Rachel Carson in Silent Spring depicts such a chilling scene – the sound of birdsong that once echoed in the […]
The Soundscape of Nature (TEST) Continue reading »
What do a DVD player, supermarket scanner, printer, fiber optic internet connection, and industrial metal cutter have in common? They
激光的特性、原理和用途 Continue reading »
The rule of law demands that similar cases have similar outcomes. Otherwise, the law won’t be equitable and fair. And the public won’t accept arbitrary court rulings that lack sound reasoning. So, lawyers use reasoning when they urge juries and judges to rule for their clients. And judges must use logic to explain their decisions.
法庭控、辩中的逻辑推理 Continue reading »
No stars . No planets . Not even any atoms . At the moment of its birth, the universe was emptiness. Then, in a burst of inflation—a bit like a balloon blowing up—a very tiny area grew much, much larger. This happened when the age of the universe was just “a trillionth of a trillionth of a trillionth of a second”, says Alexei Filippenko. He’s an astronomer at the University of California, Berkeley. The dramatic period is extremely brief. During inflation, the universe’s size doubled around at least 100 times.
Amanda was three years old and had no interest in learning to use the bathroom. Her father, Steven Levitt, decided to try something new. He told his daughter, “Amanda, every time you go pee pee in the potty, I’m going to give you M&Ms. Okay?” Amanda loved M&Ms. At first, the plan seemed to be working perfectly. Amanda started going to the bathroom to pee. Levitt was very pleased with himself. But just a few days later, things changed. A few minutes after Amanda went to the bathroom, she said she had to go again! Every few minutes, she wanted to try to pee – just so she could get her candy reward. This wasn’t what Levitt had in mind at all.
为什么我们要关注经济学 Continue reading »
Welcome to the year 2050. In cities around the world, cars whiz past tall buildings and factories, yet the air is clear, clean, and cool. People have stopped burning coal, oil, and gas to run engines or make heat and electricity. These fossil fuels no longer spew pollution and greenhouse gases into the air. As a result, climate change is slowing. Dangerous wildfires, hurricanes, and other natural disasters are becoming less common. Humanity has managed to back the world away from the brink of disaster.
2050年，我们将用什么来替代化石能源？ Continue reading »
I didn’t set out to become a science writer. I wrote fantasy stories about magic portals and imaginary worlds all through grade school, high school, and college. But then I got an internship at a children’s magazine group, and all of their magazines were nonfiction. Toward the end of my internship, the science magazine’s editor wanted to profile a biometrics expert in one issue, and she asked me to do the interview. I agreed, but I was terrified. Would this person agree to talk to me? Would she know I’d never done this before? I knew nothing about biometrics . Would I sound stupid?
一名科普作家的写作经验 Continue reading »
An old adage holds that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The saying refers to the subjective nature of beauty. What one person finds beautiful might not appeal to someone else.
You toss some bananas and milk into a blender. Then you plug it into the wall and press start. Soon, you have a delicious smoothie. While you’re sipping and scrolling through TikTok, you notice your phone’s battery is low. So you plug that into the wall and the battery charges.
