Tag: physics

Total Eclipse

  A friend invited others to her parent’s house inside the totality. It was fantastic placement very near the center of totality, so we got to see it for a couple minutes rather than a few seconds just inside totality. [Photo album] I experienced the annular eclipses in 1984 and 1994. I was a kid… Continue reading Total Eclipse

Review: Big Bang: The Origin of the Universe

Big Bang: The Origin of the Universe by Simon Singh My rating: 4 of 5 stars This one falls along the lines of the Elegant Universe as a history of science. Going back to Greek philosophers and moving through developments in understanding the Universe, Singh explains the findings and the contemporary reactions. And also how… Continue reading Review: Big Bang: The Origin of the Universe

God Lives 9 Light Years Away

This passage comes from the book Big Bang. [George] Gamow was infamous for his limericks and his sometimes offbeat application of physics. On one occasion, he argued God lived 9.5 light years from the Earth. This estimate  relied on the fact that in 1904, at the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, churches across Russia had… Continue reading God Lives 9 Light Years Away

Challenger

Twenty-five years ago today my teachers had us all gather in a classroom. A teacher was being sent into orbit. The intent was for us to see a historic event. Instead we got to see even bigger history being made as the Space Shuttle exploded 73 seconds after launch. The disintegration of the vehicle was… Continue reading Challenger

Cosmological Constants

Guess I am pretty dense. As many books and TV shows as I have read or seen about Einstein, physics, and cosmology, I just understood something for the first time since it was extremely plainly laid out for me. An ever expanding universe requires one or more forces to push matter further apart: cosmological constant. Forces attract… Continue reading Cosmological Constants

links for 2007-07-05

Glimpse of Time Before Big Bang Possible – Yahoo! News “To see how far into history one might gaze, theoretical physicist Martin Bojowald at Pennsylvania State University ran calculations based on loop quantum gravity, one of a number of competing theories seeking to explain how the underlying structure of th (tags: cosmology science.astronomy universe science… Continue reading links for 2007-07-05

Physics for Eight Year Olds

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Hawking to write children’s book: Physicist Stephen Hawking and his daughter are to write a science book for children which will be “a bit like Harry Potter”, but without the magic. Too bad I don’t have any children to which to read such a book. My favorite college volunteer experience… Continue reading Physics for Eight Year Olds