There's a crucial, and wonderful, distinction between mazes and labyrinths.

A maze is a multi-branching, complex structure with twists, turns, choices, dead-ends and treasure or Triwizard cups in the centre. It's confusing, daunting, exciting, fun, challenging, maybe deadly. A maze heightens awareness, concentration, and your heart rate.

A labyrinth has a single path. One long, twisting, but unwavering path towards the central destination and back out. It's simple, calming, straightforward, reassuring and satisfying. Every step is progress. There are no tough choices to make. No paths, maps or mental models to balance in your head. Nothing to intrude on your thinking, just your next step. A labyrinth gives space for your thoughts, and is calming and peaceful.

If you want adventure and action, find a maze. If you'd like calm and contemplation, find a labyrinth.

No wonder then that walking a labyrinth has been found to reduce stress, increase calm and aid recovery in hospitals and centres for therapy and mental health care. Try tracing your finger over the paths of each to feel the difference. Also see: solvitur ambulando.

The two are based on the hedge maze at Henry VIII's Hampton Court Palace near where we live, and the wonderful Land's End Labyrinth (video) near where we used to live.

The original labyrinth of Crete, of Theseus and the Minotaur fame, was complex and confusing and no doubt not like the labyrinths that have now evolved from it.

Labyrinths and mazes

How do you know which is a Bactrian or a Dromedary camel? Which camel has 1 hump and which camel has two? And how can you remember it?

After sharing my original camel identification sketch a reader shared with me a foolproof way to tell whether you're looking at a Bactrian camel or a Dromedary camel.

The Bactrian camel has 2 humps, just like a B on its side

The Dromedary camel has one hump just like a D on its side

The Bactrian camel is found in central Asia, for instance in the Gobi desert.

The Dromedary camel is generally found in the Middle East and Northern Africa.

You may also like: stalactites or stalagmites, tortoise or turtle, crocodile or alligator, dolphin or porpoise, how to tell a centipede from a millipede

More "what's the difference between" sketches for things that are easily confused.

Bactrian or dromedary camel? Never be confused again

Parachutes, paragliders, hangliders, kitesurfs, parasails or parakites, all fun ways to get around. Here I wanted to show the main differences between each.

I probably should have added wingsuiting.

Know your flying fabrics

What’s the difference? OK, this is not rocket science, but I remember growing up it took me a while to not be calling them interchangeably. There are so many neat hybrid ways to get on the water now that nothing is cut and dry, but if they look like what’s in the picture then you can be pretty confident you’ll be getting it right.

Kayak vs Canoe

How do you remember which are stalactites and stalagmites in a cave? And how to spell them?

The key to getting the whole thing the right way round, in my mind, is to remember that you need to cling tight ("tite") to the ceiling. Once established, you have a letter C in stalactite that fits the cling and ceiling. And stalagmites, with its cheeky G, naturally then is the other one which would grow on the ground. Sorted?

Stalactites, Stalagmites

What's the difference between an americano and a long black coffee? I'd often wondered. Both seemed to be espresso and water.

Not everyone will give you the same answer in a coffee shop if you ask them. But my understanding is the difference between an americano and a long black comes down to the order of adding your water to your espresso — an americano — or adding your espresso to your water — a long black one.

If you’re making your own americanos or long black at home, you may notice that a long black seems to make a more satisfyingly luxurious-looking coffee as it does a better job of preserving the crema on top.

Espresso, filter, americano and the redeye.

Perhaps I should speak to someone about this.

An americano and a long black: the difference

What is the difference between venomous and poisonous?

Venomous animals inject venom through bites, stings and the like. Think snakes, spiders, stingrays…

Poisonous animals poison you if you absorb - perhaps by touching the skin of a poisonous frog - consume - perhaps by eating a poisonous animal - or inhale the poison - perhaps by breathing in some poisonous spores. Think amphibians, plants, fungi…

This sketch, lovingly polished, features in my book Big Ideas Little Pictures

Venomous, poisonous - what’s the difference

A centipede has 1 pair of legs on each body ring, and a millipede has two on most body segments. Hence millipedes will generally have plenty more legs to go round. As far as I know this is fairly foolproof. Though generally speaking there are more obvious ways to tell, such as millipedes looking more like long armoured nice round worms and usually moving slowly, and centipedes zipping around while generally seeming more long-legged and insecty, with longer antennae at the front and longer angled back legs, sometimes with hooks for defence.

If you were offered to pick one of them up, you’d probably pick the millipede.

Also, in case you were tempted to think they are insects, they’re not because insects have six legs. They are arthropods (loosely meaning jointed feet) along with insects, spiders, scorpions and crustaceans, but in their own subphylum of, aptly named, myriapoda (loosely meaning many legs).

Check out core insect anatomy for a sketchplanation insect refresher.

How to tell a centipede from a millipede

What's the difference between a dolphin and a porpoise? It's not always straightforward.

It’s not fullproof (there are a few exceptions) but pretty much these’ll do it for you.

What’s the difference between a dolphin and a porpoise

Pay attention to the jaw, teeth, habitat and location and you’ll be 99%.

What’s the difference between a crocodile and an alligator

If you remember nothing else, remember that tortoises are on land, and turtles are found swimming.

Get my new weekly sketch in your inbox

Category: whats the difference between