Questions tagged [popular-science]
Questions in this tag must be answered in a manner that can be understood by a general audience with at most a basic understanding of physics, mathematics and related sciences. Apply it to questions where the asker clearly requests such answers.
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Why double rainbows have the orders of the color bands in them inverted?
I did some online search and found the explanation using the following two diagrams. It's not perfectly convincing to me. Or at least it is not clear to me in the following details of the process:
...
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How to make an accurate and complete computer real time animation/game that illustrates the twins paradox of special relativity? [closed]
About a year ago I provided a rough outline of what what I thought (based mainly on the book "Relativity Visualized" by L. Epstein) would happen during the twins paradox scenario and sought ...
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In science, is there such a thing as incontrovertible evidence?
Can we make any statement about the universe that is not open to new evidence? For example, we seem to have incontrovertible evidence that the earth is round, but could new technology 500 years from ...
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Why does the water at the same temperature on the same vessel with water having less mass cool faster?
10 litres of water at 80-degree Celsius cools faster than 15 litres of water at the same temperature kept in identical vessel, why?
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Can a magnetic board become weaker if there are many magnets attached to it?
I have a magnetic whiteboard where I put my travel magnets. I have a plenty of magnets and I am under impression that magnets don't stick as well to the board as they used to when there were just a ...
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Which material properties determine whether it is best cut with a serrated edge?
Among foods, it is beneficial to use a serrated knife to cut bread and cooked meat, while a serrated edge has less benefit for other items. And then serrated saws are also helpful for cutting wood (...
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Time's Arrow, or Why does time seem to be flowing in one direction? [duplicate]
I have been working on this topic for the past 6 months, and I Understand what is time, but why does it have a direction? Why was the Entropy low in the Early Universe? I have got success in some ...
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1
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What quantum mechanical concepts have been used in the "soft" sciences?
At the smallest/simplest level (quantum mechanics), our models of physics becomes less deterministic and more probabilistic. This is also (very) generally what occurs in the most complex sciences (...
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Specular and diffuse reflection at the same time
if we know that tomatoes absorb all the light and reflect the red diffusely, how can we see the reflection of all the light specularly at the shinnig point? there isnt an absorption of other colors at ...
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Was Einstein's General Theory of Relativity wrong? [closed]
Albert Einstein Failed in Three Classical Tests
At his theory on general relativity, Einstein concluded that the light just as other material objects, moved in curve if gravity field of an object was ...
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2
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Solving Young Sheldon's 100th episode vanity card
Please define the terms. Below is Chuck Lorre's 700th vanity card which congratulates Young Sheldon on reaching 100 episodes.
Part 1. Find $x$ in $J_0(x)=0$. --> I guess this refers to Bessel of ...
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Why is my watter bottle wet after the water inside it unfreezes?
I have a filled, warm, and dry (on the outside) water bottle that I put in the freezer. The next day I come and take the water bottle out of the freezer and towel dry the ice gathered around the ...
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In Bell's experiment, can "knowing the future" be that "hidden variable"?
(Sorry if I'm spamming your board with Popular Science speculations, but I just thought this could be an interesting thought experiment).
There are quite a few videos on youtube about Bell's ...
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Why are protons, rather than electrons, the nucleus in atoms?
I have been wondering why only electrons revolve around protons instead of protons other way around. They have electrostatic force and I think mass factor has nothing to do here. Then why?
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The color of an object, the atom releasing the photon back
I have a question about why the color of an object is as it is. This is something I am wondering about after watching episode 5 of the tv-series Cosmos from 2014.
From what I understand a blue object ...
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Has a true Superconductor ever been produced?
Having a conversation with a friend, we where discussing about the conductivity and resistance changes of superconductors.
He insisted that available superconductors produced by universities or ...
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Examples of "natural" observed events (phenomena) without scientific explanation [closed]
Could you provide me some examples of observed events considered "natural" but with no scientific explanation? I would prefer some easy-to-understand examples, not involving a lot of ...
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What is the size of the magnetosphere of a neutron star?
More precisely, what are the factors that influence that size (mass of the star, spin velocity, accretion disk around it, ... do any of those things matter?)
I tried reading this. I cannot: [paper ...
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Do the "colors" live in a 3-dimensional vector space? [closed]
Do the "colors" form a 3-dimensional vector space?
Colors are just different frequencies of electromagnetic lights, from the low frequency (infra-red, red) to the high frequency (blue, ...
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Can strong and weak "forces" manifest in Newton Units?
The Newton unit ($\text{N}$) is a unit of force on a macroscopic scale:
$$1\text{N} = 1 \text{kg m/s}^2.$$
Gravity has so-called the gravitational forces (such as shown in the Newton theory of ...
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Are there any journals for physics that are similar to Crux Mathematicorum?
Basically, I'm looking for a physics journal that contains what Crux Mathematicorum does, which is basically a "problem solving journal" specific for the secondary and undergraduate levels. ...
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How does pressure inside a tire works?
Why do we have to inflate our tires to a set psi every once in a while?
When we drive, does the tire loses air? Is it because of the difference in pressure?
Would a properly installed new tire lose ...
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Conceptual problem with general relativity
According to Einstein, mass curves spacetime and objects in the nearby field tends to travel in the shortest possible path to reach their heavier counterparts. My question is was not Newton's ...
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Can sound be recovered? [duplicate]
An interesting thought struck me today, can sound be recovered? I mean sounds from the past, maybe a year or a millennium back.
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"Probabilities are the ghosts of quantum mechanical amplitudes"
I came across this quote today;
[Quantum computers] process information using quantum mechanical amplitudes. And probabilities are sort of the ghosts of amplitudes after they have been degraded to ...
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2
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CMB variance as percentage - does that make any sense?
Reading a popular science book that is pretty accurate and in depth, but stumbled upon this line (translated):
The variation, that the CMB pattern reveals amounts to less than one hundredth of a ...
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2
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Is this explanation to laymen of how curved space time makes you experience gravity correct?
I always found it hard to explain to the lay person how the gravity they are feeling is caused by curved spacetime. Their reaction was just one of bafflement and they ended up thinking that it is just ...
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What causes this weird shape through frosted glass? [closed]
I was looking at my frosted window and found that the light behind it from the neighbors house looked like this:
Behind the frosted glass is simply an ordinary CFL bulb. The frosting pattern on the ...
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1
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Double Slit Eraser - does the wave function collapse and restore or never collapse
This video shows a rudimentary double slit eraser experiment. He sends photons through a double slit with a polarization film before the double slits (with a 90 degree difference) to obtain "which-way"...
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Do radioactive materials have a property for their natural heat output?
Consider room temperature, would a fissile/fissionable element be naturally warmer to the touch (or a sensitive thermometer) compared to say a glass of water (because the atoms have more ongoing ...
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How does the weak interaction sense the instability of a nucleus?
To reduce the disruptive energy, the weak interaction allows the number of neutrons to exceed that of protons (...) (via nasa.gov).
How did it know it needs to reduce the disruptive energy?
Example: ...
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Formal name for the "pianology" objection towards contemporary particle physics direction of research?
In a popular science book, an interesting objection towards the current direction of particle physics was stated. I tried to search for more on this, but got nowhere.
Since I assume this is not an ...
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What are “vibrations” in a field in Quantum Field Theory (QFT)?
For example, in a 2013 article for NOVA Don Lincoln writes:
Everywhere in the universe there is a field called the electron field. A physical electron isn’t the field, but rather a localized ...
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Example of phenomenon that occurs because Bosons don't obey exclusion principle
I am writing an essay targeted at undergrad level, non-science audience and I am trying to find another real world example of what is possible due to the fact that bosons are not subject to Pauli ...
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What are some benefits of using a higher temperature of water for cleaning? [closed]
There are lots of benefits of using a higher temperature of water for cleaning. List them!
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If photons don't experience time, does that mean time is a consequence of mass? [closed]
If photons don't experience the passage of time because they have no mass, does that mean time is a consequence of mass?
To me that's a profound conclusion yet not one I see printed. Is it right?
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How are theories selected?
My motivations for asking this question are philosophical but I think this is a question that is best answered by the physics community.
There is a problem in the philosophy of science called the '...
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Can a signal be sent and received in the same point? What are the limitations?
I'm wondering about this scenario:
START: $B$ and $A$ moving to the right with speed $u$
$A$ present in point $X$
Signal $S$ with speed $v'$ sent by $A$ in point $X$ towards $B$
$\require{AMScd}$
\...
user183003
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2
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Book says that gamma rays don't ionise atoms as they pass through matter?
I am reading the book The Greatest Story Ever Told ... So Far by Lawrence Krauss, and I came across this in chapter 9:
In 1930 Bothe and his assistant Herbert Becker observed something completely ...
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How to take a Picture of Ice in Mars Pole?
It is say in other thread, that impossible to make satellite orbit above of poles. But there is a claim from NASA, that in pole of Mars there is a cap of ice. So they take a picture of it.
How can ...
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How to show the first low of Kepler's laws
Picture below is from the Kepler's laws of Wiki. I fail to found its proof. I mean that how to use
$$
F=G\frac{Mm}{r^2} ~~~~~~\text{and}~~~~~~~ F=ma
$$
to prove the orbit of planet must be so.
I ...
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Can I change the amplitude of light and if so, how? [closed]
Can I change the amplitude of light and if so, how?
So I want to know more about light and I need a little information on how to change the amplitude of light. If anyone could help me out here thank ...
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Sean Carroll's photons on top of one another
I don't have training in physics, only in mathematics.
The following is a passage from From Eternity to here by Sean Carroll, which I wanted to clarify.
Photons can be piled on top of one another ...
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A question on the ideal gas law and the functioning of a fridge
First let me apologize: I am not a physicist and my question is perhaps not well-suited for this expert forum. I didn't find any other place to ask though.
We have the (simplified) formula
$$
\frac{P ...
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1
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Mistake by Sean Carroll on EPR paradox for layman?
In his book From Eternity to Here, Sean Carroll uses a system consisting of a cat (Miss Kitty) and a dog (Mr. Dog) behaving as quantum objects to introduce the EPR paradox. The cat and dog are ...
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Representing a 3D toroidal universe
How would one represent a 3-D wrapping object as outlined in the linked article, Classic JRPG Worlds Are Actually Donuts? In short, it explained that to achieve the x-axis and y-axis wrap that is ...
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Is it correct to say a quantum particle is in both "states" at the same time?
In popular media, and even in introductory books it is common to say that quantum objects are characterized by the non-intuitive notion of being in two or more eigenstates at "the same time".
An ...
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The Big Bang and universal elemental abundance. Predictions seems bad and unconvincing?
Allow me to preface this question by stating that I am not a Big Bang denier.
I am reading the book A Universe from Nothing by Lawrence M. Krauss. In his book, he presents the following card as one ...
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What materials can be used to prevent the settling of particles in the ceramic slurry? [closed]
How can we avoid the Settle particles in the ceramic slurry?
What materials can be used for this purpose?
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How do you apply General Relativity to the EmDrive Problem?
In the last couple of months a peer reviewed study from NASA has asserted that the results from EmDrive warrant further testing in space. In addition, in the last couple of days the Chinese government ...
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