Ben: OK, everyone. Forget Tesla. It’s time to start obsessing about Luis Alvarez. [That’s Luis Alvarez in the photo, standing in front of the Great Artiste. This post began, as so much in life does, with a Twitter conversation. Ben Lillie, a physicist and writer, began it; other people added to it. One of those […]
Physics
A couple of months ago astronomers reported the discovery of an unusual six-component “gravitational lens”—six images of the same object coming at us from slightly different positions in the sky. As light traveling across the universe passes a large mass, the gravity from the mass will serve as a kind of lens, bending the rays. […]
Time again to reach into the “Ask Mr. Cosmology” mailbag and see what readers want to know about . . . The Wonders of the Universe! Q: Why does the full moon look larger near the horizon than when it’s higher in the sky? Mr. Cosmology: Because it is. Q: What is the correct pronunciation of supernovae? Mr. Cosmology: Supernovae. […]
I do seem to keep referring to Freeman Dyson, even writing whole posts about him. The reason, I think, is that I want to write a profile of him, even though 1) profiles of him have been done and done and done, the most recent being a full-blown biography; and 2) he’s way above my […]
The first time I heard Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” there were a lot of things I was on the verge of understanding. My first contact with the song was in the movie Wayne’s World, which also highlighted some of this dawning awareness. I knew it was funny when the main characters, Wayne and Garth, said “Schwing!” but […]
Physicists, like the ancient Greeks, like to gossip about their gods. A few days ago, three physicists* were talking on Twitter** about a review by a fourth physicist, Freeman Dyson, of a biography of one of these gods, J. Robert Oppenheimer, and about his war with another one, John Archibald Wheeler. Physicist #1: Oppenheimer did […]
Physicists do say these things about quantum mechanics — a highly-mathematical description of fundamental reality at the bottom of which is the uncertainty principle in which the act of measuring one piece of reality screws up other measurements. The upshot is, the whole of reality isn’t measureable all at once. The more you think about […]
Time again to reach into the “Ask Mr. Cosmology” mailbag and see what readers want to know about . . . The Wonders of the Universe! First up, some questions from the comments portion of the previous installment of “Ask Mr. Cosmology.” Q: Is protest against God morally acceptable? Mr. Cosmology: Unlike Richard, Mr. Cosmology knows better than to venture into […]
