Do all flowers have an odd number of petals? Good question! You'd expect symmetry in nature, but as you've obviously spotted, most flowers have an odd number of petals. If you play he loves me he loves me not with a plant that has an even number of petals, you'll always end on 'he loves me not' (or she loves me not!). But if you choose a flower with an odd number of petals, … [Read more...]
Why are all snowflakes different?
This is one of those questions that gets scientists very excited. The theory is that you can never get 2 identical snowflakes, because of the way that they grow. How do snowflakes grow? Snowflakes are not just frozen raindrops. They're crystals that grow superfast inside a snow cloud. All snowflakes start life as 6-sided hexagons, then they turn into stars with 6 arms. They … [Read more...]
How big is infinity?
Infinity is big - really, really big. It's beyond massive and enormous, through gigantic, and out the other end. You think it would take a long time to count to 1,000? Just try counting to infinity. How long would it take? Forever. No really, it would. Even if you started now, and did nothing else but count - except eat your tea and sleep - you'd still never get there. … [Read more...]
How do you make a ball?
How do you make a ball? ... with great difficulty. Making something perfectly round is harder than you think. Take a football. A thousand years ago, footballs were really rubbish. They were just pigs' bladders that had been blown up like balloons. They weren't very round, so when you kicked one, you had no control of where it would go. (By the way, the pig-bladder balls had to … [Read more...]
Who invented maths?
Yeah, but who invented maths? .. was one of my favourite questions this week. I’m not sure whether the student was just a little bored and wanted a diverting chat, or whether there was a genuine interest. Either way it did get me thinking. Here’s what probably happened: A long time ago there lived a boy with an unpronounceable name. So we’ll call him Eric. He … [Read more...]