glass microscopic flaws tensile strength scratches bubbles

Tiny flaws make glass much weaker

Pure, flawless glass has a theoretical resistance to being pulled apart of 14–35 gigapascals. Microscopic flaws, such as scratches and bubbles, reduce the strength of most commercial glass to 14–175 megapascals.

Viruses are assembled rather than dividing like cells

A virus does not reproduce by splitting into two cells. Inside a host cell, separate viral parts are made and then assembled into new virus particles. Viruses can still inherit mutations and evolve, which helps make the question of whether they are "alive" difficult to answer.

Large maps cannot avoid distorting Earth

A map of a small area can mostly ignore Earth's curve. A map of a large part of the planet cannot. Turning a round Earth into a flat map always creates distortion, so map projections choose where and how that distortion appears.

Like this? There’s a whole feed of it. Replace empty scrolling with things worth knowing.

Download Hence for free

glass microscopic flaws tensile strength scratches bubbles

Tiny flaws make glass much weaker

Keep exploring