All Articles
Aroma Chemistry : What Causes the Smell of Old & New Books?
Are you a Bibliophile, someone who loves books? If you are you’ll know the joy of buying, collecting, owning, (smelling?), touching and of course reading these textual marvels. As a bibliophime, is one of your favourite pecadillos the scent of a new book or the musky thrill of an old books smell? In this article we look at the chemistry behind that guilty little pleasure otherwise known as Bibliosmia.
A Naval Historical First – The Battle of the Ironclads
When we picture Naval vessels in a historical context we often see them in some very fixed regonisable form we rarely think about them in their interim ‘ugly duckling’ phases. Such was the state of affairs when the naval first of the ‘The Battle of the Iron Clads’ occurred.
Prune Time in the Bath – Why Do Our Fingers Wrinkle in the Water ?
Having a bath has uses aside from getting clean and reading a good book: it gives you an excuse to observe a bodily quirk that it would appear has been with us since Homo sapiens left the trees.
The Guernsey Dingbat Quiz 2
Dingbats are always a good source for visio-cryptic style quiz questions. So in this article we’ve created some exclusive Guernsey themed Dingbats – they are either Guernsey Places or ‘Guernsey things’.
Urban Myth or Science Fact : Is it true that we typically only use 10% of our brain ?
Urban Myth or Science Fact : Is it true that we typically only use 10% of our brain ?
Why Can’t You Train Cats & How Do Cats Purr
The internet was clearly invented with the sole purpose of allowing the earth’s population to watch cute cat movies. So, in this article we add to that great body of information, we like to call “internet fluff”, with some rather erudite answers to some of those perplexing questions about our feline friends.
Why Does a Thumbs-Up Gesture Mean “okay”?
Why does a thumbs-up gesture mean “okay”? : Any Roman gladiator movie worth its salt always includes the obligatory Colosseum combat scene where the fate of a beaten warrior is given by the thumbs-down signal – or the thumbs-up if he wants him to live. But is this really the origin of this signal ?
How Medieval People Used to Walk
I expect that you’ve heard of ‘Doing the Hussle’ or maybe even ‘Doing the funky Chicken’ (they’re dances by the way), but what about ‘Doing the Medieval Walk’? No ?
Well, it’s not a dance craze but a real historic thing.
Valentine Conundrums : Why Does an X Stand for a Kiss? and Why Do Humans Kiss?
A valentine’s day conundrum for you : Why does an X stand for a kiss? and why do humans kiss anyway?
The Guernsey Quiz 2 : How Well Do You Know the Bailiwick?
Test your knowledge with these 20 questions we’ve gathered from Lukas Aleksandr’s excellent book “Guernsey Quiz Book : 1000 questions for the whole family”. We’ve assigned our own made up rating system, below, for your score … enjoy !
Why is it that Humans Can Speak?
Of all the things that define us as humans there is surely one remarkable thing that marks us out from other life on earth – language and the ability to communicate via speech. But what is it in our genes that allows us to do this?
Could Huge Dinosaurs Really Sustain Themselves on a Veggie Diet?
On the face of it there seems little hope of working out precisely how a 75ft long, 50 ton Brachiosaur fed itself. However it is possible to make a few guesstimates, by assuming the present laws of physics and chemistry applied 65 million years ago.
The Joy of Slinky – The Physics of a Metal Marvel
I’ve recently re-discovered the joy of the Slinky – one of the simplest of all children’s toys and yet, so beguiling, as it seems to defy the laws of physics by hinting at some sort of perpetual motion. So how on earth does this work?
18 Delightfully Naughty Forgotten English Words We Should Bring Back
As language evolves, new words are born and others die out. In this article we look at some delightful, slightly naughty English words that time has forgotten – maybe you could start your own mini language revival and begin using them in your everyday conversation !
Blue Monday – Urban Myth or Science Fact ?
Blue Monday is the name given to the day in January, typically the 3rd Monday of the month, that it is claimed is the most depressing day of the year. So is this a real thing or not … Urban Myth or Science Fact?
