What Use is Potassium?

Today, 6 October, in the year 1807 Potassium was isolated for the first time by Sir Humphry Davy in England. The 19th element has so many uses it would be impossible to live without it.

Let's be curious and ask 'what use is Potassium?'

Top 5 Intelligence Quotes

I love quotes. Just a few words can describe something so perfectly and so succinctly that no other phrase will do.

Here are my top 5 quotes about intelligence. Feel free to add your own in the comments section:

Number 5 - Thomas Woodrow Wilson

I not only use all the brains that I have, but all I can borrow.

It is one thing to be clever, but no one person can no everything. You should take advantage of everyone around you. As the old adage goes 'two heads are better than one'!

How are Percentages Used and Abused?

Percentages are used everywhere. From discounts in shops to stories about the efficacy of a new drug. It is perhaps this widespread usage that makes us so susceptible to misinterpreting them. Of course retailers want you to think you're getting a better deal than you are. But it is always a good idea to think carefully about any percentage presented to you and work out what it means.

Let's be curious and ask, 'how are percentages used?'

What are atoms made of?

Image created using Canva by me
Atom image from openclipart.org

The atom is the most quintessential symbol in science.  It is commonly drawn as a circle with smaller circles orbiting it. What do those circles represent? And what are those circles made of?

Atoms may make up the world around us, but let's be curious and ask, 'what are atoms made of?'

What is Rosetta Doing?

Image created using Canva by Matthew Bird
"Rosetta - comet fly-by" by DLR - http://www.flickr.com/photos/dlr_de/11962922525/.
Licensed under CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

The spacecraft, Rosetta, has been in the news a lot recently. It has recently been woken up after a 31-month hibernation in January this year. Launched in 2004, this mission has had a lot of coverage.

You likely know it has something to do with a comet, so let's be curious and ask, 'what is Rosetta doing?'

How are Graphs Manipulated? Skewed Statistics 3

Graphs are useful to present a sets of data in a visually appealing way whilst still containing all the information. Last week in the Skewed Statistics series, we looked at correlation and causation, a topic which often includes graphs. We saw then how data can be manipulated to imply causation. Graphs, too, are easily manipulated. Sometimes this is to make the data easier to read or understand. Other times this manipulation can mislead. It is important to know how graphs are used and abused.

Let's be curious and ask, 'how are graphs manipulated?'

What is e?

Less well known than it's popular friend, pi, e is nonetheless a very important number. Approximately equal to 2.718, Euler's number pops up in everything from finance to hats!

But what is it? Let's be curious and ask 'what is e?'