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Science, in the broadest sense of the term, refers to any system of knowledge attained by verifiable means. In a more restricted sense, science refers to a system of acquiring knowledge based on empiricism, experimentation, and methodological naturalism, as well as to the organized body of knowledge humans have gained by such qualified research.

Scientists maintain that scientific investigation must adhere to the scientific method, a rigorous process for properly developing and evaluating natural explanations for observable phenomena based on reliable empirical evidence and neutral, unbiased independent verification, and not on arguments from authority or popular preferences. Science therefore bypasses supernatural explanations, it instead only considers natural explanations that may be falsifiable.

Fields of science are distinguished as pure science or applied science. Pure science is principally involved with the discovery of new truths with little or no regard to their practical applications. Applied science is principally involved with the application of existing knowledge in new ways, including advances in technology.

Mathematics is the language in which scientific information is best presented, often it is the only way to formulate and present scientific knowledge. Therefore whether mathematics is a science in itself or the framework of science is a matter of perspective.

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A comet is a small body in the solar system that orbits the Sun and (at least occasionally) exhibits a coma (or atmosphere) and/or a tail - both due primarily to the effects of solar radiation upon the comet's nucleus, which itself is a minor planet composed of rock, dust, and ices. Due to their origins in the outer solar system and their propensity to be highly affected (or perturbed) by relatively close approaches to the major planets, comets' orbits are constantly changing. Some are moved into sungrazing orbits that destroy the comets when they are near the Sun, while others are thrown out of the solar system forever.

Most comets are believed to originate in a cloud (the Oort cloud) at large distances from the Sun consisting of debris left over from the condensation of the solar nebula; the outer edges of such nebulae are cool enough that water exists in a solid (rather than gaseous) state. Asteroids originate via a different process, but very old comets which have lost all their volatile materials may come to resemble asteroids.

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Credit: Roger McLassus

Rust is the substance formed when iron compounds corrode in the presence of oxygen and water. It is a mixture of iron oxides and hydroxides. Rusting is a common term for corrosion, and usually corrosion of steel. Iron is found naturally in the ore haematite as iron oxide, and metallic iron tends to return to a similar state when exposed to air, (hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, etc.) and water. This corrosion is due to the oxidation reaction when iron metal returns to an energetically favourable state. Energy is given off when rust forms. The process of rusting can be summarized as three basic stages: The formation of iron(II) ions from the metal; the formation of hydroxide ions; and their reaction together, with the addition of oxygen, to create rust.

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Emil Adolf von Behring (March 15, 1854 - March 31, 1917) was born at Hansdorf, Eylau, Germany (as Emil Adolf Behring). Between 1874 and 1878, he studied medicine at the Army Medical College in Berlin. He was mainly a military doctor and then became Professor of Hygienics within the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Marburg. Behring was the discoverer of diphtheria antitoxin and attained a great reputation by that means and by his contributions to the study of immunity. He won the first Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1901 for developing a serum therapy against diphtheria (this was worked on with Emile Roux) and tetanus. The former had been a scourge of the population, especially children, whereas the other was a leading cause of death in wars, killing the wounded.

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Did you know...

...that coloration is a property of loudspeakers that causes the speaker to continue to emit sound when an electrical signal stops?
...that light in a plasma display is created by phosphors excited by the ultraviolet radiation emitted by a plasma discharge between two flat panels of glass?
...that the Great Appalachian Storm of November 1950 led to wind gusts in excess of 100 mph/87 knots across New York, New Jersey, and New England?
...that the two human atria do not have valves at their inlets?

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