In my recent post about calculating the speed of light, I mentioned Ole Roemer's calculation in 1676. The basic idea uses the orbit of one of Jupiter's moons. The orbital period is constant, but there ...

Swimmer Eric Shanteau placed third in the 200-meter breaststroke at the U.S. Olympic trials with a time of 2:10.05. This gives him an average speed of 1.538 m/s. Of course, this wasn’t his speed the ...

If you enjoyed this article, I’d like to ask for your support. Scientific American has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in ...