Physics

Sonoluminescence: When sound makes light

Under certain circumstances, sound waves can generate light. Find out which circumstances, explore the debate about how the phenomenon works, and learn how to make your own sonoluminescence generator. The first instances of sonoluminescence were documented in the mid-nineteen-thirties, when scientists experimenting with naval sonar noticed that sound waves, when traveling through water, could sometimes…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Jun 4

What would it sound like to be inside the Big Bang?

The hottest material ever created in the laboratory makes an eerie drone. A similar sound may have pervaded the universe just after the big bang, when space was a seething cauldron of matter. The lab-made material was created at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider in Upton, New York. The particle smasher slams gold ions together,…

io9 Rachel Courtland - New Scientist Jun 3

Only math can prevent forest fires

Why does smoke from cigarettes, smokestacks, and volcanoes rise in a straight line before spreading out into a billowing cloud? And how does this help Forest Service workers spot wildfires early? Although most people have seen the way smoke moves, it’s mostly one of those visible-but-invisible physics phenomena. Once people have seen it a certain…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Jun 3

Are there phenomena in the universe that will always be beyond human comprehension?

Just after we linked to the Physics and Cake blog’s post about whether there might be a “ceiling” in the level of theoretical physics that humans can understand, Reith Lecturer Martin Rees wrote an essay for the London Times, explaining the first of his Reith Lectures. And Rees does believe that there may be intrinsic…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders Jun 1

What will physics research look like after the Singularity?

Over at the Physics And Cake blog, there’s a great discussion of exactly how machines will replace theoretical physicists, with their only goal being to create a perfect model of the universe, and no ego at stake. I feel that the best way to do Physics is to build machines to do Physics for us……

io9 Charlie Jane Anders Jun 1

Ask a Physicist: Could you survive a trip to the nearest star?

Could we travel to the nearest stars in a human lifetime? Yes. If we could harness the full power of the sun, it would be far less unpleasant than you think. Welcome to this week’s “Ask A Physicist” column. Before we get started, I wanted to put out a special request. A few recent questions…

io9 Dr. Dave Goldberg May 31

Why is it colder at high altitudes?

High altitudes are closer to the sun, which means that they should be slightly warmer. Furthermore, the moisture from clouds should keep these altitudes at an even temperature. So why do airplanes need heating systems and mountain climbers get frozen? Most people will recognize, when reading the above paragraph, that a few thousand feet closer…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell May 29

“Dear Sir, My Brother Was Telling Me About The Large Hardon Collider…”

This is a letter received by the Institute of Physics in regards to the Large Hadron Collider. Oh, to see things through the innocent eyes of childhood again. [TwitPic via Geeks Are Sexy]

Physics & Chemistry Rosa Golijan May 28

Negative Mass: The Nuttiest Thing Never Seen

Negative mass has never been observed and most likely never will be observed. However, if it were, you would be able to ride it to work one day. Negative mass sounds like a cover band that plays Antimatter tunes. The rip off of the name is unmistakable and potentially confusing. Both concepts pair an existing,…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell May 28

How fast do electrons move through power cables?

Electrons may not be the only movers and shakers among subatomic particles, but they do power the modern world. How much work do they actually do, and how fast are they? The answer is more complicated than it seems. For one thing, electric current doesn’t always flow. Sometimes it just . . . jiggles. (There…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell May 27

Check out tin-132, the double magic isotope

Physics has seven magic numbers. An atom with a magic number of protons or neutrons is super stable. When both the protons and neutrons are magic, that’s a double magic atom. There are only six of them. Until now. The seven magic numbers are 2, 8, 20, 28, 50, 82, and 126. They are the…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins May 26

The Complexity of Fluid Dynamics In Slow Motion

There’s a lot of complex math equations that describe the interaction between fluids and masses of lipids wrapped in keratinocytes, melanocytes, Langerhans cells and Merkels cells in the presence of gravity. This video doesn’t solve any of them. [Gawker TV] http://tv.gawker.com/5548392/the-beauty-of-slow-motion-hd-photography

Physics & Chemistry Jesus Diaz May 26

What are white holes?

There are any number of jokes to be made here. All of them are inappropriate. Suffice it to say that white holes are a possible product of black holes, and they might show us what other universes look like. The idea that scientist could get a peek at matter from other universes – or other…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell May 23

What is St. Elmo’s Fire?

We’re all thinking of the movie. It can’t be helped. Just look at the picture once; then we’ll move on to the meteorological phenomenon and pretend that the movie never happened. Except for the song. Love that song. Saint Elmo was the patron saint of sailors. He was thrown into a pit of vipers by…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell May 21

How does sugar explode?

It seems that there are limitless ways that sugar can kill people. Not content to limit itself to slow murder due to caloric intake, it has branched out into sudden, violent death. Find out how and why sugar can explode. Sugar burns. This fact has caused pain to anyone who has ruined a cake by…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell May 20

Black holes and xenon accelerators you’ll want to hang on your walls

This may look like a new promo pic from Tron Legacy, but it’s actually the winning image in Princeton University’s “Art of Science” competition. Physics doesn’t just explain the most awesome phenomena in the universe — it also creates art. The above image is called “Xenon Plasma Accelerator,” by Jerry Ross, a researcher at Princeton’s…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders May 20

Scientists discover how matter kicked antimatter’s ass in the ancient universe

Immediately after the Big Bang, the earliest elementary particles fought for supremacy, with matter emerging victorious over antimatter. Exactly how that happened, though, had remained mysterious until now, as new data suggest a particular particle was key to matter’s success. One of the fundamental mysteries of the universe is why matter came to dominate antimatter,…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins May 20

Ask a Physicist: Would a gravitron work in deep space?

In this week’s “Ask a Physicist” we tackle the question of whether you could spin yourself nauseous if the universe really were empty, and why so many scifi writers get artificial gravity wrong. Welcome to the first of our new bimonthly “Ask a Physicist” column. All told, I’ve received over 150 questions from curious readers…

io9 Dr. Dave Goldberg May 18

The Big Bang Will Be Televised

Or, more precisely, the Big Bang is being televised. Find out what station to turn to in order to see the last vestiges of the glorious birth off all that is or ever will be. When Lost isn’t on. Fourteen billion years ago, everything in the universe was contained in the size of a single…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell May 16

The Physics of Futurama

You might think that Futurama’s an unlikely place to find a grab bag of graduate-level physics, but in an excellent new interview with the American Physical Society, creator David X. Cohen says viewers of his show will find just that. The lengthy, awesome interview, which will be published in the next APS journal, details how…

Physics & Chemistry Kyle VanHemert May 15

Sonoluminescence: When sound makes light

What would it sound like to be inside the Big Bang?

Only math can prevent forest fires

Are there phenomena in the universe that will always be beyond human comprehension?

What will physics research look like after the Singularity?

Ask a Physicist: Could you survive a trip to the nearest star?

Why is it colder at high altitudes?

“Dear Sir, My Brother Was Telling Me About The Large Hardon Collider…”

Negative Mass: The Nuttiest Thing Never Seen

How fast do electrons move through power cables?

Check out tin-132, the double magic isotope

The Complexity of Fluid Dynamics In Slow Motion

What are white holes?

What is St. Elmo’s Fire?

How does sugar explode?

Black holes and xenon accelerators you’ll want to hang on your walls

Scientists discover how matter kicked antimatter’s ass in the ancient universe

Ask a Physicist: Would a gravitron work in deep space?

The Big Bang Will Be Televised

The Physics of Futurama

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