Features1827 articles archived since 1845

How Can a Slower Runner Catch a Faster One?

Acceleration is the key for a predator chasing down swifter prey

How Much Water Weight Can a Player Lose During a Game?

A burly lineman can sweat through upward of nine pounds of fluid

When Is the Center of Mass Not at the Center of Any Individual Object?

Your body's center of mass is near your belly button, but things change if you're interacting with another person

Who Will Win: A Squirrel, an Elephant, a Pig or a Safety?

We set up an imaginary 40-yard dash to explore the physics of speed and acceleration

How Much Momentum Does It Take to Stop a Running Back?

From a physics perspective, football is all about overcoming inertia

How Should You Launch a Ball to Achieve the Greatest Distance?

Physics gives a precise answer, at least in an ideal setting

When Is a Straight Line Not the Shortest Distance between Two Points?

The hypotenuse of a right triangle is not always the shortest distance between the two points that define it

Why Do Pro Kickers Opt for Soccer Style?

The answer lies in surface area and biomechanics

What Are Vectors, and How Are They Used?

Denoting both direction and magnitude, vectors appear throughout the world of science and engineering

What Do a Submarine, a Rocket and a Football Have in Common?

Why the prolate spheroid is the shape for success

Introducing the Science of Pro Football

What does Sir Isaac Newton have to do with gridiron glory? Plenty, it turns out. In a special partnership with NBC Learn, we present supplemental information for the educational video series, "The Science of NFL Football"...

Use It Better: Tips for More Satisfying E-Reading, by David Pogue

HPV-Positive Cancers Spreading among the Middle-Aged

Debate continues about the efficacy of vaccinating teens against the sexually transmitted papillomavirus as rates of noncervical HPV cancers climbs

A Decade on the Fly: Building the International Space Station--Module by Module [Slide Show]

Between 1998 and 2010 the station evolved from a single Russian module to a behemoth orbital outpost the size of a football field

50 Years Ago: Wildlife Husbandry in Africa

It is often assumed that vast areas of Africa can be farmed whenever man chooses. There is reason to believe, however, that the best use to which most of this land can be put is to crop its native animals...