The end of the year is fast approaching and us here at PhysicsBuzz went back through all our posts of the last year and pulled out our biggest hits of 2011.
10) Uncovering Da Vinci's Rule of the Trees: Scientists test Leonardo Da Vinci's rule that a tree branch splits into two limbs of combined equal thickness, and it turns out the original Renascence Man was right!
9) Newsflash: Tachyon Neutrinos Could be the Discovery of the Century: CERN reports that they have evidence of neutrinos traveling faster than the speed of light, supposedly breaking the cosmic speed limit.
8) Folding paper: How hard can it be?: Pretty hard it turns out. A team of high school students set a new record for folding a 13,000 foot long piece of toilet paper 13 times.
7) Physics "apparatus" shuts down Omaha airport (Oops.): An attendee at the meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers carried a device in his carry-on luggage that prompted a security scare. Check out our followup post to see what it was.
6) How does an Earthquake in Japan cause a Tsunami in Hawaii?: After the devastating earthquake and tsunami struck Japan, we looked at how
5) Solar Bottle SuperHero: A clear plastic bottle filled with water can be a simple yet powerful tool to light up the dark in the houses of developing nations. We give you the physics of how it works.
4) Magnets Might Help Prevent Heart Attacks: Physicists showed that, using the iron naturally in your blood, a powerful magnet can be used as a blood thinner to prevent heart attacks.
3) Another Law of Physics Broken?: Some astronomers claim that the fine structure constant, which governs the strength of electromagnetism, may not be as constant as once thought.
2) The High Water Mark of American Science: The PhysicsBuzz team visited the rusted ruins of what was almost the biggest science experiment in history, the Superconducting Supercollider.
1) Low Water Mark for Physics Buzz Team: Topping our list was our April Fool's day post! No seriously! A week after we ran our SSC post, the Department of Homeland Security came and hauled us away. Hahaha ha?