Biosphere 2 is a dome in Arizona used for ecological experiments. It covers 3.15 acres of land split into regions representing rainforest, ocean, grassland, desert, farming land, and more. In 1991, eight participants entered the dome with a plan to live inside for two years, hermetically sealed off from all outside influence. However, carbon dioxide levels fluctuated wildly and oxygen dwindled, forcing the experimenters to artificially inject thousands of pounds of oxygen. Most vertebrate species died, while insect pests like cockroaches proliferated. The participants completed their two years, but in an atmosphere filled with paranoia and distrust.
hermetic (pronounced “hər-MET-ik”)
1. *Completely sealed, especially against the escape or entry of air.
2. Impervious to outside interference or influence: the hermetic confines of an isolated life.
Hermetic (same word, but capitalized)
1. Mythology of or relating to Hermes Trismegistus or the works ascribed to him.
2. Having to do with the occult sciences, especially alchemy; magical.
Gary Chang, an architect in Hong Kong, designed an ingenious solution for utilizing every inch of space in his 330 square foot apartment. He filled it with sliding walls and pull down furniture, letting him transform the living space into 24 distinct layouts. Slide away one wall, and there is a walk-in closet. Slide away another, and there is a bath tub. Pull down a panel, and there is a bed. For its extremely protean nature, he named it “The Domestic Transformer”.
Protean (pronounced “PRO-tee-ən”)
1. *Readily taking on varied shapes, forms, or meanings.
2. Exhibiting considerable variety or diversity: “He loved to show off his protean talent” (William A. Henry III).
SawStop is the world’s safest table saw. When delivered a wooden beam or other cuttable material, it works like any table saw. But expose it to a conducting medium, such as human flesh, and it stops immediately. The saw teeth become instantly entrammeled in a metal module, slowing a 500 RPM blade to a stop in less than one thousandth of a second. It works so well that its creator has confidently pushed his finger into the whirling blade and remained completely unscathed.
Entrammel (pronounced “en-TRAM-əl”)
To hamper or obstruct by entangling
Similar Word: Trammel
1. To enmesh in or as if in a fishing net.
2. To hinder the activity or free movement of.
The complete LHC is hundreds of times larger than the segment shown.
Built on a budget of 9 billion dollars, the Large Hadron Collider is a leviathan among scientific experiments. This particle accelerator makes a 17 mile loop in a concrete tunnel below France and Switzerland, and serves the singular purpose of accelerating protons to near light-speed.
Leviathan (pronounced “lə-VY-ə-thən”)
*Something unusually large of its kind, especially a ship.
We all know that flying is incredibly safe compared to driving. Unfortunately, we’re all wrong. This statement has been widely bruited with only a cursory analysis of the facts; as Harvard economist Stephen J. Dubner elucidates in the book, Freakonomics, flying for an hour is just about as risky as driving for an hour (in terms of the chance of dying). Of course, planes have shorter transit times, so in practical terms, frequent flyers still have plenty of reason to feel safe.
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