Even though the standard calendar year is 365 days, Earth actually takes 365 days 5 hours 48 minutes and 46 seconds to go completely around the sun. (This is called a solar year.) In order to keep the calendar cycle synchronized with the seasons, one extra day is (usually) added every four years as February 29. Where did this practice come from? Who came up …
COVID-19 has greatly increased awareness and knowledge of specialized scientific vocabulary among the general public. Some of us may remember high school lessons on concepts like DNA and RNA, and the exact role they play in the development of new vaccines. For the rest of us, however, a quick refresher is in order. Central to the discussion of the pandemic is the topic of vaccination. …
You’ve probably come across the word holistic before. It floats around in yoga retreats and meditation studios, spas, healing centers, and health food stores. Predominantly, but not exclusively. Do you spell it with a W? And when you realized it is normally spelled holistic, did you wonder why it’s not wholistic when it’s clearly about the “whole”? We’ve wondered, too. After all, wholistic would seem a more sensible choice. …
Countries around the world are doing what they can to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine to as many people as possible. As we wait and hope the vaccine will finally free us from the virus’s clutches, the words are flying fast and furious; everyone from Dr. Fauci on down is suddenly concerned with terms like vaccine efficacy and vaccine effectiveness. And who can blame us for …
The blues got you today? Or is that upcoming speech giving you the jitters? As unpleasant as it is, it is OK. Sudden bouts of gloominess and uneasiness are completely normal responses to upsetting or potentially dangerous circumstances, whether real or imagined. Thankfully, they are short-lived. They ebb and flow and vanish together with the triggering event. We all have bad days every now and …
COVID-19 has set off many unprecedented events that will most likely change the world forever. Fortunately, they haven’t all been bad: the virus led to the remarkable development of vaccines at a pace and scale the likes of which have never before been seen in history. Both the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and the Moderna vaccine use a relatively new technology that has been approved for the …
Recently, journalists and social media users were fascinated by large hunks of metal referred to as monoliths suddenly appearing and just as suddenly disappearing around the world. Yet another monolith has appeared on a beach in England https://t.co/1kB7Pz5Bgq pic.twitter.com/huUwolhYCF — Mashable (@mashable) December 11, 2020 While it seems that these mysterious objects may just be part of some publicity stunt or marketing scheme, they’ve inspired …
Chances are you’ve heard of the TV show The Big Bang Theory. Lots of people love this lighthearted sitcom for its quirky characters and their relationships, but others haven’t even given the series a chance for one reason: they don’t like science and assume the show is boring. However, it only takes a few seconds with Sheldon and Penny to disprove this assumption and realize …
It’s time for another virtual field trip! During the Covid-19 pandemic, educational spaces like museums, national parks, and NASA are opening their doors for virtual tours. We’ve already “visited” Georgia Aquarium to watch their aquatic animal webcams, and we’ve gotten to know the animals at the Houston Zoo in Texas. This time, we’re headed to NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. The Langley Research Center …
The word was there a second ago. You were just about to say it. And then poof, it was gone, like a gnat buzzing just out of your reach when you’re about to smack it mid-air. So what the heck is going on. Is there a word to describe what you meant to say when you just can’t remember that word? Well, yes! It was …
Have you ever wandered the recesses of the deep web and dark web? Or have you simply wondered what these expressions mean? These two terms are just as mysterious as they sound, but they’re not synonyms, despite how similar they may seem at first glance. There’s a lot of confusion out there about how to distinguish between these two terms, which both define hidden aspects of the Internet. …
