The Friday Five

Highlighting some of the coolest science news we’ve seen lately.

1. The mystery behind Death Valley's 'Wandering Stones' appears to have finally been solved. For decades scientists have debated why hundreds of rocks move across Racetrack Playa, leaving trails behind them. Read this and/or watch the video below to see how this happens.

2. We’ve recently covered some of the things that alcohol does to your brain in this post. Here is a short video that not only addresses the question, “Does alcohol kill brain cells?”, but also explains where this notion originated. Cheers!

3. Now that we know what alcohol does, how about coffee? What does coffee do to the brain? AsapSCIENCE is here to explain in this short video.

4. Economist Richard Reeves uses Legos to demonstrate the chances of upward mobility in America.

5. Richard Feynman’s famous lectures are now available for free here. Go learn some physics from the master who had a knack for making complex principles understandable and entertaining.

Science quote of the week:

“Science is the great antidote to the poison of enthusiasm and superstition.” –Adam Smith

Contributed by:  Bill Sullivan

Follow Bill on Twitter: @wjsullivan

Norris, R., Norris, J., Lorenz, R., Ray, J., & Jackson, B. (2014). Sliding Rocks on Racetrack Playa, Death Valley National Park: First Observation of Rocks in Motion PLoS ONE, 9 (8) DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0105948