Neuroscientists have found that playing an instrument is a unique workout for the brain as it activates numerous areas of the brain at the same time, a phenomenon that is not found in other activities.
When you listen to music, multiple areas of your brain become engaged and active. But when you actually play an instrument, that activity becomes more like a full-body brain workout. What’s going on? Anita Collins explains the fireworks that go off in musicians’ brains when they play, and examines some of the long-term positive effects of this mental workout.
The earliest recorded tattoo was found on a Peruvian mummy in 6,000 BC. That’s some old ink! And considering humans lose roughly 40,000 skin cells per hour, how do these markings last? Claudia Aguirre details the different methods, machines and macrophages (you’ll see) that go into making tattoos stand the test of time.
TED-Ed explains the complex story behind what gives a paper dollar bill actual value.
The value of money is determined by how much (or how little) of it is in circulation. But who makes that decision, and how does their choice affect the economy at large?
Doug Levinson takes a trip into the United States Federal Reserve, examining how the people who work there aim to balance the value of the dollar to prevent inflation or deflation.
How do you know you’re real? Is existence all just a big dream? Has some mad scientist duped us into simply believing that we exist? James Zucker investigates all of these questions (and more) in this mind-boggling tribute to René Descartes’s Meditations on First Philosophy.
Tornadoes are the most violent storms on Earth, with wind velocities that can exceed 200 miles per hour. How do these terrifying cyclones form? Meteorologist James Spann sheds light on the lifespan of tornadoes as they go from supercell thunderstorms to terrible twisters before eventually dissolving back into thin air.
How do tornadoes form? That is pretty easy to answer since there has been a large amount of study into the subject. They are usually the extreme result of a supercell thunderstorm. During the storm cold air and warm air combine in a set pattern: the cold air drops as the warm air rises. The warm air eventually twists into a spiral and forms the funnel cloud that we all associate with a tornado.
The formation of a tornado follows a clear set of steps. First there a change in wind direction and an increase in wind speed. This change occurs at an increasing altitude and creates an invisible horizontal spinning effect in the lower atmosphere. Next, rising air within the thunderstorm’s updraft tilts the rotating air from horizontal to vertical. Third, an area of rotation, 3-10 km wide is contained within a vast majority of the storm. This is where the strongest tornadoes form. Then a lower cloud base in the center of the storm becomes a rotating wall cloud. This area can be nearly rain-free. Lastly, a tornado develops and starts to wreak its destruction.
Once a tornado has formed, it follows a predictable life cycle. First, the mesocyclone(rotating air), along with the rear flank downdraft( RFD), starts moving towards the ground. A small funnel appears to build up at the bottom of a wall cloud. As the RFD reaches the ground, the surrounding dirt rises up, causing damage even to heavy objects. The funnel touches the ground immediately after the RFD, forming a tornado.
During the next stage the tornado’s main source of energy, the RFD, begins to cool. The distance the tornado covers, depends on the rate at which the RFD cools. If the RFD cannot further provide any more warm air to the tornado, it begins to die.
Lastly, with the tornado’s warm air supply cut, the vortex begins to weaken and shrivel away. As the tornado weakens, the mesocyclone also starts to dissipate, but a new mesocyclone can start very close to the dying one. Those are the basics of tornado formation and life.
