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Kepler's Conjecture

Take a bunch of oranges that are similar in size and try to pack them into a cardboard box. What is the most efficient orange arrangement so that you fit the most oranges into the box? Should you stack them into identical layers so that you have the same number of oranges in each layer; or should you have each alternate layer have fewer oranges ...

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KeplersConjecture
Physics

Ultraviolet Light

Ultraviolet light is a form of radiation which is not visible to the human eye. It's in an invisible part of the 'electromagnetic spectrum'. Radiated energy, or radiation, is given off by many ... Continue reading

UltravioletLight
Geology

The Importance Of Clouds And Aerosols To Climate Change

Everything, from an individual person to Earth as a whole, emits energy. Scientists refer to this energy as radiation. As Earth absorbs incoming sunlight, it warms up. The planet must emit some of ... Continue reading

CloudsAerosols
Biology

Are Mushrooms Plants?

Mushrooms are classified under the Kingdom Fungi, whereas plants are in the Kingdom Plantae. So, how are mushrooms so different from plants? They both grow in the soil and are not animals, but that is ... Continue reading

AreMushroomsPlants
Biology

What Are Stem Cells?

When an egg is fertilized by a sperm cell, it quickly becomes a single cell from which all cells of the body-to-be will be created. This 'mother of all cells' is what biologists call a totipotent stem ... Continue reading

StemCells

X-Ray Images & False Color

XRayColorThe colors we see in the world around us are the result of the way that the human eye and brain perceive different wavelengths of light in the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum. X-rays, and other wavelengths such as radio, infrared, ultraviolet and gamma-rays, cannot be seen with the human eye, and thus do not have any 'color.' To see the invisible wavelengths, detectors sensitive to those other wavelengths are needed.

Images taken by telescopes that observe the 'invisible' wavelengths are sometimes called 'false color images.' That is because the colors used to make them are not 'real' but are chosen to bring out important details. The color choice is usually a matter of personal taste, and is used as a type of code in which the colors can be associated with the intensity or brightness of the radiation from different regions of the image, or with the energy of the emission.