If you’ll remember from our studies of String Theory and gravitons, I made the statement that I’m not a big fan of including gravity as a fundamental force of nature.

The New York Times has an in-depth piece that explains this more…

A Scientist Takes On Gravity – NYTimes.com: “So says Erik Verlinde, 48, a respected string theorist and professor of physics at the University of Amsterdam, whose contention that gravity is indeed an illusion has caused a continuing ruckus among physicists, or at least among those who profess to understand it. Reversing the logic of 300 years of science, he argued in a recent paper, titled ‘On the Origin of Gravity and the Laws of Newton,’ that gravity is a consequence of the venerable laws of thermodynamics, which describe the behavior of heat and gases.”

You gotta love science!

Yikes!

YouTube – Neil DeGrasse Tyson – Death By Black Hole

Remember, science never stops improving itself.

Here’s a great example of new findings improving on the data and info first provided by Einstein’s investigations into Brownian Motion…

Brownian motion moves beyond Einstein’s equations: “There are nuances to particle movement and energy at tiny scales that one of Einstein’s equations did not capture, according to a paper published in Science this week. Researchers were able to measure the instantaneous velocity of a tiny glass bead undergoing Brownian motion, or making tiny random movements, and found that the particle was not always governed by the forces that Einstein predicted. Knowing how Brownian motion works at these short intervals may allow researchers to study these tiny particle systems for quantum effects”

Gotta love science!

We’ll discuss in class on Friday…

STEPHEN HAWKING: How to build a time machine | Mail Online: ” I do believe in time travel. Time travel to the future. Time flows like a river and it seems as if each of us is carried relentlessly along by time’s current. But time is like a river in another way. It flows at different speeds in different places and that is the key to travelling into the future. This idea was first proposed by Albert Einstein over 100 years ago. He realised that there should be places where time slows down, and others where time speeds up. He was absolutely right. And the proof is right above our heads. Up in space.”

Great article written by Prof Hawking himself. Go give it a read.

Here are the questions on Einstein that we started in class today (due tomorrow):

Einstein Questions

Have fun!

As part of our ongoing studies of quantum mechanics, we covered the four fundamental forces of nature today.

Here are the handouts from our conversation:

* FindingForces.pdf

* ForcesofNature.pdf

Please make sure to have them finished before class tomorrow!

Today we started our last unit of study… the fascinating world of quantum mechanics.

The basics I hope you all gathered from our conversation today involves 1) Einstein’s objections to the developments of the quantum model and 2) the 4 forces of nature.

We’ll go more in depth on these two areas this week.

In the meantime, here’s the video we watched featuring the “Double Slit Experiment:”

… and here’s a fascinating lecture by a Professor from Fermilab (research facility similar to the LHC):

Enjoy and I’ll see you tomorrow!

This week we are starting our quarter-long exploration of electromagnetism.

I love this subject and you will too by the time we’re finished in May.

So, get a head start tonight and start reading James Clerk Maxwell’s Preface to his incredibly influential “A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism” (it was one of Einstein’s favorite books as well)…

Forget Pi Day (not really), it’s Albert Einstein’s birthday!

We’ll have a little celebration tomorrow in class.

In the meantime, go listen to this fascinating story about Einstein’s Brain (from 2005).

Happy Birthday, Einstein!

Go find out why here.

Science rocks.