@marinsplaylab.org
Exploring STEM and more with interactive projects, visuals, and discoveries.
Vinča culture (Late Neolithic, central Balkans), named for Vinča Belo Brdo near Belgrade. c. 5300-4500 BC: dense rows of wattle-and-daub houses, farming, pottery, weaving, fishing/hunting. Long links (Carpathian obsidian, spondylus shells). 1k+ figurines. “Vinča symbols” debated as photo writing.
December 27, 2025 at 11:28 AM
Vinča culture (Late Neolithic, central Balkans), named for Vinča Belo Brdo near Belgrade. c. 5300-4500 BC: dense rows of wattle-and-daub houses, farming, pottery, weaving, fishing/hunting. Long links (Carpathian obsidian, spondylus shells). 1k+ figurines. “Vinča symbols” debated as photo writing.
Current state of solar system simulation that we are working on, it is fully open source and soon launching on our website!
Everyone will be able to use it for free and learn interesting things about solar system.
Everyone will be able to use it for free and learn interesting things about solar system.
December 26, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Current state of solar system simulation that we are working on, it is fully open source and soon launching on our website!
Everyone will be able to use it for free and learn interesting things about solar system.
Everyone will be able to use it for free and learn interesting things about solar system.
Some animals are built for long lives.
Record ages:
Ocean quahog clam 507y
Greenland shark 392y
Bowhead whale 211y
Rougheye rockfish 205y
Galapagos tortoise 177y
Bonus: "immortal jellyfish" can reset to polyp, but can still die.
Records can shift with new data.
Record ages:
Ocean quahog clam 507y
Greenland shark 392y
Bowhead whale 211y
Rougheye rockfish 205y
Galapagos tortoise 177y
Bonus: "immortal jellyfish" can reset to polyp, but can still die.
Records can shift with new data.
December 25, 2025 at 10:06 PM
Some animals are built for long lives.
Record ages:
Ocean quahog clam 507y
Greenland shark 392y
Bowhead whale 211y
Rougheye rockfish 205y
Galapagos tortoise 177y
Bonus: "immortal jellyfish" can reset to polyp, but can still die.
Records can shift with new data.
Record ages:
Ocean quahog clam 507y
Greenland shark 392y
Bowhead whale 211y
Rougheye rockfish 205y
Galapagos tortoise 177y
Bonus: "immortal jellyfish" can reset to polyp, but can still die.
Records can shift with new data.
When the Sun rises and sets, it rises roughly east and sets roughly west. Face the equator at noon and the left/right flips: North hemisphere sunrise is left and sunset right - South hemisphere sunrise is right and sunset left. Between the tropics, the noon Sun can switch sides during the year.
December 25, 2025 at 2:01 PM
When the Sun rises and sets, it rises roughly east and sets roughly west. Face the equator at noon and the left/right flips: North hemisphere sunrise is left and sunset right - South hemisphere sunrise is right and sunset left. Between the tropics, the noon Sun can switch sides during the year.
Fun fact: Phone signals and visible light are both waves of electric and magnetic fields.
A visible light photon carries more energy than a radio or microwave photon from phones or Wi Fi.
This energy is per photon. Total exposure still depends on power and time.
A visible light photon carries more energy than a radio or microwave photon from phones or Wi Fi.
This energy is per photon. Total exposure still depends on power and time.
December 24, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Fun fact: Phone signals and visible light are both waves of electric and magnetic fields.
A visible light photon carries more energy than a radio or microwave photon from phones or Wi Fi.
This energy is per photon. Total exposure still depends on power and time.
A visible light photon carries more energy than a radio or microwave photon from phones or Wi Fi.
This energy is per photon. Total exposure still depends on power and time.
The Phoenix Cluster is enormous, about 5.8 billion light years away. Its central galaxy hosts a supermassive black hole whose jets carve X ray bubbles in the hot gas. Along the bubble edges, cool filaments survive and fuel a starburst of about 500 Suns worth of new stars each year.
December 23, 2025 at 12:42 PM
The Phoenix Cluster is enormous, about 5.8 billion light years away. Its central galaxy hosts a supermassive black hole whose jets carve X ray bubbles in the hot gas. Along the bubble edges, cool filaments survive and fuel a starburst of about 500 Suns worth of new stars each year.
Crop tops are older than you might think.
About 3400 years ago in Denmark, the Egtved Girl was buried as a teen around 16 to 18, wearing a short wool tunic and a knee length cord skirt. A large spiral bronze belt plate rested on her stomach.
About 3400 years ago in Denmark, the Egtved Girl was buried as a teen around 16 to 18, wearing a short wool tunic and a knee length cord skirt. A large spiral bronze belt plate rested on her stomach.
December 23, 2025 at 12:27 PM
Crop tops are older than you might think.
About 3400 years ago in Denmark, the Egtved Girl was buried as a teen around 16 to 18, wearing a short wool tunic and a knee length cord skirt. A large spiral bronze belt plate rested on her stomach.
About 3400 years ago in Denmark, the Egtved Girl was buried as a teen around 16 to 18, wearing a short wool tunic and a knee length cord skirt. A large spiral bronze belt plate rested on her stomach.
On the Danube in Serbia’s Iron Gates gorge, Lepenski Vir had people by about 9700 BC. Around 70 trapezoid floor houses had stone hearths. Fish heavy diets can skew radiocarbon, so the team used AMS dating. Some homes became tombs with 50 kg stones hauled 10 km and carved as human fish faces.
December 23, 2025 at 12:25 PM
On the Danube in Serbia’s Iron Gates gorge, Lepenski Vir had people by about 9700 BC. Around 70 trapezoid floor houses had stone hearths. Fish heavy diets can skew radiocarbon, so the team used AMS dating. Some homes became tombs with 50 kg stones hauled 10 km and carved as human fish faces.
Mars wasn’t always a dry red desert.
Billions of years ago, water shaped it and orbiters still see river valleys, deltas, and lakebeds, some from long lived lakes.
Today the air is too thin for surface water, what’s left is ice or mineral bound. Mars keeps the geology of a more watery past.
Billions of years ago, water shaped it and orbiters still see river valleys, deltas, and lakebeds, some from long lived lakes.
Today the air is too thin for surface water, what’s left is ice or mineral bound. Mars keeps the geology of a more watery past.
December 23, 2025 at 12:21 PM
Mars wasn’t always a dry red desert.
Billions of years ago, water shaped it and orbiters still see river valleys, deltas, and lakebeds, some from long lived lakes.
Today the air is too thin for surface water, what’s left is ice or mineral bound. Mars keeps the geology of a more watery past.
Billions of years ago, water shaped it and orbiters still see river valleys, deltas, and lakebeds, some from long lived lakes.
Today the air is too thin for surface water, what’s left is ice or mineral bound. Mars keeps the geology of a more watery past.
Split has an Egyptian sphinx sitting in a Roman palace.
Diocletian built it around 300 AD and shipped in Egyptian sphinxes.
One palace sphinx is linked to Pharaoh Amenhotep III, carved ~1400 BC, his cartouches still name him.
Diocletian built it around 300 AD and shipped in Egyptian sphinxes.
One palace sphinx is linked to Pharaoh Amenhotep III, carved ~1400 BC, his cartouches still name him.
December 23, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Split has an Egyptian sphinx sitting in a Roman palace.
Diocletian built it around 300 AD and shipped in Egyptian sphinxes.
One palace sphinx is linked to Pharaoh Amenhotep III, carved ~1400 BC, his cartouches still name him.
Diocletian built it around 300 AD and shipped in Egyptian sphinxes.
One palace sphinx is linked to Pharaoh Amenhotep III, carved ~1400 BC, his cartouches still name him.
Termites have soldiers. Matabele ants raid them.
Injured raiders get carried home, nestmates clean the wound.
If it’s infected, they apply antimicrobial from a special gland and experiments saw ~90% fewer deaths.
Teamwork plus chemistry keeps the colony alive.
Injured raiders get carried home, nestmates clean the wound.
If it’s infected, they apply antimicrobial from a special gland and experiments saw ~90% fewer deaths.
Teamwork plus chemistry keeps the colony alive.
December 23, 2025 at 12:17 PM
Termites have soldiers. Matabele ants raid them.
Injured raiders get carried home, nestmates clean the wound.
If it’s infected, they apply antimicrobial from a special gland and experiments saw ~90% fewer deaths.
Teamwork plus chemistry keeps the colony alive.
Injured raiders get carried home, nestmates clean the wound.
If it’s infected, they apply antimicrobial from a special gland and experiments saw ~90% fewer deaths.
Teamwork plus chemistry keeps the colony alive.
Before O2 built up in the air, Earth was already oxygen rich that was locked in rocks and water (O is ~46% of the crust). Early life was anaerobic until photosynthesis. Oxygen first got eaten by ocean iron; only ~2.4–2.1 Ga (GOE) did it accumulate. Liquid water likely existed ~4.3 Ga (zircons).
December 23, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Before O2 built up in the air, Earth was already oxygen rich that was locked in rocks and water (O is ~46% of the crust). Early life was anaerobic until photosynthesis. Oxygen first got eaten by ocean iron; only ~2.4–2.1 Ga (GOE) did it accumulate. Liquid water likely existed ~4.3 Ga (zircons).
Only one company builds EUV scanners: ASML.
EUV is chipmaking’s near-X-ray printer: a CO₂ laser hits tin droplets ~50,000×/sec to make 13.5 nm light, steered by mirrors in high vacuum.
High-NA EUV (NA 0.55) prints ~8 nm details.
One tool: ~100,000 parts; 250+ crates, 43 containers, >150 tons.
EUV is chipmaking’s near-X-ray printer: a CO₂ laser hits tin droplets ~50,000×/sec to make 13.5 nm light, steered by mirrors in high vacuum.
High-NA EUV (NA 0.55) prints ~8 nm details.
One tool: ~100,000 parts; 250+ crates, 43 containers, >150 tons.
December 23, 2025 at 12:12 PM
Only one company builds EUV scanners: ASML.
EUV is chipmaking’s near-X-ray printer: a CO₂ laser hits tin droplets ~50,000×/sec to make 13.5 nm light, steered by mirrors in high vacuum.
High-NA EUV (NA 0.55) prints ~8 nm details.
One tool: ~100,000 parts; 250+ crates, 43 containers, >150 tons.
EUV is chipmaking’s near-X-ray printer: a CO₂ laser hits tin droplets ~50,000×/sec to make 13.5 nm light, steered by mirrors in high vacuum.
High-NA EUV (NA 0.55) prints ~8 nm details.
One tool: ~100,000 parts; 250+ crates, 43 containers, >150 tons.
NASA’s Perseverance uncovered one of Mars most intriguing potential biosignatures: “leopard spot” reaction fronts + organics in a Jezero riverbed rock nicknamed Cheyava Falls. On Earth, similar redox chemistry can involve microbes but geology can mimic it.
December 23, 2025 at 12:09 PM
NASA’s Perseverance uncovered one of Mars most intriguing potential biosignatures: “leopard spot” reaction fronts + organics in a Jezero riverbed rock nicknamed Cheyava Falls. On Earth, similar redox chemistry can involve microbes but geology can mimic it.
New 2025 results from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx samples of asteroid Bennu show sugars used in life. Scientists found ribose, the RNA sugar, and glucose in the pristine rock. Earlier work on the same samples had already found all five DNA and RNA bases plus phosphate.
December 23, 2025 at 12:07 PM
New 2025 results from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx samples of asteroid Bennu show sugars used in life. Scientists found ribose, the RNA sugar, and glucose in the pristine rock. Earlier work on the same samples had already found all five DNA and RNA bases plus phosphate.
Chernobyl’s so called “radiation eating” fungi aren’t sci-fi monsters, but melanin rich species that get a small boost from ionizing radiation and might even inspire future space shields.
December 23, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Chernobyl’s so called “radiation eating” fungi aren’t sci-fi monsters, but melanin rich species that get a small boost from ionizing radiation and might even inspire future space shields.
Fun fact: Earth’s magnetic field is always changing. Magnetic north is sliding across the Arctic toward Siberia and magnetic south also drifts. The magnetic poles are not in the same place as Earth’s geographic poles, so a compass does not point exactly to true north.
December 23, 2025 at 11:12 AM
Fun fact: Earth’s magnetic field is always changing. Magnetic north is sliding across the Arctic toward Siberia and magnetic south also drifts. The magnetic poles are not in the same place as Earth’s geographic poles, so a compass does not point exactly to true north.
New work at the Taş Tepeler sites in Türkiye adds a few clear pieces. Karahan Tepe has a T shaped pillar with a carved human face. Sefertepe has new carved faces and a double faced bead. Göbekli Tepe has a life size human statue built into a wall.
December 23, 2025 at 11:10 AM
New work at the Taş Tepeler sites in Türkiye adds a few clear pieces. Karahan Tepe has a T shaped pillar with a carved human face. Sefertepe has new carved faces and a double faced bead. Göbekli Tepe has a life size human statue built into a wall.
Recent Fermi LAT data analysis detects a gamma-ray halo around the Milky Way, spanning 5,000 light-years beyond the plane. This could stem from dark matter annihilation, matching WIMP models.
December 23, 2025 at 9:30 AM
Recent Fermi LAT data analysis detects a gamma-ray halo around the Milky Way, spanning 5,000 light-years beyond the plane. This could stem from dark matter annihilation, matching WIMP models.
Sun over a year, Moon over a month, Mars looping in retrograde, and birds migrating between seasons.
December 22, 2025 at 11:11 PM
Sun over a year, Moon over a month, Mars looping in retrograde, and birds migrating between seasons.