The laws of physics always hold up, even in a world such as Star Wars. Gravity still holds Mr. Skywalker on the ground and Mass Times Acceleration still equals force. But does it equal The Force? That is the question.
Was Yoda really nothing more than a physics professor? Is Darth Vader simply an allegorical symbol of the possible destruction of nuclear power?
The fine gents over at De Capo Press were nice enough to send me a review copy of “Why Does E=mc2? (and Why Should We Care)” by renowned physicists Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw. Cox and Forshaw attempt to accomplish what Stephen Hawking and Carl Sagan attempted decades ago. And that is to make physics, and specifically, Einstein’s theory of relativity and the concept of spacetime, accessible to the non-scientific mind. And with mixed success, the scientists have done their job.
Cox and Forshaw start at the beginning. It soon becomes clear that Einstein’s relativity would have been impossible without the discoveries of scientist’s work from centuries in the past. Beginning with Aristotle and continuing all the way up to the days of Hermann Minkowski, the authors develop a thorough picture for the creation of an equation. The process of Einstein’s discovery is outlined based on the discoveries of the past.
Continue reading after the jump.
Newton’s Cradle, if you didn’t already know, is an awesome perpetual motion toy made using a series of identical balls suspended from a frame. You might have seen them at your local psychiatrist’s office or in many offices of CEOs. Geek Group was on a mission to create the world’s largest Newton’s Cradle.
How big, exactly, was the finished product? The cradle was made with bowling balls, so that’s a pair of 20 foot cables holding the 15 pound bowling balls about three feet above the ground. About a total of 300 pounds. That’s a whole lot of ball bashing.
When the volume of a gas decreases at a maintained pressure, the temperature of the remaining gas falls. Such is the law the defines the concept behind the Jet Engine-powered Beer Cooler. Using a LPG cylinder and a jet engine to cool his favorite brew, the designer of the beer cooler is never without an icy cold one.
If you can get your hands on the beer pouring robot, you have the makings of a BBQ of epic proportions, and a side-note to the manliest of the bots. All we need now is a robot to properly later our ribs in sauce. — Andrew Dobrow
Here’s a hardware freaks dream. A living, breathing quantum computing device. Canadian company D-Wave announced that next week seems to be when the company has decided to spring it’s quantum computer on the, uh, eagerly awaiting public?
We most likely wouldn’t of caught this article if the photography wasn’t as cool as it is. But once you start reading through some of the information, or at least the information that doesn’t require you a degree in physics to understand, the finished product could be quite an innovative device.
The quantum computer is capable of calculating a humongous 64,000 (!!!) calculations at one time. The quote goes on talking about parallel universes and more mine bending jibber jabber, as Mr. T would call it. We pity the fool who goes against this machine in a equation contest. (more…)
