12 December 2018
I have an oak tree in a pot grown from a seedling. After three years it is healthy but barely a metre tall. However, its leaves are much the same size as those of a mature oak. In animals, a stricter law of proportion seems to apply: babies have tiny...
12 December 2018
Earlier this year, a flat-Earther launched a ballistic rocket to observe Earth from altitude. If it were indeed flat and shaped like a frisbee, what would his ballistic path look like if he launched near the disc edge and aimed towards the edge? Would...
12 December 2018
Sometimes I open a room-temperature bottle of red wine and put in a valved spout. On operating the valve the next day, at the same temperature, the noise I hear suggests that the air in the bottle was at a lower pressure than that outside. Why should...
