Can you rank these countries, from most to least, based on the number of languages spoken within their borders: Nigeria, Mexico, Congo, China, Papua New Guinea, Cameroon, Australia, Indonesia, India, Brazil?
Science Vocabulary Hangman
Remember the word game, hangman? You try to guess the word by first guessing letters in it. Every miss adds a body part; too many misses before you guess correctly and you're hanged, metaphorically speaking.
Click here for a science-based version, with different categories to choose from. G-O-O-D-L-U-C-K.
Inanimate objects can be classified scientifically into three major categories – those that don't work, those that break down, and those that get lost.
– Russell Baker
Brain sweat answer
1. Papua New Guinea, 823
2. Indonesia, 726
3. Nigeria, 505
4. India, 387
5. Mexico, 288
6. Cameroon, 279
7. Australia, 235
8. Congo, 218
9. China, 201
10. Brazil, 192
According to Brandt Maxwell, author of “The Largest U.S. Cities Named after a Food,” the United States ranks No. 11 with 176 living languages (not counting most immigrant languages, such as Korean or Vietnamese).
Stardust in your eyes
Back in 2004, the spacecraft Stardust returned to Earth after capturing tiny bits of the comet Wild 2. Researchers immediately set about studying some of the larger space grains caught in Stardust's panels of aerogel – an incredibly lightweight foamy material. But that still left dozens of panels unexamined, with who knows how many uncounted and undiscovered bits of interstellar dust.
Ground-bound Earthlings now have a chance to take a stab at it. By visiting http://stardustathome.ssl.berkeley.edu, volunteers can use a virtual microscope to help look for infinitesimally small bits of stardust captured in aerogel. These interstellar motes – the product of supernova explosions millions of years ago – may help explain how stars work and the universal origins of elements like carbon, nitrogen and oxygen.
The search work is tedious and difficult, which is part of the reason why scientists hope to enlist help from thousands of volunteers. Roughly 40,000 aerogel tiles have been prepared for online viewing.
Researchers say the key is to get as many people looking at the aerogel panels as possible. More panels will be added throughout the year, perhaps as many as 700,000. People who find a confirmed interstellar dust grain will get a chance to name it.
Cimex lectularius, the common bed bug, is capable of consuming its body weight in blood in just five minutes.
The pharmaceutical company Pfizer sells roughly nine Viagra pills every second.
The science fiction TV series “Lost in Space” was set in the year 1997. It ran from 1965 to 1968.
Poetry for scientists
I bought the latest computer;
It came completely loaded.
It was guaranteed for 90 days,
But in 30 was outmoded.
– Bill Ihlenfeldt
Surely you're joking
A service station attendant, watching a Martian putting gas in its spaceship, noticed that the letters UFO were printed on the side of the vessel.
“Does that stand for 'Unidentified Flying Object'?” the attendant asked.
“No,” replied the Martian, “Unleaded Fuel Only.”
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