Ecology

The history of the collapsed Torre dei Conti in Rome: what is the medieval building symbol of the Counts of Segni

The history of the collapsed Torre dei Conti in Rome: what is the medieval building symbol of the Counts of Segni

A postcard of Rome depicting the Torre dei Conti. Credit: Italian Touring Club There Tower of the Counts returned to the center of attention after the building partially collapsed during some restoration and static consolidation works, causing the death of a 66-year-old worker, Octay Stroici. The causes of the accident, which occurred on November 3 with a first collapse around ...

Why we love popping bubble wrap bubbles so much: the principle of fidget toys

Why we love popping bubble wrap bubbles so much: the principle of fidget toys

Let’s be honest: finding yourself in your hands a sheet of bubble wrap and resisting the temptation to burst a few bubbles is a truly difficult task. And, once started, it is impossible to stop: one bubble leads to another until the sheet is completely flattened. A premise must be made: no scientific study still investigated why bursting bubble wrap ...

Riddle of the boxes and balls: here's the solution

Riddle of the boxes and balls: here’s the solution

In the’Riddle of the boxes and ballsthe situation is this: there are three boxes, one containing only white balls, one containing only black balls, while the third is mixed, containing both colors (in the video attached to the article, the balls are blue and green, but it can be done with any color). Each box has a label indicating the ...

Bradyseism at the Campi Flegrei stable at 20 mm/month, earthquakes decreasing: the new INGV bulletin

Bradyseism at the Campi Flegrei stable at 20 mm/month, earthquakes decreasing: the new INGV bulletin

Slight decrease in seismic activity at Campi Flegrei in the last week of monitoring (27 October – 2 November 2025). The INGV Vesuvian Observatory recorded 149 earthquakes (compared to 178 the previous week), with a maximum magnitude of 2.1lower than last week’s 2.8. However, the bradyseism: the ground lifting speed is confirmed at the preliminary average value of approximately 20 ...

What work was taking place on the collapsed Torre dei Conti in Rome: the restoration project

What work was taking place on the collapsed Torre dei Conti in Rome: the restoration project

A comparison of the Torre dei Conti before the collapse of November 3rd and after. Credit: Matteo Brandi, via There Tower of the Counts of Rome it partially collapsed while recovery and restoration works were taking place on the building. The causes of collapse of the structure of the Imperial Fora – during which a 66-year-old worker remained stuck in ...

The day Google shut down for 5 minutes and half the world stopped: this is what happened

The day Google shut down for 5 minutes and half the world stopped: this is what happened

The August 16, 2013 will remain in the annals of the Internet as the day Google, for five minutesdisappeared almost completely from the Internet. Around 4:52 in the afternoon, Pacific time, all the main services of the Mountain View giant, from Google Search to Gmail, from YouTube to Google Drive, became temporarily unreachable. It was not a simple slowdown: according ...

What is the Klein Bottle and why does it not have an inside and an outside

What is the Klein Bottle and why does it not have an inside and an outside

There Klein bottledescribed for the first time by the German mathematician Felix Klein in 1882, is a surface, that is, a two-dimensional geometric shape relative of the donut, which however is not orientable, in fact it only has one face and although it seems closed to us it doesn’t have an inside and it doesn’t have an outsidejust like the ...

From waste to energy and compost: how biodigesters work

From waste to energy and compost: how biodigesters work

What we consider rubbish today can become energy and fertilizer tomorrow: to do this, the system that makes this step possible is essential, the biodigester. This is an increasingly widespread technology, which allows us to reduce emissions, contain costs and make cities more sustainable. What a biodigester is and what it does A biodigester is a bit like a large ...

What is the meaning of the “art of making do”: the philosophy born from Mediterranean resilience

What is the meaning of the “art of making do”: the philosophy born from Mediterranean resilience

A scene from the film “The art of arranging” by Alberto Sordi THE’“art of making do” it is not just an individual attitude, but a real one social philosophya way of being in the world that reflects continuous adaptation to often precarious economic, political and environmental conditions. “He who adapts, lives”: a proverb that summarizes one of the most profound ...