Tag: Physics

• 12.24.07

  Perfect Water

  How Physics and Computers bring an Ocean to Life for the Movies Water seems like simple stuff, even when it's in motion. But try to fake it - like let’s say for a multimillion-dollar summer blockbuster movie - and you’ve got a problem. Until

• 11.12.07

  Stressed Out

  Getting Structures to Inspect Themselves Every man-made structure can fail. And when we're talking about something like a bridge or an airplane, the results can be catastrophic - like the I-35 bridge that collapsed in Minnesota last August. Because brid

• 10.29.07

  Dr. Megavolt

  Who says you have to wait for a thunderstorm to see lightning? Heck, why not make it yourself? That may have been the thinking of renowned physicist Nikola Tesla* when created what is now known as the Tesla Coil, an instrument that transmits electric

• 10.22.07

  James Gates: Theoretical Physicist

  Searching for a Theory of Everything Sylvester James Gates, Jr. has been pioneering new territory throughout his career. He began his groundbreaking work in 1977, when he earned his Ph.D. in the studies of elementary particle physics and quantum field t

• 10.15.07

  Physics for Pitchers

  Why Does a Curveball Curve? What makes a curveball curve and a slider slide? Basic aerodynamics, as manipulated by a skillful pitcher. Three forces act on a spinning baseball as it flies toward the plate: the downward pull of gravity, the slowing drag o

• 10.15.07

  Sounds of Silence

  Scientists learn about Earth from inaudible whispers Though we might not be aware of them, the sounds we are unable to hear can tell us a lot about the world around us. Geophysicist Milton Garces of the University of Hawaii, for instance, uses special in

• 10.15.07

  Origami Master Robert Lang

  The Folding Physicist Origami: It’s not just about folding up pieces of paper to make those little cranes anymore. Physicist Robert Lang has made a science of this ancient Japanese art. In more than 30 years of practicing the craft, Lang has create

• 10.15.07

  Ball Busters

  The Scientists Who Keep Major League Baseball Honest Back when baseball was young, it was a rare major league batter who had hit more than 50 home runs in a career. Then all of a sudden in the 1990s, the number of heavy homer hitters started going up lik