9 pieces in this series — best read in order.
Not just "too much water": a whole gully of rock, mud and water that moves like wet concrete. What it is, the warning signs, and which way to run.
The Chinese names for kiwifruit: seeds left Yichang for New Zealand in 1904, it was renamed in 1959, and the price gap comes from variety and brand, not name.
A place where you can go in but never come out, not even light. What it is, why nothing escapes, how we 'heard' two collide, and why Earth is safe.
When sugar and protein bits get hot they "hold hands" and make hundreds of aromas and a golden color. Why boiling doesn't work, and four searing tips.
The ten cloud types, learned through five Latin roots and a three-story sky: why "alto" clouds aren't the highest and which one brings thunder and hail.
Cities get buried by layers piling up in place: rebuilding on ruins, volcanic ash, floods and sand. Will the ground reach space? No, Earth's surface works like a slow conveyor belt.
Same laptop, new bag, and it feels lighter. The weight didn't change: a good pack keeps it close, puts it on your hips, spreads it out, and stops it swinging.
A cubic metre of wood holds about a tonne of CO2. Swap some cement and steel for wood and buildings store carbon instead of releasing it — if the trees are replanted.
No one has been to Andromeda and no ruler reaches that far. Astronomers built a four-rung ladder that starts with your thumb.
