The world is weirder than you think.
Why does ice float? Can plants count? And why do astronauts float when gravity is still there? Follow the questions that make science extraordinary.
Your first science mystery.
Why do astronauts float if gravity is still there?
An orbiting spacecraft looks weightless. But Earth's gravity hasn't switched off. What's really happening?
Imagine you're inside a spacecraft orbiting Earth.
You release a pencil. Instead of falling to the floor, it floats beside you. Does that mean there's no gravity?
Questions worth asking.
Why do astronauts float if gravity still exists?
Space looks gravity-free. The truth is stranger: orbit is a kind of falling.
Uncover the answerHow can a day on Venus be longer than its year?
Venus spins so slowly that one rotation takes longer than one trip around the Sun.
Uncover the answerWhy does ice float when most solids sink?
Frozen water breaks the rule followed by many other substances.
Uncover the answerExplore. Experiment. Play.
Find your kind of weird.
Space & Universe
Strange worlds, impossible distances and cosmic surprises.
Physics & Forces
When motion, light and energy defy intuition.
Chemistry & Matter
Unexpected behaviour hiding in everyday substances.
Life & Biology
The peculiar adaptations and tricks of living things.
Earth & Nature
The oddities of our planet, oceans and atmosphere.
Mind & Senses
Why our brains and senses sometimes fool us.