Ecology

Wrote, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

The smelliest food in the world is Surströmming: what it is and what fermented herring smells like

Credit: Wrote, via Wikimedia Commons The surströmming (translated as “sour herring”) is a typical dish of Swedish cuisine and has been defined the smelliest food in the world! Mistakenly called “rotten fish”, it really isn’t rotten nor putrefied: is obtained from fermentation anaerobic (i.e. without oxygen) of a herring caught in the Baltic Sea, a method developed from the need ...

subak sistema irrigazione bali indonesia

In Bali, field irrigation is a religious practice: what is Subak, a UNESCO heritage site

On the island of Baliin Indonesia, known for its rice fields created among the reliefs of volcanic origin, the so-called Subak (Balinese for “rice field irrigation system”) is not simply a traditional method for irrigating fields and the name of agricultural landscape that derives from it (UNESCO heritage since 6 July 2012) but also a unique production model that combines ...

iPhone che segnano le 9:41

iPhones always show 9:41 in advertisements: do you know why?

Two different generations of iPhone showing 9:41 on the lock screen. Credit: Apple. Every time you see an advertisement iPhone or, more generally, of a product made by Apple, pay attention: the clock on the display signals 9:41. The reason why i Apple products in advertisements always show 9:41 has its roots in the first presentation of the iPhone by ...

Immagine

Hurricane Helene disrupted global mining of pure quartz, vital for semiconductor chips

The September 26, 2024 thehurricane Helena hit the city hard Spruce Pinein the North Carolinain USAinterrupting the extractive activities of what is the most important reserve of ultra-pure quartz in the world. This is a crucial resource for the production of the crucibles used in the semiconductor chip production process, which are the basis for the functioning of the main ...

Render data center di Google

Google plans to power its AI data centers with modular mini-nuclear reactors

Rendering of the Google data center powered by the nuclear mini-reactor. Credit: Google. Alphabetthe holding company of which it is part Googlehas taken a decisive step towards managing the spiraling demand for energy linked to artificial intelligence, signing an innovative agreement with Kairos Power to power their data centers through nuclear modular mini-reactors or SMR (Small Modular Reactors). Installation of ...

Immagine

What are these metal discs found in the bathroom for?

In many bathrooms there are some metal discs on the floor. But what is it? These are nothing but caps Of siphoned boxes. These represent a real waste container of the system pipes e they provide protection from the accumulation of solid material directed to the sewer system, a source of possible blockages in the pipes and limiting the rise ...

arabo perche si scrive da destra a sinistra

Why do Arabs write from right to left?

There Arabic writing is accomplished from right to left For religious, historical, cultural motivations but also for practical reasons. According to a widespread religious interpretation, in the Muslim world it is believed that every action must begin with right handsymbol of virtue and justice, while the left hand represents evil. This tradition does not only concern writing, but extends to ...

matematica cooperazione

Why it’s better to collaborate: the experiment on the mathematics of cooperation

If a colleague speaks badly of us to the boss, what should we do? Instinctively one would feel nervous and, perhaps, reciprocate with the same weapon. But mathematics tells us that the opposite is better: in a famous one 1980 experiment based on the prisoner’s dilemma – a pillar of game theory, the branch of mathematics that seeks to rigorously ...

ENIAC

What was the first computer in history? It depends on what we mean by “computer”

The ENIAC computer. Credit: TexasDex at English Wikipedia., CC BY–SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Whether you are reading this article from a PC or a smartphone, you are still using a computer. By this term, in fact, we mean «a machine that is capable of accepting and storing within it a large amount of information in a specific form, processing ...