Physics

THE PREMISE: "Galaxy Map Hints At Fractal Universe": Is the matter in the universe arranged in a fractal pattern? A new study of nearly a million galaxies suggests it is – though there are no well-accepted theories to explain why that would be so. Cosmologists trying to reconstruct the entire history of the universe have precious few clues from which to work. One key clue is the distribution of matter throughout space, which has been sculpted for nearly 14 billion years by the competing forces of gravity and cosmic expansion. If there is a pattern in the sky, it encodes the secrets of the ... Read Full Story

The farther we peer into space, the more we realize that the nature of the universe cannot be understood fully by inspecting spiral galaxies or watching distant supernovas. It lies deeper. It involves our very selves. This insight snapped into focus one day while one of us (Lanza) was walking through the woods. Looking up, he saw a huge golden orb web spider tethered to the overhead boughs. There the creature sat on a single thread, reaching out across its web to detect the vibrations of a trapped insect struggling to escape. The spider surveyed its universe, but everything beyond that gossamer pinwheel was ... Read Full Story

Now that I'm trying to gear up for more solid entries, at the very least the video posts have become more and more consistent. Then again, the world of viral video never sleeps and so there's generally something worth watching once or twice. Case in point - this interesting demonstration of physics and the interaction of forces in different directions. #7 - Synchronization Read Full Story

Now that I'm trying to gear up for more solid entries, at the very least the video posts have become more and more consistent. Then again, the world of viral video never sleeps and so there's generally something worth watching once or twice. Case in point - this interesting demonstration of physics and the interaction of forces in different directions. #7 - Synchronization Read Full Story

This time, Catherine Robinson crocheted a black hole . I hope she releases a pattern soon. (Of course, I'm not sure what I'd do with it if I had one.) Read Full Story

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=cosmic-radio-background This a link to an article on recently discovered radio waves that may be the signature of primal stars, the first ones ever formed. If confirmed, it would provide a new way of discovering the early evolution of the universe. In the wake of these early "super-stars", the more recent galaxies were able to form. Just as the cosmic microwave background gives insight into how the universe looked shortly after the Big Bang, this radio background could give insight into the distribution of the earliest stellar formations. Fascinating stuff. Trivia: Dr. Angelica De Oliveira-Costa of MIT who is quoted in the article is ... Read Full Story

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bose%E2%80%93Einstein_condensate Above is an article on the Bose-Einstein condensate, which are a collection of atoms (rubidium for example) cooled to their quantum ground state. Peculiar things happen in such a state of matter. For one thing, light can be slowed. Now of course in vaccua light always goes at speed C. But through a medium, such as water, it can slow down, because the photons of light bounce of the atoms in the water. Same kind of thing in a Bose-Einstein condensate, except the effect is hugely amplified. One can, in effect, slow light down to a crawl. I request the reader to bear ... Read Full Story