Category Archives: Physics

Is Cold the New Hot?

Posted on April 17, 2013 by ibrahim2016

Yes. A few days back, a friend shared an article with me. It talked of how scientists had managed to achieve temperatures below absolute zero. Does it mean that temperature has to be redefined? Has our understanding of thermodynamics been flawed for the past hundred years. No, it turns out. It is all a matter […] Continue reading →

Posted in Physics, Science | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Is Cold the New Hot?

Gravitational Slingshots

Posted on April 10, 2013 by ibrahim2016

I always wondered why doesn’t the sun slow space probes down when they are leaving the Earth for outer planets. Isn’t there a risk that the probe might change its trajectory and fall into the sun? There is. You see, the more distant the space probe gets from the Sun, the more potential energy it […] Continue reading →

Posted in Physics, Science | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Gravitational Slingshots

Protoplanet Publicity

Posted on April 10, 2013 by burnspress

Scientists have located what they believe to be the first direct observation of a planet forming in its stellar womb of gas and dust. Using ESO’s Very Large Telescope, Sascha Quanz and an international team of scientists has been studying the young star HD 100546 and its surrounding gas. They were surprised when they spotted […] Continue reading →

Posted in Exoplanets, Physics | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Protoplanet Publicity

Binary (Double Star) Systems

Posted on April 10, 2013 by marknshirleyvu

If you’ve ever seen any kind of sci-fi movie, I’m sure you’ve seen an example of a binary star system.  Countless space movies (most notably Star Wars) feature an alien sky with more than one Sun.  While the effect is usually dramatized in film, these binary star systems are in fact very real. A binary […] Continue reading →

Posted in Observables, Physics, Stars | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Binary (Double Star) Systems

Neutrinos and Other Strange Things in Space

Posted on April 9, 2013 by mirandaskunz

An article on SPACE.com lists the “Top 10 Strangest Things in Space” including antimatter, exoplanets, quasars, and many others. I thought this list gave a very interesting overview (and cool pictures) of these more cutting-edge areas of astronomical research. It also explained why the existence of these things are significant. For example, galactic cannibalism may […] Continue reading →

Posted in Physics, Universe | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Neutrinos and Other Strange Things in Space

A Black Hole’s Diet

Posted on April 7, 2013 by wherrysg

Source Incredible! While studying a distant galaxy, astronomers noticed a bright flare of X-rays coming from another galaxy that happened to be in their field of view. Upon closer look, they discovered that it was actually a black hole ‘eating up’ what they believe to be either an extremely large planet or a smaller brown […] Continue reading →

Posted in Physics, Space Travel, Stars | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on A Black Hole’s Diet

Quantum What?

Posted on March 20, 2013 by zvgio

The Sun is really hot, yeah we all know that. We also know that all of this heat is produced by the fusion of hydrogen into helium in the core. However, did you know that the temperature required to produce fusion here on Earth (100 million K)  is much greater than the temperatures present in […] Continue reading →

Posted in Class, Physics, Sun | Tagged , | Comments Off on Quantum What?

Radioactive

Posted on March 20, 2013 by williamrmccormick

Many people hear the word radioactive and immediately think of either radiation from nuclear power plants or bombs, or they think of turning into a superhero. So they generally associate the idea of radiation and humans as an always negative thing. However, what they may not realize is that the human body itself emits radiation. […] Continue reading →

Posted in Physics | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Radioactive

Space Travellers

Posted on March 20, 2013 by burnspress

The greatest barrier to human exploration of space is undoubtedly the vast distances and time lengths required to travel from one stellar body to the next. This post will outline some potential modes of interstellar propulsion: Magnetoplasmadynamic (MPD) Thrusters As described by NASA, MPD thrusters are the most powerful form of electromagnetic propulsion. They use […] Continue reading →

Posted in Physics, Space Travel | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Space Travellers

So, what exactly is the Higgs Boson?

Posted on March 19, 2013 by fathomingthestars

Now, I’m not going to pretend that I know as much about the now famous Higgs Boson as the scientists at CERN, but I do have a conceptual understanding of what it is and why it is important.  The Higgs Boson used to the only piece of the standard model of particle physics that we […] Continue reading →

Posted in Physics | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on So, what exactly is the Higgs Boson?