/oss/taxonomy/term/3381/all en /oss/article/did-you-know/squirrels-can-survive-fall-any-height-least-hypothetically <p>Squirrels, in theory, can survive a fall from an object of any height due to two factors: their size and their mass. A force (such as the force of gravity) is calculated by multiplying mass and acceleration. The acceleration due to gravity on Earth is always roughly 9.81 m/s<sup>2</sup>, regardless of what object it is acting on. Squirrels are not very heavy—a grey squirrel only weighs about 0.5 kg—meaning that the force acting on a falling squirrel just isn't that big.</p> <p><em>Force = mass*acceleration = 0.5 kg * 9.81 m/s<sup>2</sup> = 4.9 N</em></p> Fri, 28 Oct 2022 10:00:00 +0000 Ada McVean M.Sc. 9275 at /oss /oss/article/general-science/soaring-helium <p>You’re at a birthday party and the place is full of helium-filled balloons stuck to the ceiling. How are these balloons defying gravity? No magic involved! The law of buoyancy as first stated in the third century BC by Archimedes is at work: Any object, totally or partially immersed in a fluid or liquid, is buoyed up by a force equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the object. Helium is lighter than air, so a balloon filled with this gas weighs less than the air it displaces and will therefore be subjected to an upward force.</p> Wed, 14 Oct 2020 15:28:19 +0000 Caitlin Bard, OSS Intern 8445 at /oss /oss/article/environment-general-science/fly-wall <p>How many times have you heard the expression, “if only I could be a fly on that wall?” But how do flies walk up walls and across ceilings? At the Marine Science Laboratory in North Wales scientists have spent a lot of time watching flies walk up a wall. No, the scientists are not bored. Quite the opposite. They’re very interested in finding out how the flies appear to defy gravity and stick to the wall. Why? Because any insight into zygology can have very important practical applications. And what is zygology? It is the science of joining things together.</p> Fri, 18 Sep 2020 19:56:56 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 8413 at /oss /oss/article/pseudoscience/energy-wasnt-there <p>A local Reiki practitioner claims on her website that her clients receive “spiritual universal energy” during one of her therapeutic sessions. Indeed, one of the published testimonials is from a client who claims the practitioner could “connect to [her] energy almost instantaneously” and she could feel her moving from chakra to chakra, “connecting all the pieces.”</p> Thu, 31 Oct 2019 21:10:08 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 7978 at /oss /oss/article/did-you-know/dragonflies-experience-much-g-force-fighter-pilots <p>Gravity and the human body have a finicky relationship. Too <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro-g_environment#Health_effects_of_the_micro-g_environment">little</a> gravity and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro-g_environment#Health_effects_of_the_micro-g_environment">humans</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro-g_environment#Health_effects_of_the_micro-g_environment">lose bone density, experience extreme nausea and become anemic.</a> Too much gravity and humans <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G-LOC">lose consciousness and die</a>.</p> Thu, 23 Aug 2018 16:20:02 +0000 Ada McVean B.Sc. 7319 at /oss