WonderQuest
April Holladay, science journalist for HappyNews.com, lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. A few years ago Holladay and her husband canoed the flood-swollen Mackenzie. For forty-six days they paddled alone a thousand miles through Canadian wilderness to the Arctic Ocean.
Now she writes a column about nature and science, which appears each Monday at HappyNews.com. The syndicated Q&A column takes a lucid look at what interests people about our world. April Holladay solves the mysteries we wonder about! To read April's past WonderQuest columns, please check out her site, www.wonderquest.com. If you have a question for April, visit this informational page.
Q: Why do light bulbs get real bright just before they burn out?
Teddy, age 10, Albuquerque, New Mexico A: A normal incandescent light bulb contains about a meter of fine tungsten wire, wound cleverly to fit into the glass bulb and to function properly, says Louis A. Bloomfield, professor of physics at the University of Virginia. When the bulb is on, an electric current flows through the filament... continue reading » » »
Teddy, age 10, Albuquerque, New Mexico A: A normal incandescent light bulb contains about a meter of fine tungsten wire, wound cleverly to fit into the glass bulb and to function properly, says Louis A. Bloomfield, professor of physics at the University of Virginia. When the bulb is on, an electric current flows through the filament... continue reading » » »
Q: Why does the sun turn green just before it sets?
J.R., Albuquerque, New Mexico A: The sun turns green just before it sets because the atmosphere acts as a weak prism, bending the light, say David Lynch and William Livingston in their outstanding book, "Color and Light in Nature". The prism bends the blue light the most and the red light the least and all other colors, somewhere in between. So the apparent sun you see at sunrise or sunset is a vertical stack, a continuum,... continue reading » » »
J.R., Albuquerque, New Mexico A: The sun turns green just before it sets because the atmosphere acts as a weak prism, bending the light, say David Lynch and William Livingston in their outstanding book, "Color and Light in Nature". The prism bends the blue light the most and the red light the least and all other colors, somewhere in between. So the apparent sun you see at sunrise or sunset is a vertical stack, a continuum,... continue reading » » »
WonderQuest Archives 
- Salty Peanuts
- If lightning strikes a tornado...
- Is an "Evil" gene nonsense?
- Spotting the space station
- Why hurricanes spin counterclockwise
- Birds distinguish odors
- Creating rainbows
- Glories: Full Circle Rainbows
- Birds use their noses
- Hot Islands
- Long-lasting tattoos
- The Sopranos of the Bird World
- A billion almost defies comprehension
- Vacuum — where nothing weighs something
- How do chameleons change color?
- How airplane black boxes survive crashes
- Fast Answer: What does an octopus do when a predator threatens it?
- Daydreaming — goofing off, or what?
- Do Primates Have Fingerprints?
- » View More WonderQuest Archives ...
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