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GamesArchive for December 4th, 2009
At what stage of pregnancy is a baby’s sex determined?
by Marshall Brain | December 4, 2009
You Asked: At what stage of pregnancy is a baby’s sex determined? — Charlie, Iloilo, Philippines Marshall Brain Answers: If you read the article How Sex Works, you can see that there is a point in the process where the egg is surrounded by many sperm cells. One of those sperm cells breaks through to [...]
Top 5 Underground Stomping Grounds: Crystal Cave
by Amanda Arnold | December 4, 2009
Remember in “Superman II,” when those three creepy people wearing ice skating costumes fly Lois Lane and Lex Luthor out to Superman’s Fortress of Solitude?
That’s exactly what this place looks like: Superman’s Fortress of Solitude. Only, unlike the fortress, which is located in an ice field and is presumably pretty chilly, the Cueva de los Cristales is located underground. And, oddly, it’s really hot down there. In fact, the crystal cave can heat up to 112 degrees Fahrenheit — a unique temperature for a cave, and yet the perfect temperature for crystal-making.
The crystal cave is located 1,000 feet below the desert of Northern Mexico and was discovered in 2000 by two brothers who were drilling for lead and silver in the Naica mine.
The winter can be a rough time of year for our bodies. The cold, dry air robs moisture from our skin, leaving us with chapped lips, sandpapery hands and, worse still, flaky scalps. Given the top cause of dandruff is dry skin, our heads are more susceptible to producing embarrassing snowstorms when the weather turns cold.
Before you spring for anti-dandruff shampoos and treatments, there are a few lifestyle factors that could be causing the scalp to shed.
You Asked: How do combined cycle power plants work? — Merril, Colombo, Sri Lanka Marshall Brain Answers: This video contains a great example of a combined cycle power plant. In this case they are using heat generated in a solar mirror system two times instead of one and increasing the efficiency to 30% in the [...]
Jonathan and I set out to take on some basics, based on some Listener Mail we received. On Monday, we started with a question from Mark, who wanted to know more about the different standards of wireless networking. Frankly, it can be a little confusing, but WiFi comes in several different flavors. Each of them is a little different…
A guy who is great at Gran Turismo turns into a real-world race car driver when given the chance: Champion Gran Turismo Gamer Becomes Real-world Racing Champion Lucas Ordoñez always loved cars and dreamed of being a professional race driver when he grew up. In 2008, though, he had abandoned that dream as he lacked [...]
A friend of mine just came back from Cambodia, so I’m glad the podcast that published Monday was “Why did Angkor fall?” Angkor is a lost city. What used to be the seat of a great empire, the most extensive complex of the preindustrial world, is now in ruins.
Wednesday’s podcast was very fun to research. We’ve gotten a lot of requests for a Lewis and Clark expedition podcast, but we wanted to do something a little different. Instead, we talked about the death of Meriwether Lewis: murder or suicide?
Well, well, well. I suppose you’re here for a little High Speed Stuff wrap-up? That’s good, because I’m ready to spill the beans about what Ben and I talked about on our podcast this week. So, if you’re interested, let’s take a few minutes to review what we’ve been up to over the past several days.
It turns out that movie theaters are very sensitive to bootlegging (filming a movie in a theater with a camera so that you can then sell the movie or post it on YouTube). Therefore, there are strict laws against filming in theaters. For example: UNAUTHORIZED RECORDINGS IN THEATRES In the U.S., there are laws against [...]
Goodness gracious, folks – what a couple of weeks we’ve had here at Studio 1-A. I was out last week, so this week brings a double dose of SYSK goodness. Since it’s super-sized, let’s get right to it, shall we?
Recent Postings by Category
BrainStuff
- Thank You and Best Wishes to Marshall Brain
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The Coolest Stuff on the Planet
Keep Asking
- Why can a 5 foot 8 inch man dunk a basketball on a 10 foot rim while some people of taller stature can’t?
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Stuff Mom Never Told You
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Stuff to Blow Your Mind
- Blow Your Mind: In the Lair of the Rat King
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Stuff You Should Know
- The Southern Death Cult, the Maya and Georgia
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The Stuff of Genius
CarStuff
- Was Chrysler’s “It’s Halftime in America” Super Bowl commercial a little too political?
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How-to Stuff
- How to Make the Most of a Gallery Crawl (When You’re on a Shoestring Budget)
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PopStuff
- PopStuff Show Notes: Episode 40: Did movies ruin love?
- PopStuff Show Notes: Episode 39: Urban Legends
- PopStuff Show Notes: Episode 38: Defending Disney Princesses?
Stuff They Don't Want You To Know
Stuff to Change the World
- Who will own the Arctic?
- Obesity: The New Global Crisis
- Bill Gates Makes For A Pretty Decent Cartoon
Stuff You Missed in History Class
- Butch Cassidy: Should we read between the lines?
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- Party Time: A Look at Unconventional Politics
