Topics: Astrophysics, Black Holes, Cosmology, Einstein, General Relativity Each second, a brand new baby black hole is born somewhere in the cosmos as a massive star collapses under its own weight. But black holes themselves are invisible. Historically, astronomers have only been able to detect these stellar-mass black holes when they are acting on aContinue reading “Rogue Singularity…”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Caveat Colonizing…
Topics: Astronautics, Climate Change, Environment, Futurism, Global Warming, Mars, Spaceflight When Elon Musk founded SpaceX in 2002, he envisioned a greenhouse on Mars, not unlike the one later depicted in the 2015 blockbuster The Martian. Soon, his fantasy grew from a small-scale botanical experiment into a vision for a self-sustaining Martian city. In a speech at theContinue reading “Caveat Colonizing…”
Quantum Charging…
Topics: Alternate Energy, Battery, Green Tech, Nanotechnology, Quantum Mechanics Note: I’m in the semifinals of the 3-Minute Thesis competition, so I decided to focus on my presentation. Wish me luck. This does, however, relate to our need as a species to get off fossil fuels as soon as possible, so things like Ukraine, Crimea, andContinue reading “Quantum Charging…”
Fifth-Column Fascists…
Topics: Civics, Civil Rights, Existentialism, Fascism, Human Rights, Propaganda Note: I will be attending the funeral of my brother-in-law. I will take a blog break to mourn. [A] fifth column, clandestine group or faction of subversive agents who attempt to undermine a nation’s solidarity by any means at their disposal. The term is conventionally creditedContinue reading “Fifth-Column Fascists…”
Tardigrades and Qubits…
Topics: Biology, Condensed Matter Physics, Modern Physics, Quantum Mechanics Note: After presenting my research proposal and acceptance by my committee, I’ve been taking a well-needed break from blogging. I’ll post on and off until the New Year, which isn’t too far off. Happy holidays! In recent years, evidence has emerged that quantum physics seems toContinue reading “Tardigrades and Qubits…”
Cobalt and Caveats
Topics: Battery, Chemistry, Climate Change, Environment, Politics KASULO, Democratic Republic of Congo — A man in a pinstripe suit with a red pocket square walked around the edge of a giant pit one April afternoon where hundreds of workers often toil in flip-flops, burrowing deep into the ground with shovels and pickaxes. His polished leatherContinue reading “Cobalt and Caveats”
Steve Austin’s Beads…
Topics: Biotechnology, Magnetism, Materials Science, Medicine, Nanotechnology, Robotics Cultural reference: The Six Million Dollar Man, NBC In recent years, health and fitness wearables have gained popularity as platforms to wirelessly track daily physical activities, by counting steps, for example, or recording heartbeats directly from the wrist. To achieve this, inertial sensors in contact with theContinue reading “Steve Austin’s Beads…”
Flatland…
Topics: Particle Physics, Quantum Computer, Quantum Mechanics, Theoretical Physics Flatland: “The book used the fictional two-dimensional world of Flatland to comment on the hierarchy of Victorian culture, but the novella’s more enduring contribution is its examination of dimensions.” Source: Wikipedia After decades of exploration in nature’s smallest domains, physicists have finally found evidence that anyonsContinue reading “Flatland…”
Nano Laser…
Topics: Applied Physics, Bose-Einstein Condensate, Lasers, Nanotechnology, Optics Physicists have taken a step towards realizing the smallest-ever solid-state laser by generating an exotic quantum state known as a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) in quasiparticles consisting of both matter and light. Although the effect has so far only been observed at ultracold temperatures in atomically thin crystalsContinue reading “Nano Laser…”
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…”
Physics and Nano 