Chilli contains a set of chemicals know as Capsaicinoids. They cause nerve stimulation which gives a release of neuropeptides, and stimulate the receptors that are linked to heat (TRPV1), so you get a sensation of burning without the damage of being burnt. Mustard and wasabi work in a similar way. But taking too many or […]

The commonest element in the universe is hydrogen, then helium, then oxygen. The highest probability is that any life will be based around liquid water and carbon. Consider the hundreds of volumes of organic compounds compared to the single one for all non-organic and carbon by itself is a solid at suitable temperatures. Water is […]

The best way to map the atmosphere of a planet is beam a laser onto a mirror on a planet and record the spectrum received. But this isn’t practical, as you need millions of reflective surfaces to accurately do this. As the reflective surfaces you are normally provided with and the gasses in between allow […]

Up until the time of Charles Darwin it was not even considered that all creatures on earth were related. Not until about maybe 1950’s was this really taught in schools, but 1950’s people could have reverse engineered 2000 technology given time. 1900’s people would have a hard job doing it with 1950’s technology even given […]

The Deccan traps (66 million years ago) was only one of a number of massive outflowing’s of lava in the past. That had an estimated 200,000 square miles of about 1 mile deep, so also 200,000 cubic miles. The Siberian Traps (250 million years ago) was another that was 3 million square miles to 1/3rd […]

When rocks are formed, when they are still fluid the particles especially iron bearing ones, try and align with the magnetic field that is present. The plates also move and turn, and rock formations fold and twist, which is why you get earthquakes. Even in one rock you get variations, but statistically they’re similar. From […]

The Drax Power Station at the moment runs a mixture of 1/3rd coal and 2/3rds ‘biomass,’ and has a capacity of about 3.96GW of power from it’s combined cycle steam turbines, but produces about 2.74GW on average, so consistently runs at about 69% listed capacity. UK’s power requirement is between about 30-50GW through the year, […]

There are a number of problems with exploring the ‘oceans’ of Enceladus and Europa. There are a number of problems with exploring the ‘oceans’ of Enceladus and Europa. If we were to take Enceladus as an example, it is about 310 miles in diameter. When water escapes from its undersea oceans it shoots out at […]