The Future is Here

How does a Ball Point Pen work? A Ball point pen is a pen that uses a small rotating ball made of brass, steel, or tungsten carbide to disperse ink as you write. All of the pens that preceded the ballpoint -- whether quill, metal or fountain -- used a watery, dark india ink that fed through the pen using capillary action. The ink can flow unevenly. The ball is located in between the ink reservoir and the paper by a socket , and while it's in tight, it has enough room to roll around as you write. As the pen moves across the paper, the ball turns and gravity forces the ink down the reservoir and onto the ball where it is transferred onto the paper. It's this rolling mechanism that allows the ink to flow onto the top of the ball and roll onto the paper you're writing on, while at the same time sealing the ink from the air so it does not dry in the reservoir.

What Is The Metaverse? The coining of the term “Metaverse” is credited to author Neal Stephenson from his science fiction novel “Snow Crash” in 1992. The novel envisioned the next internet iteration where lifelike virtual avatars connect with one another through virtual reality environments and realistic 3D buildings. Since then, technology advancements have enabled the beginning development of the metaverse with a combination of computers, wearable technology, and machinery, such as virtual reality headsets, augmented reality glasses, motion sensors, and game consoles where users are able to “live” within a digital universe. Our current contemporary internet experience is two-dimensional where you scroll through and browse everything on a screen. The metaverse on the other hand is 3D , allowing you to “walk” through the two interwoven worlds via connected glasses or headsets that allow you to construct or participate in any universe you desire in the digital world. In si

What Do We Actually Smell When It Rains? When those first fat drops of summer rain fall to the hot, dry ground, have you ever noticed a distinctive odor? Of course rain itself has no scent. But moments before a rain event, an “earthy” smell known as petrichor does permeate the air. People call it musky, fresh, generally pleasant. Petrichor is the term coined by Australian scientists in 1964 to describe the unique, earthy smell associated with rain. It is caused by the water from the rain, along with certain compounds like ozone, geosmin, and plant oils. Petrichor is a combination of fragrant chemical compounds . Some are from oils made by plants. The main contributor to petrichor are actinobacteria. These tiny microorganisms can be found in rural and urban areas as well as in marine environments. They decompose dead or decaying organic matter into simple chemical compounds which can then become nutrients for developing plants and other organisms. A byproduct of their activity is

  What Are Olympic Gold Medals Actually Made Of? If you’ve watched the Olympics, you may have wondered to yourself: Are Olympic medals real gold? And if they are, how much is an Olympic medal worth if an Olympian chose to sell theirs? We break down those answers ahead. Olympic gold medals have some gold in them, but they’re mostly made of silver . According to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) , gold and silver medals are required to be at least 92.5 percent silver . The gold in gold medals is in the plating in the outside and must consist of at least 6 grams of pure gold . As fans may have noticed, many gold medal winners will pose with their medal in their mouth on the winner’s podium , as if they’re about to take a bite out of it. While real gold dents , viewers won’t see much of a difference in Olympic gold medals as they’re made of mostly silver. Silver medals, on the other hand, are made of pure silver, while bronze medals are 95 percent copper and 5 percent zinc. The

  What is the difference between Venom and Poison? Venom and Poison are both toxic substances. Still, some animals are called venomous and others are poisonous. The only difference between being called poisonous or venomous is in the way these animals deliver the harmful substance. Venom: When animals like snakes use their sharp fangs to bite into the flesh and let the toxic substance move into the body of their prey,  through the punctured skin, they are called venomous animals. To deliver venom an animal has to use tools like fangs or stingers. Poison: Poison is something that can get inhaled, ingested or seeped into the skin directly. For example, if you accidentally touch a brightly colored poison dart frog, you will transfer the toxins it secretes from its skin, to your own skin. And then the poison will seep into your blood stream.

Why do Passports only come in Four Colors? Red, green, blue and black are the shades that control the universe of passports and all of these have a good reason for it. There are some reasons to attribute to the choice of passport colors. The colors of the passports are limited, nations keep testing with the shades of these four main colors that may be attributed to "many possible scenarios." Blue: Countries having blue colored passports are supposed to be the part of the so-called 'new-world' League of Nations. These nations are India, North America, South America and Australia among others. Red: Red is supposed to be the color of the communist movement in all over the world. This color usually belongs to countries, which are known for having a communist history or still have its influence. Key examples of this type are China, Russia Serbia and Latvia. Green: As per the Business Insider, religious faiths play a role in the color of the passport. This is the

  How do Spiders make Web?  Spiders produce silk threads to build their webs. The silk is produced in silk glands with the help of the spider's spinnerets. Spinnerets are special organs that allow the spider to decide what type of thread it needs for the web. The silk threads can be thick or thin, dry or sticky, beaded or smooth. The threads a spider uses to construct its web begin as liquid, but they dry quickly in the air. When a spider begins a web, it releases a silk thread. It anchors the thread to some object — a branch, a corner of a room, a doorframe — wherever it builds its web. As the spider moves back and forth, it adds more threads, strengthening the web and creating a pattern. Lines that go from the center of the web outward are called "radial lines." They support the web. Threads that go around and around the web are called "orb lines." When a spider catches prey in the sticky strands of its web , it approaches the trapped insect and uses its

  Why Does Body Temperature Rise During Fever? We have three groups of neurons in the hypothalamus , at the base of the brain, that are responsible for regulating body temperature: a hypothalamic thermostat that monitors skin temperature (via incoming signals from nerve fibers) and blood temperature ; a heat-promoting center that raises body temperature; and a heat-losing center that lowers body temperature. An infection stimulates the immune system to produce chemicals called endogenous pyrogens. These and prostaglandin E2 raise the set point of the hypothalamic thermostat ( like turning up the thermostat in your house ). The heat-promoting center constricts blood vessels near the skin surface so more heat is retained in the body, and if that’s not enough, it stimulates shivering to generate more heat, until the body temperature reaches the new set point. The elevated temperature makes it harder for bacteria and viruses to multiply, so the immune system can overwhelm these pathog

  How do Bluetooth devices work? Bluetooth uses radio waves instead of wires or cables to transmit information between electronic devices over short-distances. Unlike your cellphone, which uses radio waves to communicate with a cell tower several miles away, the radio waves Bluetooth products use are 1000 times weaker and only travel small distances between the two communicating devices, usually 10 feet or less. If you have a wireless Bluetooth keyboard for your computer, and you take the keyboard to a friend’s house but leave the computer at home, your keyboard won’t be able to communicate with the computer over such a distance. And if you type on it, nothing will appear on your computer screen at home. When Bluetooth-enabled devices are close enough, they can connect with each other through a tiny computer chip inside them that emits the special Bluetooth radio waves. But first, you have to turn on this chip, which you can usually do by pressing a specific button or flipping a m