photo credit: Paal Bentdal

The History of the Light Bulb

Here's what happens when a light bulb comes on and the filament is in air. Don't try this experiment at home unless you work with an adult (and even then be very careful). To learn more about the lightbulb, see The History of the Light Bulb and this Wikipedia entry.

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Cardboard Tube Syllabus

What happens when each eye gets a different message? Try the activities in the Exploratorium's Cardboard Tube Syllabus to find out. For a related illusion-and a remarkable one-see Cheshire Cat.

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image credit: NASA, ESA, R. Sankret and W. Blair; image source

400-Year-Old Supernova Mystery

This false-color composite image (hi-res version) shows the remnants of Supernova SN 1604 in visible light, infrared, and x-rays. The violence of a supernova explosion typically produces a neutron star. For a rare observation of a neutron star in x-rays, see this ESA image.

WMAP's Universe: The Life and Death of Stars

To learn about the life cycle of stars, visit WMAP's Universe: The Life and Death of Stars. For much more on how stars die, see the Australian Telescope Outreach and Education's Post-Main Sequence Stars.