Biology / Computing / Earth & Space / Economics / Engineering / Food Science / History / Language / Maths / Mind / Music & Sound / Physics

Step away.
Come back smarter.

Short, interactive explainers for your break from work. Read one in thirty seconds, dive deeper if you like, then get back to it.

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Biology5 min read Why nearly every species makes sons and daughters in equal numbers: Fisher's grandchildren argument Boys and girls are born in nearly equal numbers, about 105 boys for every 100 girls worldwide, even though one male… History4 min read How a bone tells its own age: carbon-14 and the clock that starts at death Every living thing carries a trace of carbon-14, about one atom in a trillion, topped up with every meal. At death the… Maths4 min read Why a treatment can win in every group and still lose overall: Simpson's paradox Treatment B beats Treatment A overall, yet A wins for small stones and for large stones. That is Simpson's paradox, and… Earth & Space4 min read Why the night sky is dark: Olbers' paradox and the light that hasn't arrived yet Go outside and look between the stars: it's dark. That's strange. In an endless, unchanging universe, every line of… Language4 min read Why a language gets grammar when nobody designs it: the iterated-learning experiment How does a language get grammar when nobody designs it? In a 2008 experiment, volunteers learned an alien language of… Music & Sound4 min read Why a CD takes 44,100 snapshots a second: Nyquist and the tone that folds back A CD stores music as 44,100 numbers a second, with nothing in between. Sample more than twice as fast as the highest…

Categories

01 BiologyCells, bodies, evolution and everything that grows. 15 breaks 02 ComputingThe ideas inside the machines we use all day. 13 breaks 03 Earth & SpacePlanets, weather, oceans and the sky above them. 14 breaks 04 EconomicsPrices, incentives and why markets do what they do. 13 breaks 05 EngineeringHow things are built, and why they don't fall down. 13 breaks 06 Food ScienceThe chemistry happening in your kitchen. 14 breaks 07 HistoryThe decisions, accidents and people that shaped now. 15 breaks 08 LanguageWords, grammar and how people make meaning. 14 breaks 09 MathsPatterns, chance and the numbers hiding in everyday things. 13 breaks 10 MindPsychology, perception and the quirks of the brain. 13 breaks 11 Music & SoundVibrations, harmony and why some sounds feel right. 14 breaks 12 PhysicsForces, light, time and the odd behaviour of the very small. 14 breaks

How it works

30 Second Break is a collection of short explainers for curious people of every age. Each break is one idea you can read in thirty seconds, with an optional deep dive that has its own interactive design.

01
Pick a topic
Browse by category, or hit Random.
02
Read for 30 seconds
Go deeper if you have a few more minutes.
03
Back to work
One thing smarter than before.