Ecology

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How Houdini made an elephant disappear in New York: the explanation of the famous trick

It’s really possible make an elephant disappear? The answer of course is “No“, even if the big one illusionist Harry Houdini (1874-1926, pseudonym of Erik Weisz) managed to convince the audience of the oppositeHippodrome Theatre of New York the January 7, 1918. On that occasion he let an elephant inside one big box and, a few seconds after closing the ...

alluvione emilia bologna

Fourth flood in Emilia-Romagna in a year and a half: what happened and comparison with the others

Credit: Fire Brigade Bad weather returns to plague Emilia-Romagna: after the red alert declared for Saturday in the Region, between Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 October 2024 storms and floods hit the entire Emilia and Romagna region, especially in the area of Bologna and some neighboring municipalities such as Pianoro, San Lazzaro di Savena and Casalecchio di Reno, where it ...

errore 404 page not found

Why is the 404 error called that? The history and meaning of “Page not found”

THE’404 errori.e. the one that returns the message “Page Not Found” (i.e. “page not found”), is a standard protocol response code HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol), which warns the user that the requested web page was not found. It occurs when a browser communicates correctly with a server, but the latter is unable to locate the specified resource, often because it ...

esistono scimmie che vivono in europa rocca gibilterra

There are wild monkeys in Europe too! The story behind the Barbary Macaques of Gibraltar

Not just Africa, South-East Asia or South America: also in Europe there is a colony of wild monkeys. We’re talking about a group of 230/240 Barbary macaques who live mainly on top of the rock of Gibraltaran English territory (a so-called “exclave”) since 1704, located inextreme south of Spain and overlooking the strait of the same name, which separates the ...

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Nanoplastics in water, eco-friendly solvents could help remove them: here’s how

Credit: Brian Yurasits, via Unsplash The nanoplasticstiny particles arising from degradation of plastic, they are now widespread everywhere and represent a possible risk to human health and the environment. They can accumulate in the organs through the food chain, with possible negative effects on the endocrine and reproductive system. As a result, several have been studied techniques to remove them ...

Clive Wearing

Clive Wearing, the man who no longer remembers anything but who plays the piano perfectly

Clive Wearing on piano. Credit: Jiri Rezac Clive Wearing is one of the best known neurological cases in the world: British pianist and conductor, in 1985 (at the age of 46) he was struck by aherpetic encephalitiscaused by the common herpes simplex virus, which attacked his hippocampus (the “central station” for sorting his memory), making him unable to create new ...

siero della verita cos'e e come funziona

How truth serum works on people, what it is used for and why it is not reliable

When it comes to serum from the truththoughts might turn to the potion Veritaserum of Harry Potter, but from Diabolik to 007 there are countless pop culture characters who have used it in their adventures, not to mention the novel Kallocaine by Karin Boye. But does it really exist? We say yes, even if it is not entirely “truthful”. Technically, ...

nocciolo delle pesche tossiche cosa contengono

Did you know that peach seeds contain a toxic substance? The chemistry of amygdalin

After a dinner in Tunisia, some retired former Italian secret service agents were hospitalized for poisoning peach seeds. For one of the agents, the ingestion of these seeds, present in a peach liqueur served at the end of the meal, proved fatal. Investigations are currently underway to understand how it was possible, but beyond the legal matter, let’s try to ...

perche si dice merda merda merda teatro attori

Why do actors say “shit, shit, shit” before a show?

The theater it’s full of Very strict “rules”. so as not to attract the bad luck: Woe betide Macbeth, wear the color purple, or say “good luck!” At that time how do you wish good luck to actors and actresses before a show? The traditional Italian phrase – but also French and Spanish – seems strange: you have to say ...