Posted: May 17, 2019
You probably already know that objects float because they are less dense than water. But have you ever wondered how huge objects like ships, don’t sink? They float, even though
Posted: May 10, 2019
Archimedes is well known for discovering that when you enter into a bath, the water level immediately rises. He noticed that the weight of his body displaced a certain amount
Posted: May 3, 2019
Did you know that the earliest microscopes were known as “flea glasses” because they were used to study small insects? Or that most of the oxygen produced by photosynthesis doesn’t actually come
Posted: April 26, 2019
In about 24o BC Eratosthenes, an ancient Greek scientist, measured the Sun’s angle at two places. Using trigonometry he calculated the Earth’s radius. Legend also has it, that Eratosthenes went blind
Posted: April 19, 2019
You have probably all heard of Pythagoras, and his theorem, but what do you know about the man himself? Pythagoras was an Ancient Greek mathematician and philosopher. Not much accurate information
Posted: April 12, 2019
Did you know that the equals sign (=) was invented in 1557 by a Welsh mathematician named Robert Recorde? However it was not widely used until the 1700’s. The symbols
Posted: April 5, 2019
Did you know that some animals and bacteria have magnetite in their bodies? Magnetite is a magnetic material consisting of an oxide of iron, and is a form of iron
Posted: March 29, 2019
Did you know that menstruation has been found in different groups of mammals but it’s generally limited to primates. This includes our closest relatives, such as chimpanzees, monkeys and apes. Apart
Posted: March 22, 2019
The speed of nerve impulses varies enormously in different types of neurone. The fastest travel at about 250 mph, faster than a Formula 1 racing car! The nervous system is made
Posted: March 15, 2019
Avogadro’s constant is a massive number, and can be really difficult to comprehend when you are completing calculations with moles. Imagine this: • If there were a mole of rice
Posted: March 8, 2019
Electrolysis can be used to extract lead from molten lead bromide, but did you know some of these interesting facts about lead? Ancient Romans used lead for making pipes. The
Posted: February 22, 2019
Your heart is an amazing organ. It will beat about 115,000 times each day, and pumps about 2,000 gallons of blood every day. It can even continue beating when it’s disconnected
Posted: February 15, 2019
The autumnal colours of a tree’s leaves can be beautiful, when greens change to rich reds, but why does it actually happen? Photosynthesis is the process trees (and plants) use to
Posted: February 8, 2019
If you jump out of a plane, you will accelerate towards the Earth for a while. The speed at which you fall will eventually even out as a result of
Posted: February 1, 2019
Ever wondered what causes the sinking feeling in your stomach when you are on a roller coaster? On Earth, gravity pulls us towards the ground, but the ground is in
Posted: January 25, 2019
The oddly “clean” smell that sometimes comes during a storm is that of ozone!! Lightning strikes split diatomic oxygen molecules in the atmosphere into individual oxygen atoms. These can then combine with
Posted: January 18, 2019
What do you know about speed? Have a look at some of these…. Elephants can run up to 40 km/h (25 mph) A hippopotamus can run faster than a man,
Posted: January 11, 2019
Unfortunately for slugs, their moist skin is far more permeable to water than the skin of most other animals. When salt is placed on them the process of osmosis begins
Posted: January 4, 2019
The rhombicosidodecahedron, or small rhombicosidodecahedron, is known as an Archimedean solid. It is one of thirteen convex solids made of two or more types of regular polygon faces. Polygons are
Posted: December 21, 2018
Plants are fascinating – and vital for life. Through photosynthesis they absorb carbon dioxide, and produce oxygen. One tree produces nearly 260 pounds of oxygen each year whereas an acre
Posted: December 14, 2018
The Golden Ratio is a special number describing a ratio of approximately 1 to 1.618 that is commonly found in nature. It appears many times in geometry, art, architecture and other
Posted: December 7, 2018
Without photosynthesis taking place in plants, we would not have any food to eat. There are many more amazing facts about plants – here are just a few. An average
Posted: November 30, 2018
Cells along the inner wall of the stomach secrete roughly 2 litres of hydrochloric acid every day. This helps to kill bacteria and aids in digestion, by providing the correct
Posted: November 23, 2018
There are about 700 enzymes active in the human body, and every second, around 100,000 chemical reactions occur in the brain! Without enzymes living organisms could not function at all.
Posted: November 16, 2018
Oxygen is the third most abundant element in the universe. It is made in stars which are 5 or more times heavier than the Sun, when they burn helium and
Posted: November 9, 2018
Hydrogen is believed to be one of three elements produced in the Big Bang, alongside helium and lithium. Most of the energy on our planet is due to hydrogen. This
Posted: November 2, 2018
Salt is incredibly important, and really useful. A common myth is that Roman soldiers were partly paid in salt, resulting in the word “salary” We need to keep levels of
Posted: October 26, 2018
Apparently most people’s favourite number is 7! Seven does have many familiar connections. There are seven days in the week and seven wonders of the world, seven colours of the
Posted: October 19, 2018
If you enter Pi to two decimal places (3.14) in your calculator and look at it in the mirror, you’ll see it spells ‘pie’. Grab yourself a piece of pie
Posted: October 12, 2018
When you get into the bath, the water level goes up – you would expect it to. But if you pour a handful of salt (for example sodium chloride) into
Posted: September 28, 2018
120 This is the how many days, approximately, a human red blood cell lives. Other cell types have different lifespans, ranging from a few weeks for some skin cells
Posted: September 21, 2018
Half human, half microbe! Scientists used to think that bacteria and other microbes in our body outnumber our own cells by about ten to one. However it is now thought
Posted: September 14, 2018
When the English mathematician Augustus de Morgan was asked for his age, he would reply, “I was x years of age in the year x²” (He was 43 in 1849!!) Algebra is used in
Posted: September 7, 2018
There are many amazing facts about water. Did you know? Goldfish remember things better in cold water than warm water. There are more atoms in a teaspoon of water than
Posted: August 31, 2018
A massive congratulations to all our students and to our tutors for some amazing results this year! New, tougher exams are in place for both A Level and GCSE exams.
Posted: August 24, 2018
There are many old wive’s tales and home remedies for curing hiccups from holding your breath to swallowing a glass of water, but have you ever heard of dry swallowing
Posted: August 17, 2018
Ever wondered where the simile “As cool as a cucumber” comes from? They are cool to the touch and apparently the inside of a cucumber can be as much as
Posted: August 10, 2018
At 45 letters, “pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis” , which refers to a lung disease, is considered by some to be the longest word in English. It is, however, a made up word, invented
Posted: August 7, 2018
Triskaidekaphobia is fear of the number 13! Logophobia is the fear of words! Or maybe you have nomophobia – the fear of being without your mobile phone!! If you have
Posted: July 27, 2018
“The quick brown fox jumps over a lazy dog” The sentence above is a PANGRAM – it contains all 26 letters of the alphabet! Algebra is much easier, you don’t
