Thursday, May 22, 2008
Final Reflection on our Blogging Adventures
During our time in the computer lab, working on our blogs, I learned a few things. How to use the site on my own, how to research crazy and interesting topics, and type a whole post in the last ten minutes of the class period (hahahaha!!!). But seriously, I did learn a lot of cool facts from the other kids in the class, it was like we were teaching each other about what we had found and learned about the specific topics. Not gonna lie, I would have liked to do some more topics that dealt with stuff in physics...wait nevermind, these topics were pretty easy to write about...so I'm not complaining! Over all, doing this "project" helped me learn how to do things for myself...and I guess that's a good thing...right?? Well, for all my classmates, I love you guys and wish you the best of luck in the future! Class of 2008 baby!!
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Einstein's Legacy
He was daring, wildly ingenious, passionately curious. He saw a beam of light and imagined riding it; he looked up at the sky and envisioned that space-time was curved. Albert Einstein reinterpreted the inner workings of nature, the very essence of light, time, energy and gravity. His insights fundamentally changed the way we look at the universe—and made him the most famous scientist of the 20th century.
Although he is regarded as one of the most brilliant mathematical physicists of the century, Einstein thought of himself as much as a philosopher as a scientist. Certainly his theories relating matter, energy, space, time and gravity have guided much of the work in theoretical physics since 1905.
His famous "thought experiments," based on intuition and imagination rather than laboratory work, propelled us beyond the mechanistic, unchanging "clockwork universe" of Newton and the other classical physicists into a relativistic universe. Here, in this crazy world, clocks run slower or faster depending on the speed of travel or location in the universe, and "true" distances are stretched or shrunk by gravity. Einstein's legacy is a universe in which space and time are woven into a single fabric -- spacetime. It is matter that causes spacetime to curve and whose motion and properties are, in turn, altered by that curvature.
If all this seems a bit baffling, relax. With a bit of persistence you'll get the gist!
Einstein's college record as an unenthusiastic student is fairly well known. So, too, his independence and questioning of authority, all of which may have prevented him from landing an entry-level academic position once he graduated in 1900 with a degree in physics. Yet despite this unpromising start, Einstein changed the world through the power of his unconventional and extreme imagination.
Einstein had many role models, and one of his larges was the late Isaac Newton. Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity challenged long-held notions about space and time that had been established over two centuries earlier by Newton. He wanted to explore new worlds and find new things out for himself, so he started experimenting and the rest is history, or the future, or even right now!
One of the foremost pioneers of modern science, Einstein's role model, Isaac Newton developed his three laws of motion and a theory of gravity, not to mention the calculus needed to develop and express these theories in math! He set his concepts in a framework of space and time which he (like everyone else at that time) assumed to be absolute. For two centuries that omission was overshadowed by his triumphs in celestial mechanics and optics.
What, in essence, were the key concepts in Newton's theory of gravitation? Masses experience an attractive force between them, a force which acts at a distance, resulting in their acceleration toward each other. The strength of that force depends on the size of the masses and is inversely proportional to square of the distance between them. In Newton's universe, space existed independent of the matter in it. Both space and time were absolute, regardless of the motion of the observer and the matter contained within space. No substance controlled the motions of the moon, Earth and planets; only the force of gravity. But Newton's theory of gravitation was a "descriptive" theory; it didn't explain how the force of gravity was exerted, a fact that has an interesting parallel in Einstein's work and which remains a hot topic for future research.
Isaac Newton's 17th-century description of gravity became obsolete as the clouds parted on May 29, 1919, and the Sun and Moon aligned in an eclipse. Images of known stars confirmed what Einstein's "General Theory of Relativity" predicted: the Sun's gravity acts like a lens and deflects light from distant stars, making them appear in new locations.
Newton's laws satisfactorily explained most phenomena studied for the next two hundred years. Toward the end of the 19th century, however, as measuring devices grew more and more precise, the list of puzzling inconsistencies was growing. It was this law that urged Einstein to explore and create. Using Newton's Method, he came up with this parallel universe that uses time and distance to measure things just as our universe does, but it is all relative to the postition of the object during the measurement. It seems extremely complex, but what by Einstein isn't? I mean, we still don't know what E=mc2 means!!
As far as I can tell, Einstein's legacy is nothing but a stretch of the imagination. He loved science and mathematics and everything about them, so he used that love to his advantage to explore new things and create new and exciting experiments that would prove to himself and the rest of the world that with a little imagination and a lot of will power, anything can be done.
"Einstein saw the universe as a puzzle, and he delighted in trying to solve its mysteries. All he needed to contemplate the cosmos was his most valuable scientific tool—his imagination."
Although he is regarded as one of the most brilliant mathematical physicists of the century, Einstein thought of himself as much as a philosopher as a scientist. Certainly his theories relating matter, energy, space, time and gravity have guided much of the work in theoretical physics since 1905.
His famous "thought experiments," based on intuition and imagination rather than laboratory work, propelled us beyond the mechanistic, unchanging "clockwork universe" of Newton and the other classical physicists into a relativistic universe. Here, in this crazy world, clocks run slower or faster depending on the speed of travel or location in the universe, and "true" distances are stretched or shrunk by gravity. Einstein's legacy is a universe in which space and time are woven into a single fabric -- spacetime. It is matter that causes spacetime to curve and whose motion and properties are, in turn, altered by that curvature.
If all this seems a bit baffling, relax. With a bit of persistence you'll get the gist!
Einstein's college record as an unenthusiastic student is fairly well known. So, too, his independence and questioning of authority, all of which may have prevented him from landing an entry-level academic position once he graduated in 1900 with a degree in physics. Yet despite this unpromising start, Einstein changed the world through the power of his unconventional and extreme imagination.
Einstein had many role models, and one of his larges was the late Isaac Newton. Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity challenged long-held notions about space and time that had been established over two centuries earlier by Newton. He wanted to explore new worlds and find new things out for himself, so he started experimenting and the rest is history, or the future, or even right now!
One of the foremost pioneers of modern science, Einstein's role model, Isaac Newton developed his three laws of motion and a theory of gravity, not to mention the calculus needed to develop and express these theories in math! He set his concepts in a framework of space and time which he (like everyone else at that time) assumed to be absolute. For two centuries that omission was overshadowed by his triumphs in celestial mechanics and optics.
What, in essence, were the key concepts in Newton's theory of gravitation? Masses experience an attractive force between them, a force which acts at a distance, resulting in their acceleration toward each other. The strength of that force depends on the size of the masses and is inversely proportional to square of the distance between them. In Newton's universe, space existed independent of the matter in it. Both space and time were absolute, regardless of the motion of the observer and the matter contained within space. No substance controlled the motions of the moon, Earth and planets; only the force of gravity. But Newton's theory of gravitation was a "descriptive" theory; it didn't explain how the force of gravity was exerted, a fact that has an interesting parallel in Einstein's work and which remains a hot topic for future research.
Isaac Newton's 17th-century description of gravity became obsolete as the clouds parted on May 29, 1919, and the Sun and Moon aligned in an eclipse. Images of known stars confirmed what Einstein's "General Theory of Relativity" predicted: the Sun's gravity acts like a lens and deflects light from distant stars, making them appear in new locations.
Newton's laws satisfactorily explained most phenomena studied for the next two hundred years. Toward the end of the 19th century, however, as measuring devices grew more and more precise, the list of puzzling inconsistencies was growing. It was this law that urged Einstein to explore and create. Using Newton's Method, he came up with this parallel universe that uses time and distance to measure things just as our universe does, but it is all relative to the postition of the object during the measurement. It seems extremely complex, but what by Einstein isn't? I mean, we still don't know what E=mc2 means!!
As far as I can tell, Einstein's legacy is nothing but a stretch of the imagination. He loved science and mathematics and everything about them, so he used that love to his advantage to explore new things and create new and exciting experiments that would prove to himself and the rest of the world that with a little imagination and a lot of will power, anything can be done.
"Einstein saw the universe as a puzzle, and he delighted in trying to solve its mysteries. All he needed to contemplate the cosmos was his most valuable scientific tool—his imagination."
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
HOLOGRAPHY
There are many different ways to create photos. Some of these ways include digital, flash, polaroid and even painting. One of the most interesting ways though is by using holograms...or holography. By definition, holography is a technique that allows the light scattered from an object to be recorded and later reconstructed so that it appears as if the object is in the same position relative to the recording medium as it was when recorded. So, in easier terms...basically it's the process of making a picture, but the result is 3D! Pretty sweet, right?
Holography was invented in 1947 by Hungarian physicist Dennis Gabon for which he received the Nobel Prize in physics in 1971. The discovery was an unexpected result of research into improving electron microscopes at the British Thomson-Houston Company in Rugby, England. This was a huge step in the world and works of physics in the early centuries because this opened up a whole world of new possibilities.
Several types of holograms can be made. Transmission holograms, such as those produced by Leith and Upatnieks, are viewed by shining laser light through them and looking at the reconstructed image from the side of the hologram opposite the source. A later refinement, the "rainbow transmission" hologram allows more convenient illumination by white light rather than by lasers or other monochromatic sources. Rainbow holograms are commonly seen today on credit cards as a security feature and on product packaging. These versions of the rainbow transmission hologram are commonly formed as surface relief patterns in a plastic film, and they incorporate a reflective aluminium coating which provides the light from "behind" to reconstruct their imagery. Another kind of common hologram, the reflection or Denisyuk hologram, is capable of multicolour image reproduction using a white light illumination source on the same side of the hologram as the viewer.
One of the most promising recent advances in the short history of holography has been the mass production of low-cost solid-state lasers—typically used by the millions in DVD recorders and other applications, but which are sometimes also useful for holography. These cheap, compact, solid-state lasers can under some circumstances compete well with the large, expensive gas lasers previously required to make holograms, and are already helping to make holography much more accessible to low-budget researchers, artists, and dedicated hobbyists.
Though holography is often referred to as 3D photography, this is a misconception. A better analogy is sound recording where the sound field is encoded in such a way that it can later be reproduced. In holography, some of the light scattered from an object or a set of objects falls on the recording medium. A second light beam, known as the reference beam, also illuminates the recording medium, so that interference occurs between the the two beams. The resulting light field is an apparently random pattern of varying intensity which is the hologram. It can be shown that if the hologram is illuminated by the original reference beam, a light field is diffracted by the reference beam which is identical to the light field which was scattered by the object or objects. Thus, someone looking into the hologram 'sees' the objects even though they may no longer be present. There are a variety of recording materials which can be used, including photographic film - these are listed below.
These three images of the same hologram were taken by positioning the camera at three positions, moving from left to right. Note that the pawn appears on the left side of the king in the left photo, but transitions to the right of the king as you sweep your eye across the hologram. This is real parallax, which tells you that the image is truly 3-dimensional. Each perspective corresponds to looking through the hologram at a particular point.
Holograms are extremely interesting and fun to work with. Perhaps in the future, holograms will be used for advertisements and even in everyday life. Maybe instead of having pictures hanging on the wall, we will have holograms sitting around! You never know!!
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Solar Power, Wind Power, Hydro Power & Tidal Power
There are so many different types of energy in the world. Some use water, some use the sun, while others use the wind. Everything uses a different type of energy...so let's explore a few of the different kinds!
Solar Power
Solar powered devices get thier energy from the sun. The sun produces heat and light energy that can be converted into electricity to run many different products. This is probably the most commonly known source of energy. It has been around since the ancient Greeks discovered that the sun was an excellent source of more than just light! There are many products that are solar powered including things as small as calculators and things as large as homes! Solar energy is a very efficient way to supply energy and power to a home.
Wind Power
Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into useful form, such as electricity, using wind turbines. This is the cleanest way to obtain energy because it reduces greenhouse gas emissions by not using fuel or other sources of oil to be produced. The most commonly seen turbines include three arms, which continue to spin around, creating useful energy. Wind energy is a very efficient way to run a smaller area, but when used to supply a larger demand, it gets pretty costly!
Hydro Power
Hydropower or "hydraulic power" is the force or energy of moving water. Before the widespread of today's commercial electrical companies, hydropower was the main source of energy around the world. Some of the most common uses were used for irrigation, and operation of various machines, such as watermills, textile machines, and sawmills. By the energy produced by the water, a trompe is able to be put into use. This is a tool that produces compressed air from falling water, which could then be used to power other machinery at a distance from the water. Using hydropower is another really clean way to produce energy.
Tidal Power
Tidal power, or tidal energy, is a form of hydropower that uses the movements of water waves to produce energy. It is not as widely used as the other forms of power and energy, but it is a lot more predictable than any of the others. This kind of power has been being used in Europe for hundreds of years, the energy it produces is used in grain mills to grind the grain.
All of these types of energy are very efficient and easy to use. I think that in the future, we will be seeing a lot more solar powered objects because using solar power is a lot more Earth friendly. Plus, without all of that gas being used, maybe the price of it will go down!! (wishful thinking right, ya i know)
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
"The Creatures of the Deep"
The oceans and seas of our planet are full of life and amazingly beautiful creatures. Just imagine, sitting on a beach watching the sun set over a breathtaking horizon...I bet you aren't thinking about what lives underneath that deep blue water. Well, there are many different types of creatures of all shapes and sizes that live in oceans.
Of course, there is the basic fish...ok take that back...no fish is really basic, they have thier own color, size, shape, appetite and temper. One of the most common fishes that comes to mind when someone is thinking about the ocean, thanks to the movie "Finding Nemo", is the clown fish. These fun little guys are orange in color and have two white rings around thier body. They have an interesting home as well. They actually make thier stay in anemones, which tend to sting really hard! Why would they stay there?? Actually, they have developed a way to not get stung, so they live there but if any other fish or predator tries to attack them, they will get stung and not the clownfish!
Another really interesting sea creature is the octopus. With it's eight long tentacles and enormous head it catches the eye of many. There are many different types of octopi, and some are even extremely dangerous! The most dangerous type of octopus is the Blue-Ringed Octopus. It is only the size of a golf ball, but its venom is powerful enough to kill humans. There is no known antidote. Pretty scary huh!?
Alright, the final creature we will explore is the Great White Shark...the king of the ocean. The Great White doesn't really have the greatest reputation, considering Jaws and everything, but they are still really interesting. They are generally found in the deeper regions of the ocean and can grow to be a whopping 21feet in length!! I don't know about you, but I definitely would freak out if I saw something that big swimming anywhere near me!!
So, now that we have explored a few of the ocean's many creatures, you wont have to wonder as much about what really is under that beautiful sunset you are watching!
Of course, there is the basic fish...ok take that back...no fish is really basic, they have thier own color, size, shape, appetite and temper. One of the most common fishes that comes to mind when someone is thinking about the ocean, thanks to the movie "Finding Nemo", is the clown fish. These fun little guys are orange in color and have two white rings around thier body. They have an interesting home as well. They actually make thier stay in anemones, which tend to sting really hard! Why would they stay there?? Actually, they have developed a way to not get stung, so they live there but if any other fish or predator tries to attack them, they will get stung and not the clownfish!
Another really interesting sea creature is the octopus. With it's eight long tentacles and enormous head it catches the eye of many. There are many different types of octopi, and some are even extremely dangerous! The most dangerous type of octopus is the Blue-Ringed Octopus. It is only the size of a golf ball, but its venom is powerful enough to kill humans. There is no known antidote. Pretty scary huh!?
Alright, the final creature we will explore is the Great White Shark...the king of the ocean. The Great White doesn't really have the greatest reputation, considering Jaws and everything, but they are still really interesting. They are generally found in the deeper regions of the ocean and can grow to be a whopping 21feet in length!! I don't know about you, but I definitely would freak out if I saw something that big swimming anywhere near me!!
So, now that we have explored a few of the ocean's many creatures, you wont have to wonder as much about what really is under that beautiful sunset you are watching!
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
The Big Bang Theory
Our universe is a very large and interesting mystery. There are many controversies over how it was created as well as many different views on those theories. The most commonly known theory is the "Big Bang Theory".
This amazing discovery was made by a man by the name of Edward Hubble. He discovered that the universe is expanding constantly and was once very compact. Our universe is thought to have begun as an infinitely small, infinitely hot, infinitely dense...something. According to the standard theory, our universe sprang into existence around 13.7 billion years ago. Ya, hard to imagine isn't it? Well, believe it! After its first appearance, the universe began to get really really hot, really really fast. It exploded and what was left, is now our universe! Pretty crazy, huh?
A lot of people feel that way. They do not believe in the "Big Bang Theory" simply because they find it unethical or against thier religion. Although, this theory is backed by relavant scientific facts and phenomenon, many people still don't buy it.
Personally I think that this theory is kind of cool and interesting. I mean, our universe was supposedly creating from basically nothing! We are made of like...stardust and stuff...pretty sweet!
This amazing discovery was made by a man by the name of Edward Hubble. He discovered that the universe is expanding constantly and was once very compact. Our universe is thought to have begun as an infinitely small, infinitely hot, infinitely dense...something. According to the standard theory, our universe sprang into existence around 13.7 billion years ago. Ya, hard to imagine isn't it? Well, believe it! After its first appearance, the universe began to get really really hot, really really fast. It exploded and what was left, is now our universe! Pretty crazy, huh?
A lot of people feel that way. They do not believe in the "Big Bang Theory" simply because they find it unethical or against thier religion. Although, this theory is backed by relavant scientific facts and phenomenon, many people still don't buy it.
Personally I think that this theory is kind of cool and interesting. I mean, our universe was supposedly creating from basically nothing! We are made of like...stardust and stuff...pretty sweet!
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Solar Systems & Galaxies
Oh, Space! So much to learn about and so much to see. Space is one of the most unexplainable things in the entire world and that is what makes it so interesting. Solar systems and galaxies form what we like to call space...so let's take a look!!
Our solar system consists of the Sun and the nine planets that orbit it. The planets are (in order from distance from the sun) Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune and Pluto. The planets orbit the sun at different speeds and rotate on different axes. There are many different solarsystems but obviously ours is the only one that is really well known, basically because we live on it, or in it, yeah you get it!
Our solar system consists of the Sun and the nine planets that orbit it. The planets are (in order from distance from the sun) Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune and Pluto. The planets orbit the sun at different speeds and rotate on different axes. There are many different solarsystems but obviously ours is the only one that is really well known, basically because we live on it, or in it, yeah you get it!
Now, as you know, we live in the Milky Way. No not the candy, the galaxy! That's right, we live in the Milky Way Galaxy. There are many different types of galaxies for example, there is the spiral, lenticular, elliptical and irregular galaxy. Each is very unique in its own way, but basically they all are composed of the same "material" so to speak. By definition, a galaxy is a massive, gravitationally bound system consisting of stars, an interstellar medium of gas and dust, and dark matter. Kind of a mouthful, but that is exactly what a galaxy is made up of.
Galaxies and solarsystems are very different from each other. In a solar system, there is a center object that other planets or objects orbit around. It is really interesting though, that galaxies and solarsystems are so different because they are made up of each other! A galaxy has a solarsystem and the solarsystem has planets and the planets have life, well we know at least one does!
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Red Giants, White Dwarfs, our Sun, Black Holes!!!
Stars are beautiful and miraculous things that scatter the night sky. These twinkling lights are what make us stop and look up on a clear night. Although they seem so small and simple, there is a lot that happens during the life of a star.
Let's start off by talking about red giants. A red giant by defenition is the remaining core or central region of a star that has run or "burnt out" of protons. This portion of the star is made up of alphas, which are helium atoms. Since the once lively star has run out of fuel, it starts to cool and contract. The outer layers fall inward and cause the star to heat up once again. This outer shell gets hot enough that it produces more energy for the star and the star begins to swell. Eventually it becomes giant and has a red glow to it, thus giving it the name Red Giant.
Now another form of a star is the white dwarf. This type of star is formed when a larger star at the end of its "nuclear" age explodes and leaves its remnants behind. The core of this once giant star gets extremely hot and as a result, forms a white dwarf star. These are the types of stars that we can see on a clear night. Our sun is a dwarf star, it is just a lot closer to Earth than all of the others.
Now for our sun, it is a dwarf star, formed millions and millions of years ago. The Sun is the largest object in our solar system, it makes up over 99.8% of the mass of our entire system. Just like any other star, the sun has many layers. They include the photosphere, chromosphere, and corona. Our sun is the most important star in all of the solar system.
So what happens when a star as big as the sun burns out? A black hole!! It's true, a black hole is simply the space where a star used to be. In the movies they are portrayed as time travelling tunnels and even space vacuums that suck up everything in sight. In order to create a black hole, a star as big as the sun or even larger, at the end of its "nuclear" age must undergo a supernova explosion. When this happens, well basically a big huge hole is left in space!
I think all of this is really interesting. I didn't realize how all of these things could be tied together in one way or another. For instance, a red giant forms a white dwarf, our sun is a white dwarf, and when a star as large as our sun explodes, it leaves a black hole! They are also very different from eachother as well. They all have different characteristics and affects on the solar system as a whole. Space is a wonderful and fascinating thing that will be studied for years and years to come.
Let's start off by talking about red giants. A red giant by defenition is the remaining core or central region of a star that has run or "burnt out" of protons. This portion of the star is made up of alphas, which are helium atoms. Since the once lively star has run out of fuel, it starts to cool and contract. The outer layers fall inward and cause the star to heat up once again. This outer shell gets hot enough that it produces more energy for the star and the star begins to swell. Eventually it becomes giant and has a red glow to it, thus giving it the name Red Giant.
Now another form of a star is the white dwarf. This type of star is formed when a larger star at the end of its "nuclear" age explodes and leaves its remnants behind. The core of this once giant star gets extremely hot and as a result, forms a white dwarf star. These are the types of stars that we can see on a clear night. Our sun is a dwarf star, it is just a lot closer to Earth than all of the others.
Now for our sun, it is a dwarf star, formed millions and millions of years ago. The Sun is the largest object in our solar system, it makes up over 99.8% of the mass of our entire system. Just like any other star, the sun has many layers. They include the photosphere, chromosphere, and corona. Our sun is the most important star in all of the solar system.
So what happens when a star as big as the sun burns out? A black hole!! It's true, a black hole is simply the space where a star used to be. In the movies they are portrayed as time travelling tunnels and even space vacuums that suck up everything in sight. In order to create a black hole, a star as big as the sun or even larger, at the end of its "nuclear" age must undergo a supernova explosion. When this happens, well basically a big huge hole is left in space!
I think all of this is really interesting. I didn't realize how all of these things could be tied together in one way or another. For instance, a red giant forms a white dwarf, our sun is a white dwarf, and when a star as large as our sun explodes, it leaves a black hole! They are also very different from eachother as well. They all have different characteristics and affects on the solar system as a whole. Space is a wonderful and fascinating thing that will be studied for years and years to come.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Science vs Pseudoscience
Science is a part of our everyday lives. Everything we do has to deal with some sort of science. There are two main types of science, natural science and social science. Natural sciences deal with natural phenomena and things that happen, well in nature. The other main type of science, social sciene, deals with human behaviors and societies. All scientific facts are backed by the research and development of theories. The knowledge of science must be based on observable phenomena and must be capable of being experimented on.
Pseudoscience is a body of knowledge, methodology, belief, or practice that is claimed to be scientific. It is more of an idea than an actual fact. The ideas of pseudoscience may appear to be scientific, but in reality, they are just ideas. For example, these ideas lack supporting evidence to their "phenomenons" and do not contain any plausable information. Some examples of pseudoscience include palm readers and fortune tellers. They make conclusions and try to find evidence to back it up, basically they do everything backwards.
I was very surprised to find that pseudoscience is so much different from science. Basically, in my eyes pseudoscience is just a joke! All it is is ideas and conclusions based on, well pretty much nothing! I think they just put "science" at the end of it just so it might sound a little more interesting.
Pseudoscience is a body of knowledge, methodology, belief, or practice that is claimed to be scientific. It is more of an idea than an actual fact. The ideas of pseudoscience may appear to be scientific, but in reality, they are just ideas. For example, these ideas lack supporting evidence to their "phenomenons" and do not contain any plausable information. Some examples of pseudoscience include palm readers and fortune tellers. They make conclusions and try to find evidence to back it up, basically they do everything backwards.
I was very surprised to find that pseudoscience is so much different from science. Basically, in my eyes pseudoscience is just a joke! All it is is ideas and conclusions based on, well pretty much nothing! I think they just put "science" at the end of it just so it might sound a little more interesting.
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