13, 2022 and it's blown scientists out of the water. Ocean researchers have located a spectacularly huge colony of notothenioid icefish nests in Antarctica's southern Weddell Sea. The colony spans approximately 240 square kilometers – that's more than half the size of Montreal! The fish biomass of more than 60,000 tons (or over 135 million pounds) includes more than 60 million active nests. “Our most important finding is the pure existence of such an extensive icefish brooding colony,” says Autun Purser of the Alfred Wegener Institute in Bremerhaven, Germany. “A few dozen nests have been observed elsewhere in the Antarctic, but this find is orders of magnitude larger.” The icefish's pale and translucent skin gives it an eerie, ghost Tike appearance.…

Here at Brainspace, we thought an article about the brain would be fitting. It is our namesake after all. The brain is the big boss of the body. If you don't believe it, go ahead and move your left thumb. Even though your thumb did the work of moving, your brain neurons fired the *message* through your Central Nervous System (CNS) to tell your thumb to move. Your CNS is command central for a network of information highways throughout your body – a bit like the Internet. Scientists have studied the brain for centuries. It is beautifully complicated and there's still so much we don't know about it. But there are many misconceptions about the brain. Let's get smarter about a few of them. ONLY 10 There's a myth that…

history At the age of 22, English biologist Charles Darwin set off on a journey that would last nearly five years and profoundly change our understanding of the origins of different species. Darwin was a naturalist on board a ship called the HMS Beagle, which travelled around the world from December 1831 to October 1836. His job was to make observations about the creatures and plants he saw, and take samples of them, too. The crew spent much of September and October 1835 exploring the Galápagos Islands. Darwin observed that the creatures on the Galápagos Islands were similar to those on the mainland, but had slight physical variations. For example, he noticed that giant tortoises differed from island to island. USE ZAPPAR TO WATCH But according to the Galápagos Conservation…

botany HOW DOES IT WORK? Humans have nerve endings all over our bodies that send messages to our brains when we feel anything – such as a poke or heat from the sun. Scientists discovered that plants communicate through their cells too. They transmit tiny bits of electric current that pass through plant cells when they feel something. In a Mimosa, for example, this causes a drop in pressure in the cells and the Mimosa's leaves droop and curl. Plants have been hooked up to electrodes and when a plant is injured, the electrical current pulses faster. Plants are smarter than we think. Meet Mimosa pudica, a shy and sensitive plant. Also known as sleepy plant and touch-me-not, the Mimosa plant curls its leaves inward and droops if it is touched. This plant's…

science A rainbow is a beautiful sight, but it can also tell us interesting things about the nature of light and the natural environment around us. In simple terms, a rainbow is caused by sunlight shining on rain (although sometimes you might see a rainbow around mist, fog, a waterfall or sea spray). Our eyes normally perceive sunlight as white; however, light is made up of many colours, each with a different wavelength. Some of the colours separate, or spread out and become visible, as they enter, and then exit, the water droplets. Rainbows tell us that there is water in the atmosphere. We are seeing the reflection (bounce back) of sunlight shining on water droplets. The sunlight enters the droplets, is scattered, and “bends” back (refraction) towards our eyes.…

biology A few years ago social media was divided by a dress that some people saw as black and blue and others saw as white and gold. The debate highlighted how each of us sees the world differently. Recently another puzzle has brought to light how one of our other senses may differ from person to person: our sense of smell. The question “can you smell ants?” is dividing noses into those that can and those that cannot. THERE ARE OVER 12,000 ANT SPECIES WORLDWIDE ON EVERY CONTINENT BUT ANTARCTICA. YUMMY CHOCOLATE SMELL That maybe a trap-jaw ant, not a chocolate chip cookie! Ants release strong smells when they are in danger or accidentally squished. (We should never squish a harmless and super-useful ant on purpose.) The most common ant,…

engineering SINK OR FLOAT? YOU WILL NEED • bowl of water • aluminum foil strips METHOD 1. Place a flat piece of aluminum foil onto the surface of the water. It floats! Now sink this piece to the bottom of the bowl. 2. Take the second strip and crumple it to create a ball. Place this ball onto the surface of the water. It also floats! Try to sink the ball or keep the ball under the water. It should continue to bounce to the surface and float. 3. Keeping the flat piece of aluminum foil under water, crumple it to create a ball. Try to place this ball onto the surface of the water. It sinks! This ball will always sink. USE ZAPPAR TO WATCH WHY DOES THIS HAPPEN?…

history DR. ROGER PAYNE'S career as a bio-acoustitian led him to study the physics of sound waves from many animals. But he was best known for producing and releasing the top-selling record, Songs of the Humpback Whale. Early in his career, he studied echo-location in bats and owls but, a few years later, he became fascinated with the sounds made by whales. Using several recordings made by Frank Watlington, a Navy engineer, Dr. Payne discovered that the whale songs repeated themselves. After a great deal of study, his team made a remarkable discovery: male whales in a given part of the ocean sing the same song. Although they modify their songs a little each year, they never repeat the exact same song again. Songs last from 30 minutes to a…

physics You may have heard someone say that something resonates with them: that it reminds them of something familiar or is similar to what they believe. It might “strike a chord” with them or they feel “in tune” with it. Objects can also relate to one another in a similar way. When they are “in tune” with one another it can be because of a different kind of resonance. Every object vibrates because all of its atoms are in a constant state of motion. Even those objects that appear to be completely still are vibrating. The specific rate of that vibration is called the object's natural, or resonant, frequency. Each object has a different frequency depending upon its size, shape and what it is made of. When something is subjected…

engineering YOU WILL NEED METHOD 1. Place 7 cups in a circle. Fill each cup with water about half an inch from the rim of the glass. 2. Add 10 drops of red food colouring to the 1st and 7th water glasses. Add 10 drops of blue food colouring to the 5th water glass. Add 10 drops of yellow food colouring to the 3rd water glass. 3. Fold one sheet of paper towel lengthwise in half, and repeat this step a second time, leaving you with one long strip of folded paper towel. Cut this paper towel strip in half. You have now created 2 strips. Repeat this step to create 7 strips in total. USE ZAPPAR TO WATCH 4. Place one strip of paper towel across the first two…

culture Humans swallow approximately 8 SPIDERS PER YEAR “Don't sleep on your back! You can suck in spiders.” First of all, how can we even test this theory? There are only 3 or 4 species of house-dwelling spiders in North America and, scientifically, there is nothing in your nose or mouth that a spider would want or need. A spider is busy tending to its nest in dusty, non-human infested areas such as old basements, garages or sheds. They are very afraid of you and aren't interested in humans that look like giant rocks in their landscape. Should you pee on a JELLYFISH STING? Absolutely false. In fact, urine can activate jellyfish stingers – nematocysts – into releasing more painful venom. The bacteria in urine would likely cause an infection.…