Category Archives: Physics

Ocean Worlds of Supercritical Fluid

Posted on April 7, 2023 by Europa

In class, we learned about various categories of exoplanets, including Super-Earths, terrestrials, ice giants, gas giants, and hot Jupiters. One other category that was mentioned was “water worlds,” an ill-defined and not entirely proven category of planets. This category would describe planets that are on the border between terrestrials and ice giants, or terrestrial worlds […] Continue reading →

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Astronaut Bone Density

Posted on April 7, 2023 by Alex Diefenbach

(X-Rays of astronauts in space for extended periods of time: https://images.app.goo.gl/yfa81MRNQ1S5k5UL7) When I was in 6th grade, I participated in a summer engineering competition called Zero Robotics through MIT. The objective was to create a code that would allow for droids aboard the International Space Station (ISS) to take pictures of research targets the most […] Continue reading →

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The Unimaginable Nature of Space-Time

Posted on March 8, 2023 by jackdoyle25

Most depictions of the space-time continuum display it as a two-dimensional plane in three-dimensional space. In such a model, objects make indents in the plane based on their gravity, with more massive objects having larger indents. This model is helpful to display how gravity works, but it doesn’t capture the whole picture. The planar model […] Continue reading →

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Time Dilation and the Theory of Relativity

Posted on March 7, 2023 by Europa

With our totally unrestricted guidelines on Blog 4, I would like to make a bit of a deviation from the content of our course and discuss time dilation and the theory of relativity! When I first learned about time dilation, which refers to the difference in elapsed time as measured by different clocks due to […] Continue reading →

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Don’t Flip Out! Earth’s The Real Chick Magnet

Posted on March 6, 2023 by oilrigatoni

To begin with, some background is necessary. The Earth has a magnetic field surrounding it, which enables our planet to deflect cosmic rays and incoming particles. This in turn protects our atmosphere and allows us to maintain it at a stable temperature and pressure. In essence, it is essential for the maintenance of most life […] Continue reading →

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Will The City of Angels Join The Angels? (Los Angeles Tectonics)

Posted on March 4, 2023 by Alex Diefenbach

Image Source: https://images.app.goo.gl/ndxgiuzkinyLpxyZ8 The media, especially in recent years, has depicted that in the foreseeable future Los Angeles might break off of California and sink into the Pacific Ocean. Not only that but they also allude to the idea that this doomsday for the City of Angels may be completely impromptu as well. It is […] Continue reading →

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The Intersection of Religion and Science: God’s Plan

Posted on March 4, 2023 by Alex Diefenbach

Image Source: https://images.app.goo.gl/ED9iiXG9qQeWhL3K7 Throughout history and into today the theories of religion and science have clashed, however, there is an idea about humanity that is bipartisan. While religion and science typically have different explanations of what may be working to create it, both dispute the existence of a free will. According to the theories of […] Continue reading →

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Dark Matter

Posted on February 27, 2023 by zws42

In studies of galaxies and star clusters, astronomers have found that many of these bodies appear to move in ways that don’t reflect the amount of visible matter in the system. For instance, some galaxies appear to orbit much faster than they should be based on the amount of stuff we can see within them. […] Continue reading →

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Nuclear Fusion

Posted on February 27, 2023 by zws42

Nuclear fusion is the process that powers our sun, as well as all the other stars in the Universe. At the most basic level, nuclear fusion is the combination of two light atomic nuclei to form a heavier one along with a release of energy. This reaction is governed by Einstein’s E=mc^2 equation, where some […] Continue reading →

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The Wave-Particle Duality of Light

Posted on February 13, 2023 by jackdoyle25

In common perception, most things in our universe fall into two fundamental categories: energy and matter. Energy could be electricity, heat, sound waves, or kinetic motion. Matter is generally a descriptor of things made up from atoms, such as planets or stars or humans ourselves. However, looking at these on a more fundamental level, the […] Continue reading →

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