How To Pull A Van Uphill (with Only A Rope) – video powered by Metacafe

This video shows one of the simplest machines, the pulley–not a lever as Lifehacker says–and how it increases your ability to lift/pull heavy things.

If you want to try this at home … try something other than a car … log or something.

Post from: Homely Scientist

Yawning is not something we usually aim to provoke among our readers, but have a yawn now. Does your brain feel cooler? Do you feel more attentive? According to psychologists Andrew Gallup and Gordon Gallup of the State University of New York at Albany, that is why we yawn: to boost blood flow and chill the brain.

Not only that, brain-cooling explains why you can “catch” a yawn, says Gordon Gallup. “We think contagious yawning is triggered by empathic mechanisms which function to maintain group vigilance.” In other words, yawn-catching evolved to help raise the attentiveness of the whole group. Source: Yawning may boost brain’s alertness – being-human – 02 July 2007 – New Scientist

I always thought it was a just an oxygen boost for your brain.  I was close, but not quite.  I like the group yawn theory.  Imagine being a hunter-gatherer in the bush hunting.  One person yawns triggering others as a signal to sharpen up.  Handy, very handy.  So the hunter who napped might have become lunch for something or left behind.

Hat tip: Boing Boing

Post from: Homely Scientist

HIGASHIHIROSHIMA, Hiroshima — An island off the coast of Higashihiroshima is crumbling away due to countless crustaceans that have made holes in its rocks and caused its highest peak to completely disappear.

The rocky Hoboro Island has become a breeding ground for huge numbers of creatures known in Japanese as nanatsuba-kotsubumushi, a type of isopod. The surging number of insects has caught the attention of local researchers. Source: Crustaceans eating away island off Hiroshima – MSN-Mainichi Daily News

Amazing huh? Isopods are a type of crustacean more commonly known as pill bugs or wood bugs that generally burrow to lay their eggs in soil, logs, or other organic debris.  Scientists think that the soil/rock on this little volcanic island must be easy to dig through because, well you can see why:

Before (1955-1965):

After (present day):

Little buggers in action:

Pretty amazing huh?  This is an extremely rare occurrence, but so cool nonetheless.

Hat tip to Boing Boing

Post from: Homely Scientist

21 Scientists have long battled to explain the “moon illusion” – whereby the full moon appears to be larger the closer it is to the horizon. The phenomenon is understood to be caused by human perception rather than the magnifying effect of the earth’s atmosphere.

and

15 According to superstition a male child is more likely to be conceived at full moon.

countered by:

35 An analysis of the birthdays of 4,256 babies born in a clinic in France found no relationship between the full moon and fertility.

The next full moon is June 30th so, get ready for werewolves, binge drinking, and all the other things related to general lunacy.

On a side note, when I did a lot of gardening I did some reading about when to sow seeds, and it seem that if I planted just before the full moon, the seeds sprouted faster.  The theory is that the increased gravitational pull from the moon helps the seed to sprout.

Post from: Homely Scientist