What science tells us about ourselves and how we think; what to expect (or not expect) from research; and a few basic principles explained
Some time ago I came across a fun article. I got curious, and embarked on a journey that took me to the source of a famous internet myth and even to explore what it means to be a physicist. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The article was about the myth that it’s impossible to fold a piece of paper more than 7 times, … Continue reading How many times can you fold a piece of paper?
Want to name an element on the periodic table? Piece of cake! Just follow this simple, step-by-step guide. The first thing you have to do is to discover an element. At the moment, the periodic table has no blank spots to be filled: all elements with 118 or fewer protons have been found already. Though luck. Moreover, since very crowded nuclei don’t stick together for … Continue reading How to discover an element
The Sun, the planets and the whole universe revolve around the Earth while hanging on crystal spheres. The velocity of a body is proportional to the force that pushed it. A rock falls to the ground because that’s its natural element. Those are only a few of the teachings of Aristotle that, forced on posterity for centuries, held back scientific progress. Whatever your branch of … Continue reading Aristotle is always wrong, but that’s alright
AnThere’s a sealed box, inside the box is a cute cat and a device that can kill it as soon as a radioactive atom decays. Were we to open the box, would the cat be alive? And how is it doing while the box is still closed? In extreme synthesis, this is the idea of the famous “Schrödinger’s cat” experiment (thought experiment! no actual … Continue reading Cats and not
Light travels at about 299792458 meters per second. Why not more? or less? Why can’t it have more than one speed? To tell the truth, light does have more than one speed: the one we know, the one that nothing can surpass, is the speed of light in a vacuum. But if it goes through a material, light travels slower. More than that, light of … Continue reading Speed limits
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