Everyday Science
Why wet fabric looks darker
The dye need not change. Water alters the optical boundaries between fibres, so less light scatters straight back and more travels into the cloth where it can be absorbed.
THE JOURNAL
Physics & Everyday Science
Explore the forces, light, heat and living chemistry behind familiar experiences.
All topicsMind & BehaviourSpaceEarth & OceansPhysics & Everyday ScienceTechnology & EngineeringLife & NatureMedicine & the BodyHistory & Discovery
LEARNING LAB · INTERACTIVE
The Periodic Landscape
Explore all 118 elements, rotate a 3D atom, look inside its nucleus and discover protons, neutrons and quarks. Start with the familiar table, then look closer one level at a time.
Explore the periodic tableFree to explore. Includes guided discoveries, comparison and a 2D alternative.
8 stories
Everyday Science
Why a fizzy drink starts bubbling when you open it
The gas was already there, dissolved in the liquid. Opening the bottle changes its equilibrium, but a bubble still needs a place to begin.
Everyday Science
How soap helps water carry grease away
Soap changes what happens where water meets oil. Cleaning still needs movement, separation and a rinse that carries the loosened material away.
Everyday Science
Why a metal spoon feels colder than wood
Both can start at the same temperature. What your hand notices is how their surfaces exchange heat with your skin.
Everyday Science
Why popcorn rebuilds itself during an explosion
One kernel performs four jobs in a fraction of a second: pressure vessel, breaking shell, steam engine and mould for a new edible foam.
Everyday Science
Why bread dough rises
A living fungus makes the gas, a protein-and-starch structure holds it, and heat turns a temporary foam into a loaf that keeps its shape.
Physics
How rainbows form: the geometry inside a raindrop
A rainbow is not painted onto the rain. It is a moving agreement between sunlight, spherical drops and one observer standing at the cone’s tip.
Everyday Science
How a refrigerator moves heat
The cabinet does not manufacture cold. A circulating fluid, a pressure change and a motor carry energy from the food compartment into the room.