Monthly Archives: February 2019

Transgressing the Boundaries: A Look at the Sokal Affair

Posted on February 11, 2019 by jpeilbert

I’ve been lucky to be able to study across very different academic fields in my undergraduate curriculum. This breadth of academic focus has made apparent to me the differences between how scholars in certain fields practice their craft. These differences contribute to the not-so-friendly rivalry between the so-called ‘hard’ sciences (physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, etc.) … Continue reading Transgressing the Boundaries: A Look at the Sokal Affair → Continue reading →

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Retrograde Motion simplified.

Posted on February 11, 2019 by alfredprah

The path of Mars, as viewed from the Earth.          Retrograde motion is the apparent backward motion of a planet caused by its being lapped by another planet, or vice-versa.1  These two planets are usually on two different orbits, a larger one and a smaller one, and they move around the sun … Continue reading Retrograde Motion simplified. → Continue reading →

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Antipodal Tides

Posted on February 11, 2019 by peytonbrown4560

It makes sense that the tide comes in as the Moon approaches that side of the Earth. The gravitational pull attracts the water away from the Earth. It would seem them that logically a low tide would happen at a location farthest from the Moon. But that is not the case. image link In the … Continue reading Antipodal Tides Continue reading →

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Why is the Sky Blue?

Posted on February 11, 2019 by JSpin

Some Background In the image above, a beam of light passes through a medium. The medium slows down the light and causes it to refract. And the degree of refraction is dependent on the wavelength of light: shorter wavelength light will slow down more and therefore have a greater angle of refraction. See Cauchy’s equation … Continue reading Why is the Sky Blue? → Continue reading →

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Archeoastronomy

Posted on February 10, 2019 by haivilo

Archeoastronomy is the study of how ancient civilizations understood astronomy. It examines past people’s cultures, religions, and lore and observes how it affected their art and architecture. There are many examples of this throughout history and through archeoastronomy, we can learn about the development of astronomical thought around the world. (Source) Archeoastronomy was developed through … Continue reading Archeoastronomy → Continue reading →

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Shaving for Science – the Principle of Occam’s Razor

Posted on February 10, 2019 by epiphany9

One of the most crucial aspects of the Scientific Method is finding a model that fits observational data. However, what happens when multiple models fit our observations equally well? Which one do we choose? Here is where Occam’s Razor comes in. This principle states that we should generally choose the simplest model in such situations. […] Continue reading →

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Newton’s Law of Gravitation and General Relativity

Posted on February 10, 2019 by richardficek

Isaac Newton’s law of universal gravitation first appeared in the Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica in July 1687. It describes why that apple fell on Newton’s head (as some stories would have it), why we stay rooted to the ground (without drifting off into space), and why the Earth is locked in orbit around the Sun (among … Continue reading Newton’s Law of Gravitation and General Relativity → Continue reading →

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Yep, Physics Works. – Blog2

Posted on February 10, 2019 by michaelfung1661

Physics is all around us in our daily lives, it’s the reason things…are the way they are. The reason we get from point A to point B and exist on this Earth the way we do. And yet some people don’t buy it, and it drives certain professors to use this demonstration: While entertaining, it … Continue reading Yep, Physics Works. – Blog2 → Continue reading →

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Blog #2: Special Relativity

Posted on February 10, 2019 by Katie

Albert Einstein was one of the most influential thinkers regarding the fabric of the universe. Einstein’s major contribution to modern physics was his theory of relativity. The first part of this revolutionary idea was his special theory of relativity. Published in 1905, it established two major points: the laws of physics are the same in … Continue reading Blog #2: Special Relativity → Continue reading →

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Tidal Forces and Black Holes

Posted on February 10, 2019 by Campbell Flower

Tidal forces on Earth are caused by the uneven gravitational pull from the moon (and less from the sun) on opposite sides of the planet. But what are tidal forces like for objects near a black hole, a celestial object we are unable to see or explore? The information scientists have collected on black holes … Continue reading Tidal Forces and Black Holes → Continue reading →

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