Category: Uncategorized
-
Every year in September, millions of families across India and the United States welcome Lord Ganesha into their homes as a clay or plaster idol, knowing that in seven or ten days, that same idol will be deliberately given back to water. It’s one of the only rituals in the world where an object is…
-
I’ve loved spending time at playgrounds ever since I was a kid, running around, climbing, or jumping off swings. But I never realized how safe the play structures are, how rarely children get seriously hurt, and what everything we see and touch there is actually made of. Playgrounds are a great example of materials science…
-
We have all seen them, those big white towers with long blades, spinning in the wind. But many people overlook the fact that windmills are a materials science flex, allowing them to operate safely for decades in all kinds of weather. Let’s start with the blades. Seen from far away, they seem a bit bigger…
-
If you have ever walked or biked around Mountain House, you would have noticed something interesting, some of these paths are smooth and perfect while others already have small cracks. Are these cracks just regular wear and tear, or is there hidden science that explains why some pavement lasts and some doesn’t? It’s Not Just…
-
When we see photographs of the moon, we are usually looking at a gray, dusty, dull surface. That layer of dust and broken rock is called lunar regolith and one day, it will play a major role in building future Moon bases. What is Regolith? Regolith is the layer of loose material that covers the…
-
Asphalt, the building block: If you’ve ever noticed how the road feels softer or hotter than everything around it, you’re not imagining things. That everyday road beneath your feet is a carefully engineered material, asphalt, designed to handle heat, pressure, and constant use. Asphalt is often chosen when building roads because it can be laid…
-
We’ve all been there, you pull your favorite cotton hoodie out of the dryer, and suddenly it looks like it belongs to a toddler, about 10 sizes smaller than when it went in. This is a frustrating mystery for most, but your laundry unit is not actually eating your clothes, it is just triggering a…
-
You might have seen them — those dark blue or black rectangles on rooftops in Mountain House. Those are solar panels, and they produce electricity by turning sunlight into energy. This is one of the best examples how materials science works. Solar panels have no moving parts and do not need any fuel. They are…
-
We had a really fun snow day in Bear Valley with family and friends a couple of weeks ago. A big part of playing in snow is to dress appropriately and a big part of dressing appropriately is wearing snow pants. So that got me thinking about what magic ingredients in them made me feel…
