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Science

How Many Words Did Shakespeare Know?

October 17, 2010

Here is an interesting piece on how two statisticians estimated how many words William Shakespeare may have known.

This argument was repeated with a third, fourth, fifth sample, and so on. Each sample corresponds to discovering a new and different complete works of Shakespeare. For each sample, it is possible to estimate the number of new words that appear that have not appeared before. With each new sample, the number of new words decreases, but the total number of words used increases. Eventually, given enough samples, the number of new words approaches about 35,000. This means that in addition the 31,534 words that Shakespeare knew and used, there were approximately 35,000 words that he knew but didn’t use. Thus, we can estimate that Shakespeare knew approximately 66,534 words.

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Earths core has its own pole and its at the equator

April 20, 2010

Modern research techniques allow us to not only study the surface of Earth and the heavens above it but also what lies in its depths. Jules Verne wrote about an area alive with mystery and wonder over 146 years ago; modern science indicates that the center of the Earth is a young dynamo powered by the complex interplay of heat transfer, thermodynamics, and fluid mechanics. By accumulating data gathered by bouncing waves off the Earths core, a team of French researchers have put forth a new theory as to why one hemisphere of the core appears different from the other.

via Earths core has its own pole and its at the equator.

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What’s the Least Inhabited Place on Earth?

A new discovery reveals the least inhabited place on Earth. The seafloor sediments in the middle of the South Pacific have fewer living cells than anywhere else measured, a new study found. Oceanographer Steven D’Hondt of the University of Rhode Island and colleagues took a boat out to the middle of the ocean and collected [...]

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Spirit and Opportunity, The Rovers After 5 Years

The NASA Mars Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, where only designed to operate for 3 months on the Martian surface, but after a five year anniversary, they are still collecting data and exploring the planet. The rovers are now showing some serious signs of wear and tear. Spirit has to drive backwards everywhere it goes because [...]

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Is There Ice on the Moon?

Could there be ice on the moon? A team of British researchers thinks so, and theorizes that the water could be put to use by residents of a future permanent lunar base. Poring over data from NASA’s 1998 Lunar Prospector probe, the Durham University scientists found that hydrogen on the moon tends to be concentrated [...]

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What Does WD-40 Stand For?

If one were to look back at the history of WD-40 and how it got its name, it will be seen that WD-40 was used as an external solvent that was used to prevent the Atlas missile from corrosion and rust. WD-40 stands for water displacement 40th attempt, which hasn’t changed from what it was [...]

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The Astronomical League

“The mission of the Astronomical League is to promote the science of astronomy through encouraging public interest via local astronomy clubs.” [read more]

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Shower-Curtain Effect

“In physics, the shower-curtain effect is the phenomenon in which a shower curtain gets blown inwards with a running shower, regardless of the temperature of the water. The problem of the cause of this effect has been featured in Scientific American magazine, with several theories given to explain the phenomenon but no definite conclusion. It [...]

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