#sciencecomics

E-ink displays are super cool screens that look like paper. They don’t shine light into your eyes like phone screens do.

Instead, they use tiny black and white particles that move around using electric signals to form words and images. That’s why they’re easy on the eyes and can be read even in bright sunlight.

The idea came from MIT in the 1990s and became real thanks to a company called E Ink Corporation. These screens became popular through e-readers like the Kindle, giving book lovers a paper-like reading feel without actual paper.

They only use power when changing pages, so battery life lasts for weeks. That’s a huge win for travelers and students.

Now we’ve got color e-ink too! It works by adding color filters on top of the regular e-ink particles. While the colors aren’t super bright like LCDs, they’re perfect for comics, charts, or textbooks. And they still keep the long battery and no-glare benefits.

The best part? E-ink screens are flexible, light, and can even bend. They’re used in smartwatches, price tags in shops, digital signs, and even laptops for eye-friendly reading. New tech is making e-ink displays faster and more colorful every year.

But they do have limits. They refresh slower than normal screens, so no videos or fast scrolling.

And color versions cost more and don’t pop as much. But if you care about battery, your eyes, and a calm screen experience, e-ink is gold.

Ever tried an e-ink gadget? Share your experience or thoughts below, we’d love to hear!

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We’re excited to celebrate the power of science and nonfiction in children’s books for the next few weeks—with First Second’s award-winning series SCIENCE COMICS. Join us for a look inside these books—and interviews with the authors—as we get excited about the wonder of science.

10/23 — Sharp Read—https://sharpread.wordpress.com/ 10/24 — Bluestocking Thinking —  http://bluestockingthinking.blogspot.com/ 10/25 — YA Bibliophile — https://yabibliophile.com/ 10/26 — The Reading Nook Reviews — http://www.bookrookreviews.com/ 10/27 — A to Z Book Reviews — https://zackbarnes1.wordpress.com/ 10/30 — The Roarbots — https://theroarbots.com/ 10/31 — Undeniably Book Nerdy — http://booksandmakeup.blogspot.com/ 11/1 — The Windy Pages — http://thewindypages.com/ 11/2 — Kid Lit Frenzy — http://www.kidlitfrenzy.com/ 11/3 — Ex Libris Kate — http://exlibriskate.com/blog/

Silicon is the king of electronics, but it wasn’t always that way. In the early days, materials like germanium and selenium were used in making transistors and diodes. Germanium was great because it had high conductivity and worked well in early circuits, but it had one big problem—it couldn’t handle high temperatures. Selenium was used in rectifiers, but it wasn’t as efficient as today’s semiconductors. Then came silicon, and it changed everything.

Silicon became the top choice because it has the perfect balance of electrical properties and stability. It’s a semiconductor, meaning it can act as both a conductor and an insulator, depending on how it’s treated. This makes it ideal for transistors, microchips, and other electronic components. One major advantage is its ability to withstand high temperatures, unlike germanium, which breaks down easily when things heat up. Silicon also has a stable crystalline structure, which makes it reliable for long-term use in circuits.

Another big reason for silicon’s dominance is how easy it is to “dope.” Doping is the process of adding tiny amounts of other elements to change how silicon conducts electricity. By adding phosphorus or boron, engineers can create either n-type or p-type silicon, which are essential for making diodes, transistors, and integrated circuits. This precise control over its conductivity is what makes modern electronics possible.

On top of all that, silicon is incredibly abundant. It’s the second most common element in Earth’s crust, found in sand and quartz. This makes it cheap and easy to source compared to rarer materials. Because of this, silicon-based chips are affordable and mass-producible, making electronics available to everyone.

From the first germanium transistors to today’s advanced silicon microprocessors, technology has come a long way. And thanks to silicon, we have everything from smartphones to supercomputers.

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Telescopes are basically light collectors. The bigger the aperture—the part that gathers light—the more you can see. A larger aperture means brighter, sharper images of faraway stars and galaxies.

There are three main types of telescopes: refractors, reflectors, and catadioptrics. Refractors use lenses to bend light, reflectors use mirrors, and catadioptrics mix both. Most big research telescopes today are reflectors, because mirrors are lighter and easier to make large.

Lenses in refractors can get heavy and sag under their own weight, which ruins the image. Mirrors don’t have that problem and only need one surface shaped correctly. Plus, you can support them from the back, making them perfect for massive observatories.

A telescope’s job depends on the type of light it’s designed to catch. Some capture visible light like our eyes do, others detect invisible signals like infrared or ultraviolet. That’s why different telescopes have different shapes and instruments.

Hubble sees mostly in visible and ultraviolet light, so it has a long tube to keep light focused and protected. James Webb, on the other hand, looks at infrared light. Infrared needs a cold telescope, so Webb doesn’t use a tube—it uses a sunshield the size of a tennis court instead.

Ground-based telescopes fight with clouds, light pollution, and the atmosphere itself. Space telescopes like Hubble and Webb avoid all that, giving us clear views of the universe. That’s why putting them in orbit makes such a huge difference.

From Galileo’s tiny spyglass to today’s billion-dollar observatories, telescopes have completely changed how we see the cosmos. Let’s keep the curiosity alive—what’s your favorite space telescope and why? Drop your thoughts below, follow us for more, and check the link in bio for free ebooks on the space shuttle, ISS, Falcon 9, and rocket propellants.

Back in the early days, computers weren’t small or smart. They were massive machines filled with vacuum tubes, glowing like old TV sets and taking up entire rooms. These tubes controlled electricity but got hot, broke often, and used tons of power.

Then came the game-changer: the transistor. Invented in 1947, it replaced vacuum tubes with a tiny, solid-state switch. Computers became faster, more reliable, and way smaller—this was the real start of the digital age.

Before hard drives and flash memory, data lived on punch cards. Programs were written using holes in stacks of stiff paper. One wrong punch and the whole program could crash. It was precise, painful, and totally normal back then.

In the 1970s, things took a fun turn. The Altair 8800 came out—a tiny metal box with switches and blinking lights. It wasn’t pretty, but it got hobbyists excited and even inspired Bill Gates to write BASIC for it.

Then came the Apple II in 1977. It had color graphics, sound, and was actually easy to use. Suddenly, computers weren’t just lab toys—they became part of people’s homes.

Microprocessors made all of this possible. The Intel 4004 kicked it off in 1971, packing thousands of transistors into a chip the size of a fingernail. Today, chips have billions, running everything from watches to cars.

Unix also quietly changed the game. It introduced command lines, file systems, and multitasking—laying the foundation for macOS, Linux, and even Android.

Now, we’re entering the age of quantum computers. These machines don’t just crunch numbers—they play with probability and parallel worlds. The future of computing might not be just faster, but weirder and way more powerful.

What do you think the future of computers looks like? Let’s talk—drop your thoughts below and follow us for more daily learning. And don’t forget to check the link in bio for free ebooks on the space shuttle, ISS, Falcon 9, and rocket propellants.