Brain worms, dark matter and stranger things. We explain
We put the natural world under a microscope, from rogue waves and zombie fungi to dark matter and meteors.
Explainer
Chandeliers, ‘qubits’ and Schrödinger’s cat: Inside the bizarre world of quantum computing
In the quantum realm, the laws of physics are different. Now its mind-bending tech could soon transform our lives. How does it work?
- by Angus Holland, Jackson Graham and Angus Dalton
Explainer
‘Avian architecture’: Why birds’ nests are truly grand designs
Some are cup-shaped, some have domes, others have been likened to apartment complexes. How do birds build their nurseries?
- by Jackson Graham
Explainer
1.5 billion humans share their bodies with worms. But how does one get into a brain?
Surgeons plucked a live roundworm from a woman’s brain in a hospital in Australia. What was it doing there?
- by Liam Mannix
Explainer
Clever birds and killer bots: What to know about swarm intelligence
Birds, bees and ants all co-operate to solve problems with no one in charge. Here’s what humans are learning from them.
- by Angus Holland and Jackson Graham
Explainer
A killer fungus that turns living beings into zombies. Far-fetched? Not entirely.
A brain-eating pathogen wreaks havoc in a new sci-fi TV show inspired by a real-life fungus. How does it take over another creature? Are we at risk?
- by Stuart Layt and Liam Mannix
Explainer
Scientists thought these monster waves were myth. Now they’re racing to understand them
These are the real sea monsters: waves so tall they can block out the sky. So what happens when waves go “rogue”? Why do they strike out of nowhere? And how do sailors survive them?
- by Sherryn Groch
Explainer
‘Puffy-head bird-leg syndrome’: What space travel does to the body
Weird things can happen to the body in space – not least from abrupt changes in gravity as well as weightlessness, radiation and being in close quarters. How do astronauts do it?
- by Jackson Graham
Explainer
What’s yawning for – and is it really contagious?
People who study yawning, known as chasmologists, say just hearing about a yawn can trigger one. How come? The question has puzzled us for millennia – and is still wide open.
- by Jackson Graham and Lachlan Abbott
Explainer
It’s nearly time to put clocks forward an hour. Where did daylight saving come from?
First floated as an idea in 1895, daylight saving has caught on across the world but remains contentious. How does it work?
- by Rachael Houlihan and Anthony Segaert
Explainer
How do you make the perfect sandcastle?
Great minds, from Buddhists to Beyonce, have grappled with the deeper meaning of sandcastles. But how do you actually make one that is a thing of beauty (for as long as it lasts)?
- by Angus Holland
Explainer
Ten years on from the God particle, we may have found a fifth force of nature
It took four decades to find. And, depending on who you ask, it could one day destroy the universe. What’s the Higgs boson? And what’s dark matter?
- by Sherryn Groch
Explainer
‘It’s in your genes’: What can we learn from our DNA?
Did we really inherit that singing voice? What about our maths brain? Some of the answers are in our DNA – but how much can scientists actually tell?
- by Jackson Graham
Explainer
‘I’m sitting but my heart rate is climbing’: How heat stress creeps up on you
We visit a “climate chamber” to measure our vitals while the mercury climbs.
- by Liam Mannix and Angus Dalton
Explainer
Death in 20 milliseconds: the catastrophic implosion 4km beneath the sea
How extreme is the pressure in the deep sea, and how can a vessel implode?
- by Angus Dalton and Liam Mannix
Explainer
What’s nuclear fusion – and will it solve the energy crisis?
Scientists have ignited a fusion reaction that – for the first time in a laboratory – generated more energy than it consumed. What does that mean for us?
- by Liam Mannix
Explainer
What is the ‘feels like’ temperature?
There can be quite a gap between the forecast temperature and the ‘feels like’. What’s the actual difference? And why does it sometimes feel especially cold?
- by Millie Muroi and Stuart Layt
Explainer
Trees have biological clocks too. Here’s how their leaves change colour
A red-golden carpet is unfurling across the more temperate corners of our continent. Here’s what trees – and ‘leaf peepers’ – do in autumn.
- by Jackson Graham and Angus Holland
Explainer
Could we ever journey to the centre of the Earth?
We’ve landed humans on the moon but we’ve barely scratched the surface of our own planet. What lies beneath, and what mysteries remain?
- by Sherryn Groch
Explainer
‘Ready for whatever the universe throws at us’: How scientists plan to defend us from a meteor strike
We might be safe, for now, from the kind of catastrophic strike that wiped out the dinosaurs – but what about the small stuff?
- by Jackson Graham
Explainer
‘As loud as a jet taking off’: Why do cicadas sing at dusk?
It’s cicada season again, but summer is no time to relax for these ancient insects. How and why do they produce their high-decibel song?
- by Liam Mannix
Original URL: https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/brain-worms-dark-matter-and-stranger-things-we-explain-20240312-p5fbtb.html