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GamesArchive for February, 2010
How are hourglasses measured to be exactly one hour of sand?
by Marshall Brain | February 22, 2010
You Asked: How are hourglasses measured to be exactly one hour of sand? — Marko, Zagreb, Croatia Marshall Brain Answers: Before there were accurate clocks, people used hourglasses to measure the passing of time. Hourglasses were common on ships, for example, to measure time, and therefore distance traveled, for navigation. If you are trying to [...]
What was Lord Dunmore’s Ethiopian Regiment?
by Katie Lambert | February 22, 2010
Black soldiers fought at the early important battles of the war: Lexington, Concord and Bunker Hill. But when Washington took charge of the Continental Army, he decreed that recruitment of black soldiers was at an end, and he later purged the remaining soldiers from his army. It seems the idea of armed blacks was a great enough threat to risk losing a war for.
With this ban, the embattled royal governor of Virginia saw his chance. On Nov. 14, 1775, he issued a proclamation declaring that he’d free any slaves who joined the Loyalists in their fight.
Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to hold in my hands plenty of worn-out car parts. Sometimes the parts show the dramatic results of catastrophic engine failure — like twisted connecting rods and melted piston heads — and other times the parts or components still look shiny and new despite apparent internal failure — a burned out starter motor or a clogged catalytic converter, for example. Sure, I could have just mindlessly thrown those old car parts into the trash, but I find it much more interesting to investigate what caused the problem in the first place. I’m guessing that’s why the Toyota Tundra Deconstructed campaign grabbed my attention.
My name is Robert Lamb, and I get excited about space horror. And I don’t just mean really good stuff like “Alien.” I will gladly endure such lackluster entries as “Event Horizon” and even the such utter cheese as “Jason X” and “Leprechaun 4: In Space.” I am still trying to talk my wife into watching 2009′s “Pandorum” with me. That movie’s better than it has any right to be, people.
Aside from my posts here at the HowStuffWorks.com blogs, I also contribute to the Discovery Space blogs. The crew there does a fantastic job of covering breaking space news, and I throw in my own takes on a variety of topical or weird space subjects. So here’s a look at just a handful of the topics I’ve covered there.
You Asked: How does a high-pressure geyser work? — Michiel, Parow, South Africa Marshall Brain Answers: A geyser like Old Faithful is driven by water and heat. Its rhythm is set by things like the amount of time that water takes to become steam, based on the amount of heat that is available, along with [...]
At Stuff You Should Know, it is our goal to give everybody something interesting to discuss around the campfire or the bar or between rounds at a cockfight, even if it means we feel dirty after having reached that goal. So how about today we talk about the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement?
A different way to build a house #41 – The ultra-secure house
by Marshall Brain | February 22, 2010
Imagine a house so secure that it can protect you against burglary, against any disaster nature can throw at you, and perhaps even against a nuclear attack. Such a house would be ultra-secure, as described here: Is This the Safest House in the World? Nowadays, increasing numbers of homeowners are spending big bucks to have [...]
How to Unclog a Drain with Two Simple Ingredients
by Cristen Conger | February 22, 2010
Baking soda’s magical properties never cease to impress me. It can help beautify by exfoliating dry skin, putting the luster back in your locks and keeping your teeth white. It can improve food as a meat tenderizer, omelet fluff-upper and grease cutter. And among its other myriad applications, baking soda can also unclog your drain.
The science of chaos is fascinating, because it seems impossible to make a science out of disorder and mayhem. How can you find order in disorder? But it turns out you can, as described very nicely in this documentary from the BBC : “This is a film about one very simple question – how did [...]
Start with standard percussion instruments like bongo drums, African drums, etc. Then add mechanical elements that will thump them, like solenoids, motors, etc. Then add computer control and the ability for a musician to initiate robotic actions with Wii remotes. You have a band called Jazari, as described here: Having seen how it’s controlled, it [...]
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