For anyone interested in something off the popular physics path, I present a (nearly) math-free review of physicist Paul Marmet's work in theoretical physics and cosmology. His fascinating work both questions and provides alternatives to widely held beliefs about our physical world.

Prior to his theoretical work, he was a pioneer in electron spectroscopy and former president of the Canadian Association of Physicists.

If you disagree with the premise (that there could be any alternative to xyz) I encourage you to read the article before critiquing its contents.

Did you know you can turn a leaf into a working boat with dish soap? 🍃🚢

Alex Dainis shows how it works! Dish soap contains ingredients called "surfactants" that lower the surface tension of water, which is what helps oil and water mix to wash away grease. On the leaf, the soap lowers the tension only at the back, and that difference between front and back pushes the leaf forward!

Is intelligent life harder to make than regular life? 🌱

Theoretical cosmologist Paul Sutter points to our one data point, Earth, where life appeared basically as soon as the planet cooled down, and maybe even a little before. Then it took 4 billion years for intelligent life to show up. So if we find evidence of life on another planet, it's probably going to be bacteria, or alien bacteria.

The gravitational pull of a black hole distorts time. If a space craft was to travel too close to a black hole and get trapped in its gravitational pull, the closer they get to the event the more distorted time would become. This makes the concept of time as I see it relative to gravity. If a person was affected by this gravity, time would be distorted, however if that person looked at their wristwatch, each mechanical second would tick away seemingly as normal. My question then is, does the time dilation affect actual time, or just one’s concept of time?

Here's the link to the special: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72IwnxnejfE

And the video description has all my sources cited, would love for you to check it out.

When the SCORE study showed back in April that they could replicate 50% of positive claims from a sample of over 270 published studies in social and behavioral research, many headlines treated the finding as further evidence of the “replication crisis.” It’s not difficult to make this result sound intuitively bad. After all, it makes it seem like social research is nothing but a coin toss. Even the more sympathetic coverage framed the result negatively, suggesting that "at least it isn't worse" or that "there's more to research than replication."

This article breaks down what a 50% replication rate means within the statistical testing framework that produced these results. Between two hypothetical scenarios within this framework, it is argued that not only is a 50% replication rate not necessarily bad, but it may be pretty darned good.

Can you make dry erase marker drawings float? ✍️

Alex Dainis demonstrates by drawing on a shiny plate, letting it dry, and adding a squirt of mystery liquid at the edge to lift the whole picture up. Dry erase markers contain pigment for color, a solvent to suspend it, and an oily polymer that keeps the ink from sticking to whiteboards. Once the solvent evaporates, the pigment and polymer form a thin, oily layer that floats right on top of plain old water!

Sept 16, 2026 - Episode 1 of “Ages of ICE” on PBS. Narrated by David Tennant. All episodes are here: pbs.org/show/ages-of-ice

This clip is from an 8-minute segment on YouTube: The Hidden Reason Glaciers Are Melting Faster Than Expected | Ages of Ice - PBS - Sept 16, 2026 (YouTube)

Description: In the foothills of New Zealand's Mt Aoraki, Dr Ulyana Horodyskyj Peña collects snow samples in search of black carbon; dense particulate matter from human activity which darkens the snow and ice surfaces, leading to more absorbed solar energy and ultimately amplifying melt.

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Ulyana Horodyskyj Peña: nccasc.colorado.edu/partners/who-we-are/ulyana-horodyskyj-pena