DECEMBER 2016 — AROUND THE WORLD Humans persistently live in an age where the preservation of knowledge is essential. When Trump’s administration began its transition into our government, time was unforgivingly limited; archivists, scientists, and data base experts around the world hurriedly compiled and harbored endangered environmental protection records. Data rescue events were coordinated in the United Kingdom, Greece, Germany, Japan,
In the sciences, we celebrate big ideas. We celebrate equations that stitch the invisible world of atoms to the world we touch. We celebrate the people who see patterns the rest of us miss. But we rarely celebrate something more fundamental: the whole human mind that carries those ideas, with its strengths, its limits, and its storms. Today, we are
Today, we’re exploring quasicrystals, what they are, how an “impossible” pattern was found in a lab, how it became the catalyst to rewriting textbooks, and why this exotic order matters for real‑world technologies from wear‑resistant coatings to photonics. I’m Gabrielle Birchak, and this is Math! Science! History! Imagine holding a metal that seems to obey rules nature once forbid. You
Darwin wasn’t alone. In 1858, Alfred Russel Wallace, while battling a tropical fever in the Malay Archipelago, had a revelation that shook science forever. This Flashcard Friday, explore how an expedition, a fever dream, and an honest letter to Darwin changed biology.
Welcome to Flashcards Friday, at Math! Science! History! I’m Gabrielle Birchak, and today, we’re going to take a quick trip into the suitcase, literally. Have you ever found yourself sitting on your luggage, trying desperately to zip it shut? Or playing Tetris with your shoes and socks? Believe it or not, this problem has fascinated mathematicians and computer scientists for
In 1964, Peter Higgs took a break from equations and headed into the Scottish Highlands. That peaceful hike sparked a bold idea, one that was first rejected, but ultimately redefined modern physics and gave mass to the universe itself.
It’s Flashcard Fridays here at Math! Science! History! I’m your host, Gabrielle Birchak, and today we’re looking at a mystery many of us have experienced: why do airline prices jump around, sometimes within minutes, after we search for a flight? You check once. It’s $278. You think, “Hmm, maybe I’ll wait a few hours.” You check again. $348. You wait
This post contains a sponsored link. I have received compensation for including it in this post. Imagine a place in the universe where time stops, where space folds into itself, and where not even light can escape. A place that devours everything, matter, radiation, even information. Now imagine the scientists who tried to explain it… and were laughed at, ignored, or
TRANSCRIPTS Welcome to Flashcards Fridays! Today we are learning how to feel conversions in your head, no pen, no paper, no calculator. Just patterns, rhythm, and a little bit of imagination. Because math isn’t just numbers, it’s about feeling the rhythm of math and understanding how the world around us fits together. So, imagine you’re getting ready to go for
The Origins of Boolean Logic Boolean logic was developed by George Boole, a self-taught mathematician and logician from England. Boole’s interest in logic began early, inspired by his father, a shoemaker with a passion for science and mathematics. In 1854, Boole published his seminal work, An Investigation of the Laws of Thought, where he introduced an interesting concept where he