by Katie Dagon Imagine if we had an “undo” button for climate change – we could remove all the greenhouse gases from the air or cool the planet’s temperature in an instant. While this might sound like science fiction, the basic idea is not as far off as you might think. Reducing fossil fuel use is really important, but also really difficult. And even if … Continue reading Engineering the Earth to Fight Climate Change
Historically, galactic rotation curves have suggested that galaxies are surrounded by a vast amount of invisible matter, otherwise known as a dark matter halo. A few weeks ago, a team of astrophysicists published a result that completely contradicts these halo models and could even change the popular understanding of dark matter. The team found that galactic rotation curves can be calculated explicitly from a simple … Continue reading Galactic Rotation Curves Revisited: A Surprise For Dark Matter
A new experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) seeks to detect the long theorized magnetic monopole. In 1931, physicist Paul Dirac showed that our theories of electromagnetism allow for the existence of a solitary magnetic charge. Just as protons and electrons represent unique electric charges (positive and negative), magnetic monopoles should similarly exist as manifestations of magnetic charge. Despite our best efforts, however, we … Continue reading New Experiment Chases the Elusive Magnetic Monopole
At the 11th Identification of Dark Matter Conference, LUX, the Large Underground Xenon experiment, announced the results of the world’s most sensitive search for dark matter. Physicists at LUX have been racing for a dark matter discovery since the collaboration’s inception. Observers in the field were aware that the LUX announcement would include more data with vastly improved performance compared to experiment’s initial run in … Continue reading Dark Matter Evades the World’s Most Sensitive Search
The patterns seen here are called interference rings, or Newton’s rings, and are generated when light waves reflect off of two glass surfaces that are in very close proximity to each other, such as a glass microscope slide and a cover slip. Imperfections in the glass cause the waves to be reflected at different points of the wave. Where you see bright rings, two waves … Continue reading Just a Phase
The Twitter rumors are true! In what some scientists are calling the discovery of the century, LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) finally announced the first direct observation of gravitational waves. Until a few days ago, gravitational waves were the only untested prediction of General Relativity. In General Relativity, space and time are not fixed. Spacetime curves around the matter and energy in the universe, … Continue reading LIGO and Gravitational Waves: Discovery of the Century
Every year, the NFL makes rule changes that affect team strategy and game outcomes. Some of these rules are designed to maintain the safety of players, while others are designed to increase the competitiveness of the game. However, there is one aspect of the game that the NFL can never change: the laws of physics. In the new series by Forbes Science, “Football Physics,” Chad Orzel … Continue reading The Physics of Football
by Erin Dahlstrom figures by Utsarga Adhikary Popularized by films like Star Trek and Star Wars, the tractor beam is an iconic science fiction technology that allows the user to manipulate objects in space without making physical contact with the objects. While humans today may not be ready to use this technology in outer space, the ability to manipulate objects without touching them could potentially … Continue reading Bringing Star Trek to Life: Scientists in Spain and the UK develop “tractor beam” to manipulate particles
by Michael R. Gerhardt Our climate is rapidly changing, and many countries are beginning to take action. In the United States, President Barack Obama has announced the Clean Power Plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from electric power generation, while Chinese president Xi Jinping has announced economic incentives to reduce emissions [1,2]. Even oil companies have publicly acknowledged the challenges we face and have voiced … Continue reading Solid-oxide Fuel Cells: Using familiar fuel in a new way
Quantum Melodics Click above to play audio (in a new window) while you read about the piece By Jacob Baron, a graduate student at Harvard University. “Quantum Melodics is based on Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle. This principle says that the more accurately you know where a particle is, the less accurately you can know how fast it is moving, and vice-versa. To me, this principle seems ridiculous, since … Continue reading Quantum Melodics