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Christmas Science

Santa Claus, reindeer, snowflakes and trees - what does it all have to do with history, mathematics, physics and chaos theory?

Posted by Tormod Guldvog
19 December, 2006 05:12:56

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Christmas may not feel like the most scientific of all seasons, but for the science-minded among us there are more issues to contemplate than you might think.

For example, when did we start chopping down trees to put in our living room? Why do scientists claim that Christmas actually is in September? How can a snowflake have an endless boundary? And what is Santa doing to prepare his business for extraplanetary settlements? It is all covered in our special Christmas hypography.

For the fifth year running, here is our very special Christmas Science hypography! For new readers, I hope it brings some joy - for old readers, there should still be a bit of fun to get from this. Feel free to recommend new links!

We also have a Christmas Quiz which will test your knowledge about the event!

And here's from the Hypography editors to all of you: Merry Christmas!

Related Links

NORAD tracks Santa
http://www.noradsanta.org/
A fun and informative website from NORAD about how they use military intelligence and advanced satellite technology to track Santa Claus' movements around the globe during Christmas

Koch Snowflake
http://www.math.hmc.edu/funfacts/ffiles/20006.3.shtml
A Koch snowflake is a shape which has an unlimited boundary! It is a fractal wonder, indeed.

Santa's Science
http://www.firstscience.com/site/articles/christmas.asp
This article presents some of the challenges Santa Claus faces on a traditional Christmas trip around the world.

Christmas Facts
http://www.didyouknow.cd/xmas/xmas.htm
Get your Christmas Facts sorted with this useful list - ranging from best-selling records to explanations of some of the more unclear dates of the season.

Christmas in September
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_242000/242002.stm
An article from BBC which explains how scientists found out that Christmas should really be celebrated in September.

Interplanetary Christmas
http://science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/ast24dec98_1.htm
NASA has interviewed Santa about how he plans to keep working when humans populate other planets.

Christmas Science Jokes
http://www.xs4all.nl/~jcdverha/scijokes/Christmas.html
A bit on the nerdy side, this page has a list of science jokes related to Christmas.

The History of Santa Claus
http://www.northpolesantaclaus.com/santahistory.htm
Ho, ho. Find out how Santa Claus became one of the most famous inhabitants of the northern hemisphere.

How Christmas Works
http://www.howstuffworks.com/christmas.htm
This is a great page by HowStuffWorks.com, which should cover most questions you might have about Christmas.

The Myth of Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
http://www.snopes2.com/holidays/christmas/rudolph.asp
An interesting text about how Rudolph came into existence.

History of the Christmas tree
http://www.christmas-tree.com/where.html
Ever wondered where the Christmas tree tradition originated? Here are a couple of versions of the history.

ChristmasGifts.org
http://www.christmasgifts.org
A site with nice, flashy, Christmas-y graphics and short but interesting information about Christmas celebrations in the different parts of US and UK. Has games, e-cards, and a gift store