Calculate Your Way to Special Relativity Just Like Einstein
What happens when you look at the electromagnetic force from two different reference frames? The answer: Special Relativity The post…
How Breakthrough Starshot’s Tiny Spacecraft Can Hack Physics to Go Interstellar
The goal of the Starshot program is to create small nanocraft to travel at very high speeds in order to…
The Physics of That Crazy Ricochet Hole in One at the Masters
During the 2016 US Masters Oosthuizen had a shot that deflected off another ball to result in a hole in…
Dang, the Death Star Is Coming Together Quick in the New Star Wars Trailer
A scene in the Rogue One trailer shows the assembly of the Death Star. How fast was the dish piece…
The Physics Behind Another Bogus Perpetual Motion Machine
I said I wouldn’t look at these silly machines anymore, but I decided to do another one. Here is a…
Would Magneto Get Whiplash if Quicksilver Pushed Him Out of Danger? No, He’d Just Die
In X-Men: Days of Future Past, Quicksilver rescues Magneto by running really fast through a hallway. What kind of acceleration…
Three Ways to Make a Rocket From a Bottle (Bonus: GIFs!)
Here are three different methods to make a rocket – water and air, soda and butane or liquid nitrogen and…
Science Education Is Woefully Uncreative. That Has to Change
Is science a creative endeavor? Yes! However, most people don’t think so, so our science classes are typically deficient in…
You Can Solve Quantum Mechanics’ Classic Particle in a Box Problem With Code
The classic quantum mechanics problem is a particle in a 1-D box. Here is a numerical solution to that problem.…
Sure, Superman Has X-Ray Vision. But How Would It Actually Work?
In both the comics and the movies, Superman has the power of X-ray vision. How would this work and what…