Plain-English articles on science, history, geography, mathematics, technology and study skills, written for students and checked before publishing.
How to study effectively: seven research-backed techniques, from active recall and spaced repetition to interleaving, with a simple weekly plan.
Read the articleWhy do we have leap years? A solar year is about 365.2422 days, so we add February 29 to keep the calendar in step. See the full leap year rules.
What is pi? It is the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter, about 3.14159. Learn why its digits never end or repeat, and how it is used.
What is artificial intelligence? A plain-English guide to how AI learns from data, the main types, everyday examples, and what it still cannot do.
How many countries are there in the world? Most sources say 195: 193 UN members plus 2 observer states. Here is why the count changes by source.
Why the Magna Carta still matters: what King John agreed to in 1215, which clauses survive, and how it shaped the US Constitution and the rule of law.
Learn how to read the periodic table: atomic number, symbol and mass, what groups and periods mean, and how an element's spot predicts its behavior.
How does gravity work? Every mass pulls on every other mass. Learn Newton's law, Einstein's curved spacetime, tides, orbits and weight in plain English.
How does photosynthesis work? Plants use light, water and carbon dioxide to make glucose and oxygen. See both stages, the equation and key terms.
Why is the sky blue? Air molecules scatter short blue wavelengths of sunlight far more than red. Here is how it works, plus sunsets, clouds and Mars.
