ScienceIQ.com

How Do Cacti Survive in That Environment?

Most plants require daily or weekly watering. Some people even give their plants extra nutrients with such products as 'Miracle Grow'. House plants may even come with directions as to how much sunlight, shade and water the plant needs to survive. So how do cacti that live in the desert survive by being deprived of water and nutrients? Through ...

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CactiSurvive
Astronomy

Groups & Clusters of Galaxies

Galaxy clusters are the largest gravitationally bound objects in the universe. They have three major components: (i) hundreds of galaxies containing stars, gas and dust; (ii) vast clouds of hot (30 - ... Continue reading

GroupsClustersofGalaxies
Biology

Palm Trees and Prickly Pears

If you drive around Southern California you'll see a lot of palm trees and prickly pear cacti. If you drive around Southern Spain you will too! How did it happen that two places an ocean apart have ... Continue reading

PalmTreesandPricklyPears
Biology

If You're Bringing Cows, Bring Your Own Decomposers

Living organisms create a lot of waste products. Every year they deposit millions of tons of dead plant and animal matter on almost every corner of the earth - and they make dung, lots of dung. Where ... Continue reading

CowsAndDecomposers
Astronomy

The Chandra Mission

NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, which was launched and deployed by Space Shuttle Columbia on July 23, 1999, is the most sophisticated X-ray observatory built to date. Chandra is designed to observe ... Continue reading

Chandra

Mobius Strip

MobiusStripA Mobius Strip is an amusing three-dimensional object whose surface has only one side. Huh? Well, most objects you can imagine have a surface with two sides. For example, an ordinary piece of paper has two sides; you can paint one side blue and the other red. Now, a Mobius Strip has no other side! Don’t believe me? Try it yourself: cut a piece of paper about 1/2 inch (1 cm) wide and about 10 inches (25 cm) long. Close this strip of paper on itself - almost making a ring; however, rotate one end of this strip by 180 degrees. Tape the joint. Now take a red pen and start painting. You will very soon realize that you will be able to paint the whole Mobius Strip with red color without ever lifting the pen off its surface.

Mobius strip was named after the astronomer and mathematician August Ferdinand Mobius (1790-1868). He came up with his strip in September 1858. Independently, German mathematician Johann Benedict Listing (1808-1882) devised the same object in July 1858. Perhaps we should call it the Listing Strip?