What Do the Numbers Mean on a Cordless Drill? Cordless tools are great and, unlike their corded counterparts, they have the obvious advantage of freedom from a power cord that can get in the way, become taut when manoeuvring the tool or end up being tripped over. Also you don’t have to be lugging extension leads around. A power…

Experiences of a plagiarist hunter… — Ever since I started writing articles 10 years ago on the HubPages network of sites, I’ve wasted lots of time dealing with plagiarists. I reckon over that period, I’ve dealt with hundreds of instances of people stealing text, photos or infographics and using them without permission in their articles. Possibly…

Various articles about electricity I’ve written for Medium publications — Electricity 101: A Complete Beginner’s Guide in Everyday Science How is Electricity Made and Distributed to Our Homes? in Illumination What’s the Difference Between AC and DC? in Illumination

Approximately the size of a clenched fist and weighing about 9 ounces, the organ that we call the heart is a formidable device. — Every day, it pumps the equivalent of seven IBC containers of oxygenated blood around our bodies, that’s 7000 litres or 1850 US gallons. The human heart is effectively a twin pump system in one organ. Superficially, how it functions is straightforward and easy to understand. One of the left chambers…

Medium has a facility for exporting user data, but there’s a drawback… Backup of Data is Vital Backup of computer data is essential and something we all need to do because digital storage media is so fragile. We can still read medieval books from the 16th century, even if someone dog-eared the pages, tore them…

We have five senses that feed our brain. We perceive the results in full 3D stereophonic format, complete with Tactivision and Smellivision. It can’t be more simple than that? Or can it? Atoms and Molecules: The Building Blocks of Nature Matter is made up of atoms and molecules. Molecules are simply a collection of atoms of different elements…

If you take a snapshot of a subject, you might notice the results are often less than satisfactory. The background can look cluttered, and using the camera flash or even taking photos in bright sunlight usually results in harsh, ugly shadows in the background. Often, too, areas of the object…

Iron is a ubiquitous material, widely used since ancient times for its strength and durability. Its first use was probably for making tools and weapons. The alloy steel, a stronger material, made from a combination of iron, carbon and other elements, was a later discovery. It’s now employed in a…