Portable Antiquities from Conflict Zones: Identifying and Safeguarding Cultural Heritage

Jewelry excavated with the Afghanistan Oxus hoard: Image by dynamosquito

If you receive a gift of jewelry or antiquities from a war-zone or other foreign region, check to make sure it’s not part of the area’s cultural heritage.

Estimating Whether No Two Snowflakes are Alike

Snowflakes on Blue : Image by Juliancolton2 (Julian Diamond)

Everyone says that no two snowflakes are alike, but how do we really know? By calculating the probability based on the Birthday puzzle in math.

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The Cavendish Experiment To Measure the Gravitational Constant, G

Newton's law of universal gravity. Image by DNA-Dennis

Reader’s question: How can we use the Cavendish experiment help us determine G, the gravitational constant, to measure the mass of the Earth?

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Expansion of the Universe and Light Travel-Time from Distant Galaxies

The Andromeda Galaxy Image Credit: Kitt Peak National Observatory.

The universe is expanding. Light from distant galaxies travels toward us even as the galaxies travel away from us; making light’s total travel time longer.

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Is There a Connection Between a Burning Log and E=mc2?

Burning a Log. Heat breaks the bonds of carbohydrates (CnH2nOn) in the wood. The atoms then combine with oxygen from the air to produce CO2, CO, H2O, and electromagnetic radiation (heat and light). 
Image Credit: Robert Craft, PublicDomainPictures.net.

Does Einstein’s famous equation, E=mc2, apply to the energy transfer that takes place when wood is burned? Mark Egdall answers this reader’s question here.

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