Topics: Barrow Scale, Kardashev Scale, Exoplanets, SETI The Kardashev Scale is a discussion, and ranking of civilizations based on energy output: Type I: able to marshal energy resources for communications on a planet-wide scale, equivalent to the entire present power consumption of the human race, or about 1016 watts. Here, Carl Sagan begged to differ, due to powerContinue reading “Nano, to Planck…”
Author Archives: reginaldgoodwin
Ganymede…
Topics: Astronomy, Astrophysics, NASA, Planetary Science, Space Exploration Ganymede, get ready for your close-up. No probe has gotten a good view of Jupiter’s largest moon since 2000, when NASA’s Galileo spacecraft swung past the strange world, which is the largest moon in the whole solar system. But on Monday (June 7), at 1:35 p.m. EDT (1735 GMT),Continue reading “Ganymede…”
Drops in Cells…
Topics: Applied Physics, Biology, Microscopy, Molecules A major challenge in cell biology remains unraveling how cells control their biochemical reaction cycles. For instance, how do they regulate gene expression in response to stress? How does their metabolism change when resources are scarce? Control theory has proven useful in understanding how networks of chemical reactions canContinue reading “Drops in Cells…”
Collider Neutrinos…
Topics: CERN, High Energy Physics, Particle Physics, Research Think “neutrino detector” and images of giant installations come to mind, necessary to compensate for the vanishingly small interaction probability of neutrinos with matter. The extreme luminosity of proton-proton collisions at the LHC, however, produces a large neutrino flux in the forward direction, with energies leading toContinue reading “Collider Neutrinos…”
Un-Democracy…
Topics: Civics, Civil Rights, Existentialism, Fascism, Human Rights Even presidents who don’t believe in history need a historian to rely on. When asked, in 2014, by a delegation of students and history teachers for his chosen chronicler of Russia’s past, Vladimir Putin came up with a single name: Ivan Ilyin. Ilyin is a figure who might haveContinue reading “Un-Democracy…”
Every Tank Has Its Limits…
Topics: Biology, Planetary Science, Research, Tardigrades They can survive temperatures close to absolute zero. They can withstand heat beyond the boiling point of water. They can shrug off the vacuum of space and doses of radiation that would be lethal to humans. Now, researchers have subjected tardigrades, microscopic creatures affectionately known as water bears, toContinue reading “Every Tank Has Its Limits…”
It’s Funny, Until It Isn’t…
Topics: Civics, Civil Rights, Democracy, Existentialism, Fascism, Human Rights The Great Dictator—Charlie Chaplin’s masterful satire of Adolf Hitler—began filming in September 1939, right at the start of World War II. By the time it was released in 1940, the Axis had been formed, and Nazis were already occupying much of France. The threat was notContinue reading “It’s Funny, Until It Isn’t…”
FASER, Neutrinos, and Dark Matter…
Topics: CERN, Dark Matter, High Energy Physics, Neutrinos, Particle Physics Neutrinos are ubiquitous and notorious. Billions are passing through you at this moment. Occasionally described as a “ghost of a particle,” neutrinos are nearly massless, thereby making them extremely difficult to detect experimentally (“Neutrino,” meaning “little neutral one” in Italian, was first used by Enrico FermiContinue reading “FASER, Neutrinos, and Dark Matter…”
Sun Quake…
Topics: Astronomy, Astrophysics, ESA, Heliophysics, NASA For new Sun-watching spacecraft, the first solar eruption is always special. On February 12, 2021, a little more than a year from its launch, the European Space Agency and NASA’s Solar Orbiter caught sight of this coronal mass ejection, or CME. This view is from the mission’s SoloHI instrument —Continue reading “Sun Quake…”
Adversary, Friendly, or Neutral…
Topics: Aerodynamics, Applied Physics, Biology, Exoplanets, General Relativity, SETI May 17, 2019- No, little green men aren’t likely after the conquest of humanity. Boyd’s piece for Phys.org highlights the reason why the Pentagon wants to identify UFOs: they’re unidentified. If a warfighter on the ground or in the sky can’t ID an object, that creates aContinue reading “Adversary, Friendly, or Neutral…”
Physics and Nano 