The Physics Behind Why Sausages Split Lengthwise

The Physics Behind Why Sausages Split Lengthwise

I like sausages. I like grilled sausages. I like fried sausages. I like beef, pork and chicken sausages. I even like vegetarian sausages. Sometimes when you cook sausages, they burst. This occasionally happens if you try and cook them too fast. It can also happen if the brand of sausage you are cooking is overly generous with their filling.

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How Credit Card Numbers Work

How Credit Card Numbers Work

Most of us carry credit cards and ATM cards. These, typically, have sixteen digits on the front. These digits are the unique account number for the card. For obvious reasons, just any sixteen digits will not work, they follow pattern.

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Our Best Explainers of 2013

Our Best Explainers of 2013

From death by micrometeorite to living without gluten, Gizmodo has explored more than 50 everyday scientific mysteries throughout this year. Here are our ten best.

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Why We Need to Sleep So Much

One of the universal truths for most humans who appreciate things like comfort and relaxation and a collection of soft feathers and enveloping warmth and rejuvenation is that we love our sleep. It makes us feel good! And sure it wastes a lot of time but we feel like crap when we don’t have enough of it. And beyond feeling good, we sort of need it. But why do we need it? Why is it that we can die faster from lack of sleep than lack of food? Scishow explains the science behind sleep. [Scishow]

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Xi3 Piston: Why You Should Stay Away From The Not-Steam-Box

Xi3 Piston: Why You Should Stay Away From The Not-Steam-Box

It’s not a Steam Box, but they want us to believe it is: Xi3’s Piston might be the most confusing product in gaming this year, thanks to some muddled messaging and a deal with Valve that never went anywhere.

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10 Common Tech Questions (and Their High Tech Explanations)

10 Common Tech Questions (and Their High Tech Explanations)

There are certain problems we all deal with every day, but don’t know why. Why do I need to keep resetting my router? Do I have a virus? What happens when a site I use gets "hacked?" Whether you’re the tech-savvy friend that’s always answering these questions or the friend doing the asking, here are the answers to the most common conundrums.

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