Physics

Superheated Steel Balls Make Water Boil Without Bubbles

This is really cool. Scientists have found a way to make water boil without causing any bubbles. How? Drop some superheated, nanoparticle-coated steel into the water. The phenomenon is based on something called the Leidenfrost effect. That’s where water coming in contact with a super hot substance will form a layer of vapor between it…

Physics & Chemistry Kyle Wagner Sep 13

At last, the field of physics has its own version of the urban legend

Ever heard the one about the barometer? It’s a famous physics urban legend that has been attributed to everyone from a cheeky student at MIT to Niels Bohr himself. It’s about creativity, problem solving ability, and good, old-fashioned sass. You decide whether it actually really happened! It goes like this: An instructor administering an exam…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Sep 13

How to clean up oil spills using magnets

Oh, ferrofluids, is there anything you can’t do? Researchers led by MIT’s Markus Zahn have devised a technique for separating oil from water. Using magnets. Tiny, tiny magnets that temporarily transform polluting oil into a magnetically manipulable ferrofluid. Zahn and his team say that after separating the oil from the water, the magnetic nanoparticles themselves…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Sep 12

The Higgs Boson Discovery Is Now Real Science

In July, scientists announced that they’d discovered what they strongly suspected to be the Higgs Boson, a particle that’s believed to be the key to unifying the standard and quantum models of physics. In August more experiments made the finding more certain—and now, the results have been peer-reviewed and published, making them, for want of…

Physics & Chemistry Jamie Condliffe Sep 11

Shortest-Ever Laser Pulses Can Image Electrons Orbiting Atoms

A team of scientists has smashed the record for the shortest-ever laser pulse, producing one that lasts just 67 billionths of a billionth of a second—which is short enough to use it to image individual electrons orbiting the nuclei of atoms. The team of researchers, from the University of Central Florida, has built on technology…

Physics & Chemistry Jamie Condliffe Sep 6

How To Simulate the Universe On Your Laptop

The universe is a huge, complex, beautiful-yet-terrifying place, and we’ve spent a lot of time studying it. While some of the more complex models of the universe call for super-computers and tons of processor power, MinutePhysics has one you can run on your laptop. Sure it’s not the most accurate model of the universe there…

Space & Spaceflight Eric Limer Sep 2

Weekend Experiment: How to set an invisible trap for soap bubbles

Like most people, you probably spent a portion of your childhood with a bubble wand in your hand. And you probably know that bubbles are mercurial little guys — always zooming away and popping when you catch them. But there’s little way to trap them without popping them. With carbon dioxide and a little practice,…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Aug 31

The physics of fire rainbows

Sometimes clouds take on rainbow colors – hazy greens and reds. Fire rainbows are the turbo-charged versions of that. They’re rainbows that seems to be turned into wispy clouds, making them look like sky fires. Although fire rainbows are rare, the physics behind them is pretty simple. Fire rainbows are very, very cool looking. They’re…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Aug 31

This is how you fill a water bottle with fire

Need a cure for Thursday morning yuck? How about watching someone fill a water cooler bottle with a burst of flame? In slow motion? This is a quick experiment that you can do at home. By that, I mean it is physically possible to do at home, not that it is actually a good idea…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Aug 30

Guns in Space, and How to Kill Our Sun

MinutePhysics showed us what would happen if the Earth were hollow, but that was just one part of the nerdy YouTube channel tag team this weekend. Here’s the other half, wherein we learn how big a gun you’d need for the bullet to orbit the moon and hit you in the back of the head,…

Physics & Chemistry Kyle Wagner Aug 27

What would happen if everyone on Earth jumped at exactly the same time?

If everyone on Earth stood shoulder-to-shoulder, they would occupy an area roughly the size of Los Angeles — about 500 square miles. Now imagine if every single one of them jumped. Together. All at the same time. What would happen? The answer? Basically squat. Humans — even in exceptionally large numbers — are small fry…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Aug 25

Why is NASA studying the Tears of Wine?

The Tears of Wine are the most famous manifestation of the Marangoni Effect. This is a physical phenomenon that was first discovered in the 1800s and is still being investigated by space agencies. Why? I’m guessing because there is wine involved. Images by John W.M. Bush/MIT, via RedOrbit. Chances are that you’ve had wine at…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Aug 24

Disguising Physics in a Pretty Pop Tune Is a Great Way to Make People Care About Physics

When all else fails, turning to the most popular song of the year is a great way to make people care about whatever your’re trying to tell them. In this case, the convoluted science of the Higgs Boson—aka the “God particle”—is made infinitely more palatable when sung to the tune of Adele’s multi-platinum best-seller “Rolling…

Physics & Chemistry Molly Oswaks Aug 24

The world’s first looping roller coasters were basically torture devices

The early days of theme parks were rife with ambitious mechanical amusements…and minimal safety concerns. In fact, the one of the first inverted roller coasters, The Flip-Flap Railway, attracted thrill seekers in the late 1890s thanks to its 25-foot, circular loop-de-loop. And despite the neck injuries this whiplash device inflicted upon passengers, the ride managed…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar Aug 23

Watch as clouds convince you that you’re underwater

When you look at this film you know what lobsters must feel like. Looking at the sky above this golf course you can see the clouds literally roll over the sky like ocean waves. What causes these incredible waves to move across the sky? These crazy rolling waves should be enough to convince people that…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Aug 23

10 Myths About Space Travel That Make Science Fiction Better

We all love to point out the ridiculous bad physics in science fiction — it’s like an awesome sport that everybody wins. (Except physics.) But the truth is, sometimes you have to violate the laws of physics to create science fiction stories that people want to watch. We asked six great physicists to name their…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders Aug 22

Why “shock diamonds” shoot out of jets and space shuttles

When you see what look like strobe lights shooting out behind a jet or a space shuttle, blame it on our old friend physics. Those lights called are shock diamonds, or mach disks. Sometimes they look like puffs of compressed smoke behind aircraft. At other times, they look more like glowing disks or diamonds popping…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Aug 20

How is a shark like a golf ball?

They both cause a lot of trouble in the ocean? It’s unhealthy to be hit on the head with either one? I’d do my best to whack either one away from me with a golf club? All true. But also, they both have surfaces designed to take advantage of physics. Oh, there are so many…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Aug 19

What Would Happen If Everyone On Earth Jumped At the Same Time?

We’re sending rovers to Mars to try and figure out our place in the universe, but what about our place on Earth? Sure, Earth is a big place, but you might be surprised exactly how insignificant we all are in contrast with its mammoth mass. So what would happen if everyone on the planet got…

Physics & Chemistry Eric Limer Aug 19

“Fur particle tracking” reveals the mystery of the wet-dog shake

When a dog gets wet, what does it do? Answer: it shakes, and very efficiently — a large, soggy dog can shed as much as 70% of the water in its fur in just four seconds. But mammals of all shapes and sizes employ the quick-shake tactic to dry themselves. Now, a team of researchers…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Aug 15

Superheated Steel Balls Make Water Boil Without Bubbles

At last, the field of physics has its own version of the urban legend

How to clean up oil spills using magnets

The Higgs Boson Discovery Is Now Real Science

Shortest-Ever Laser Pulses Can Image Electrons Orbiting Atoms

How To Simulate the Universe On Your Laptop

Weekend Experiment: How to set an invisible trap for soap bubbles

The physics of fire rainbows

This is how you fill a water bottle with fire

Guns in Space, and How to Kill Our Sun

What would happen if everyone on Earth jumped at exactly the same time?

Why is NASA studying the Tears of Wine?

Disguising Physics in a Pretty Pop Tune Is a Great Way to Make People Care About Physics

The world’s first looping roller coasters were basically torture devices

Watch as clouds convince you that you’re underwater

10 Myths About Space Travel That Make Science Fiction Better

Why “shock diamonds” shoot out of jets and space shuttles

How is a shark like a golf ball?

What Would Happen If Everyone On Earth Jumped At the Same Time?

“Fur particle tracking” reveals the mystery of the wet-dog shake

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