Biology / Computing / Earth & Space / Economics / Engineering / Food Science / History / Language / Maths / Mind / Music & Sound / Physics
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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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Why fair coin flips end with one person owning almost everything: the yard-sale model of wealth
Give 60 people 100 coins each and let them trade by fair coin flips, with the stake a fixed share of the poorer…
Why a microwave leaves cold spots: a standing wave 12.2 cm long, and a chocolate bar that measures the speed of light
Microwave ovens fill a metal box with radio waves 12.2 cm long. The waves bounce off the walls and add up into a…
Why a skater spins faster when she pulls her arms in: angular momentum and r squared
A skater starts a slow spin with her arms wide, pulls them in, and blurs into a fast spin with no push from anything…
Why an elephant doesn't eat 200,000 times more than a mouse: Kleiber's three-quarter law
A mouse is 200,000 times lighter than an elephant, yet the elephant burns only about 9,000 times more energy. In 1932…
Why Egyptians poured water on sand: the wet-sand trick for dragging giant stones
A wall painting in an Egyptian tomb shows 172 men hauling a colossal statue on a sledge, while one man pours water onto…
Why no walk can cross all seven bridges of Königsberg once: Euler's odd-places rule
Seven bridges, two islands, two river banks: in 1700s Königsberg nobody could find a walk crossing each bridge exactly…
Categories
01
BiologyCells, bodies, evolution and everything that grows.
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02
ComputingThe ideas inside the machines we use all day.
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Earth & SpacePlanets, weather, oceans and the sky above them.
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04
EconomicsPrices, incentives and why markets do what they do.
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05
EngineeringHow things are built, and why they don't fall down.
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Food ScienceThe chemistry happening in your kitchen.
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HistoryThe decisions, accidents and people that shaped now.
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08
LanguageWords, grammar and how people make meaning.
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MathsPatterns, chance and the numbers hiding in everyday things.
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10
MindPsychology, perception and the quirks of the brain.
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Music & SoundVibrations, harmony and why some sounds feel right.
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PhysicsForces, light, time and the odd behaviour of the very small.
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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.