Richard Brill, Author at Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Facts of the Matter: Scientists still stymied by matter-antimatter asymmetry conundrum

Richard Brill — Fri, 02 Feb 2024 10:05:00 +0000

The concept of matter-antimatter asymmetry has captivated the scientific community for decades. This phenomenon refers to the unequal amounts of matter and antimatter present in the universe. While matter dominates our observable universe, antimatter seems to be almost entirely absent.

Facts of the Matter: Latitude helps determine how we see sunrise, sunset

Richard Brill — Fri, 19 Jan 2024 10:05:00 +0000

A word from Captain Obvious: The sun rises in the east and sets in the west.

Facts of the Matter: Gemstones’ color relies on interaction with light

Richard Brill — Fri, 05 Jan 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Some minerals have color because of what they do to light that passes through them or reflects from their surfaces. There are thousands of different minerals of which certain varieties of about 15 different ones are prized as gemstones. A small percentage of these are well-formed, colorful, transparent crystals.

Facts of the Matter: Earth’s timeline is marked by several mass extinctions

Richard Brill — Fri, 15 Dec 2023 10:05:00 +0000

When speaking of mass extinctions, we evoke a seriousness that transcends anything that we have experienced in human history.

Facts of the Matter: Benefits of popular painkiller, blood thinner balance risks

Richard Brill — Fri, 01 Dec 2023 10:05:00 +0000

For more than 100 years the safest, most effective, least expensive and widest-ranging drug known to man has been available to ease headaches, stop inflammation and lower fever.

Facts of the Matter: Ocean-atmosphere interplay affects weather and climate

Richard Brill — Fri, 17 Nov 2023 10:05:00 +0000

We have understood for a long time that the oceans play a significant role in transferring heat from the equator to the poles, but only in recent years have we begun to understand the importance of the link between ocean and atmosphere.

Facts of the Matter: Earth’s unique atmosphere lets water exist in all 3 phases

Richard Brill — Fri, 03 Nov 2023 10:05:00 +0000

Earth is the water planet, but perhaps it is equally appropriate to call Earth the water cloud planet. Although liquid water is a distinctive feature of planet Earth, water clouds are even more so.

Facts of the Matter: Mitochondria hard at work creating energy within cells

Richard Brill — Fri, 20 Oct 2023 10:05:00 +0000

Feeling tired today? Most of us grow more weary as the day goes on and as the years pass. We say we are out of energy or getting low on energy, which is a fact. The energy we expend is generated inside our cells by symbiotic organelles called mitochondria.

Facts of the Matter: Systems in nature never reach equilibrium, but can get close

Richard Brill — Fri, 06 Oct 2023 10:05:00 +0000

Equilibrium is a state of balance of opposing actions that is central in virtually everything that happens, from basic physics to dance and the arts, economics and social ideologies.

Facts of the Matter: MRI machines seek hydrogen atoms to analyze soft tissue

Richard Brill — Fri, 15 Sep 2023 10:05:00 +0000

Before the development of magnetic resonance imaging, X-rays were the only way to image inside the body. But X-rays are too energetic and show hard structures such as bones while they penetrate connective tissue and organs that show only as ghostly images.

Facts of the Matter: Search for superconductor that doesn’t require frigid conditions continues

Richard Brill — Fri, 01 Sep 2023 10:05:00 +0000

There are two ways that a substance can respond to an electric field.

Facts of the Matter: Input-output system is key to beaches’ sand quantity

Richard Brill — Fri, 18 Aug 2023 10:05:00 +0000

A beach seems constant from day to day, yet it is an ever-changing river of sand. On a geologic time scale the life of a beach is like a fruit fly in our human time.

Facts of the Matter: Silicon atoms better suited for creating rocks, not life

Richard Brill — Fri, 04 Aug 2023 10:05:00 +0000

Searching for water on Mars and looking for other distant planets that may be Earth-like recalls that it is not only water, but also carbon that is necessary for life.

Facts of the Matter: Arsenic’s well-known dangers are felt through water and crops

Richard Brill — Fri, 21 Jul 2023 10:05:00 +0000

Today’s chemical measurements are 1,000 times more sensitive than in the 1970s. Analyses at the parts per billion range — about one drop in a swimming pool — are commonplace.

Facts of the Matter: Sugar remains unregulated despite well-known dangers

Richard Brill — Fri, 07 Jul 2023 10:05:00 +0000

Folk wisdom has recognized the role of empty calories in weight gain and obesity for years, but there has not been much public discussion about the addictive qualities of sugar.

Facts of the Matter: During summer solstice, sun appears to pause in the sky

Richard Brill — Fri, 16 Jun 2023 10:05:00 +0000

Just in case you might miss it, take note that the summer solstice will occur on Wednesday at 4:57 a.m. as the sun reaches its northernmost point of 23.26 degrees latitude in its annual journey through the sky.

Facts of the Matter: Understanding role of zero makes modern world possible

Richard Brill — Fri, 02 Jun 2023 10:05:00 +0000

Zero, nothing, zilch, nada? The number zero is a misunderstood enigma. Its place in our number system is relatively recent, appearing much later than the Arabic numerals we use to display number digits.

Facts of the Matter: Geckos’ sticky feet are due to atomic-level phenomenon

Richard Brill — Fri, 19 May 2023 10:05:00 +0000

Behold the ubiquitous gecko climbing a vertical wall in the blink of an eye or scurrying across the ceiling in gravity- defying dashes.

Facts of the Matter: Humans’ glassmaking ability has evolved over millennia

Richard Brill — Fri, 05 May 2023 10:05:00 +0000

Glass is one of our most common and often overlooked technologies because it is so common, but that has not always been the case. Glassmaking technology has a history longer than history itself.

Facts of the Matter: Theories abound for humans’ inability to find intelligent life

Richard Brill — Fri, 21 Apr 2023 10:05:00 +0000

Where is ET? After nearly 50 years of searching for intelligent signals from space, astronomers have yet to receive a single verifiable signal of intelligent origin.

Facts of the Matter: Rare earth elements, essential for electronics, are in demand

Richard Brill — Fri, 07 Apr 2023 10:05:00 +0000

The rare earths are a relatively abundant group of 17 elements that are so chemically similar that 15 of them occupy a single row and column in the periodic table.

Facts of the Matter: Most electromagnetic waves are undetectable to humans

Richard Brill — Fri, 17 Mar 2023 10:05:00 +0000

We are immersed in a dense sea of electromagnetism, or EM.

Facts of the Matter: Caffeine’s allure is powerful despite potential for toxicity

Richard Brill — Fri, 03 Mar 2023 10:05:00 +0000

Got to have that morning rush, whether it is from coffee, tea, chocolate, soft drinks, energy drinks or some other form of caffeine?

Facts of the Matter: Dark matter still a mystery decades after its discovery

Richard Brill — Fri, 17 Feb 2023 10:05:00 +0000

What is the universe made of? This is one of the burning questions confronting today’s astrophysicists and cosmologists.

Facts of the Matter: Strong polar vortex wreaks havoc across U.S.

Richard Brill — Fri, 03 Feb 2023 10:05:00 +0000

The polar vortex is a permanent low- pressure system that surrounds the geographical north and south poles. “Vortex” refers to the circulation around the poles. The term also describes smaller vortices that occur within lobes of the primary vortex.

Facts of the Matter: Infamous atmospheric river added to state’s weather woes

Richard Brill — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 10:05:00 +0000

Most people have now heard of the atmospheric river called the “Pineapple Express” and the heavy rain and snowfall it caused in California.

Facts of the Matter: Kidneys play many key roles in managing body’s functions

Richard Brill — Fri, 06 Jan 2023 10:05:00 +0000

Science has recently revealed new insights into the human body. A vast information network like the internet exists inside. Formerly, scientists thought the brain ruled all body systems and that the other organs merely obeyed its commands.

Facts of the Matter: Scientists are inching closer to creating fusion reactions

Richard Brill — Fri, 16 Dec 2022 10:05:00 +0000

Thermonuclear reactions deep in the sun’s interior consistently generate the same amount of energy as 2.5 billion 500-megawatt generators, the largest on Earth. In one short second the sun produces enough energy to power New York City for 100 years.

Richard Brill: Stars require delicate balance to stave off self-destruction

Richard Brill — Fri, 02 Dec 2022 10:05:00 +0000

There are tens of trillions of stars in our Milky Way galaxy and billions of galaxies in deep space, each with trillions of stars. Taken in total, there are likely more stars in the universe than grains of sand on all beaches on Earth.

Richard Brill: Increase in carbon dioxide spells trouble for world’s oceans

Richard Brill — Fri, 18 Nov 2022 10:05:00 +0000

The solid Earth is surrounded by a fluid envelope of atmosphere and ocean, a coupled system of direct interaction.

Facts of the Matter: Storms get more intense as heat imbalance grows

Richard Brill — Fri, 07 Oct 2022 10:05:00 +0000

The transfer of heat from the equator to the poles is the cause of weather. It might manifest as gentle rain, wind, thunderstorms, hurricanes or tornadoes.

Facts of the Matter: Orderly placement of atoms defines crystals big and small

Richard Brill — Fri, 16 Sep 2022 10:05:00 +0000

Crystals are everywhere. With few exceptions, the solid inorganic substances that make up our world are crystalline. This includes rocks, minerals, ceramics and metals.

Facts of the Matter: Finding the smallest particles requires massive energy load

Richard Brill — Fri, 02 Sep 2022 10:05:00 +0000

It is an interesting aspect of the universe and an ironic sense of unity that it requires more energy to see smaller objects. This is the result of the properties of waves in general and specifically the nature of electromagnetic waves.

Facts of the Matter: Virtual water is essential for production, conservation

Richard Brill — Fri, 19 Aug 2022 10:05:00 +0000

We’ve all heard of virtual reality, but virtual water is the current buzz phrase among water conservationists.

Facts of the Matter: Best pitchers in baseball have mastered the art of spin

Richard Brill — Fri, 05 Aug 2022 10:05:00 +0000

Spin is in. Stars spin around supermassive black holes. Planets spin in orbit around the sun. Earth spins daily on its axis, a toy top spins on a desktop, atoms spin, quarks spin, electrons spin and even nonmaterial photons spin.

Facts of the Matter: Induction chargers, stoves rely on magnetic power

Richard Brill — Fri, 15 Jul 2022 10:05:00 +0000

Charging a cellphone on an induction pad seems like magic, and in a way it is. Induction is a feature of electromagnetism that Michael Faraday stated in 1831, now known as Faraday’s law. It is the basis for much of modern electrical and electronic technology.

Facts of the Matter: Humidity might feel heavy, but it is lighter than dry air

Richard Brill — Fri, 01 Jul 2022 10:05:00 +0000

From the earliest days of sports announcing, on muggy nights baseball announcers have remarked about how baseballs do not travel as far due to the heavy, humid air.

Facts of the Matter: Catalysts help facilitate wide variety of reactions

Richard Brill — Fri, 17 Jun 2022 10:05:00 +0000

By strict definition, a catalyst is a substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction without itself undergoing any permanent chemical change. Being such a utilitarian concept, the word takes on other applications outside the world of chemistry from which it evolved.

Facts of the Matter: Lunar orbit’s elliptical shape creates dazzling supermoons

Richard Brill — Fri, 20 May 2022 10:05:00 +0000

Just about everyone knows that the moon orbits Earth once every month, which is the time required for one orbit. What we do not commonly know is that the moon’s orbit is not circular; it is elliptical.

Facts of the Matter: Element and compound are separated by 1 letter

Richard Brill — Fri, 06 May 2022 10:05:00 +0000

Among the many similar but very different mistakes that I see in media is the distinction between silicon and silicone. That “e” on the end looks benign, but it makes a big difference in the material.