How It Works - UK (2020-05)

086 HowIt Works http://www.howitworksdaily.com

en umans

stop living in caves

and start building

houses?

Safi Boulous

n Early humans were never cave dwellers

since they led nomadic lives and therefore

slept in the open – so there’s actually no

such thing as a caveman! They may have

sheltered from storms but would never have

set up home in such a place. However,

during the Palaeolithic era people started to

build temporar y camps out of hazel bent

over in a circle, which was then covered

in animal hides. By the early Neolithic

period, humans began to build timber

halls. During the Bron ze Age homes were

constructed w ith the dr y-stone walls and

thatched roofs that we would recognise as

‘houses’ today. JE

How do

Orbeez grow?

DanielleWalters

n Orbeezcanincreasetheirdiameter an

amazing 150 timesover,allow ingthem to

growtoaround 14 millimetres.Butit’s not

magic– it’sallabouthowthey’remade.

They’recomposedofa super-absorbent

poly mermadeofacr ylicacid,sodium

hydroxideandwater,w itha colour

pigmentationaddedtomakethemstand

outfromeachother.Whenyouputthem in

warmorhotwatertheyabsorbthewater

andgetbiggerandbigger.MS

©Getty

© Getty

© Getty

Will quantum

computers be able

to hack bitcoin?

VishalJain

n Maybeinthefuture.A teamofresearchers

recentlyclaimedquantumcomputerscould

crackit (allow ingaccesstoBitcoinwallets),but

theywon’tbecomesophisticatedenoughuntil

aroundtenyearsfromnow.MS

like Voyagertravel

so much faster

than terrestrial

aeroplanes?

BrandonFields

n Foronething,a rocketcanacceleratetomuch

higherspeedsinspacebecausethere’snoair

resistance.Then,whenthespacecraftleaves

Earthorbit,thespeedit’sacquiredrelativeto

EarthissupplementedbyEarth’sow n

enormousspeedaroundtheSun,whichthe

spacecraftgetstokeep‘forfree’.Ifthemission

plannersarecleverenough,spacecraftcan

acquireadditional‘free’boostsv iagrav it y-assist

manoeuv res– slingshot-likeeffectswhen

passingclosetootherplanets.AM

How are

buildings made

earthquake

proof?

George Hayes

n Sadly we can’t make buildings

quakeproof just yet, only shock

resistant. Now, while buildings are

designed to hold weight from top to

bottom, they’re not supposed to feel

pressure from the sides. But an

earthquake does exactly that – its shock

waves ‘push’ the building sideways – so

the key to stay ing intact is finding a way

to keep a building stable even if the

ground around it moves. One technique

engineers use is to build their

foundations on a layer of shock

absorbers like ball bearings, padded

c ylinders and springs. When the shock

wave pushes the ground sideways the

absorbers take the hit while the

building stays pointing upright. MS

© NASA

© Getty

With careful

planning, a

spacecraft can gain

speed as it passes

close to a planet

Orbeez can grow up to 150 times in

diameter when they’re placed in water