Science Archives - Just My Writing

The Future Hides the Truth

by Author on July 22, 2015 with No Comments

Back in 1929 the brilliant and persistent astronomer Edwin Hubble made discoveries that proved that our universe was expanding, with all the heavenly bodies moving away from each other in a straight dance, like coloured dots on the surface of an ever inflating balloon. Something that is well known today and taken for granted, but back then it was pretty amazing to just discover that our Milky Way galaxy was not the only one in the universe, let alone that … Read More

Stephen Hawking on TED

by Author on July 22, 2015 with No Comments

There is nothing bigger or older than the universe. The questions I would like to talk about are: one, where did we come from? How did the universe come into being? Are we alone in the universe? Is there alien life out there? What is the future of the human race? Up until the 1920s, everyone thought the universe was essentially static and unchanging in time. Then it was discovered that the universe was expanding. Distant galaxies were moving away … Read More

Model Dependent Reality

by Author on July 22, 2015 with No Comments

Physicists nowadays adopt an approach called “model-dependent realism” when using theories or models to explain how the world around us, from the sub-atomic level to the entire universe, works. The idea is that when a theory or model used is successful in explaining a particular physical situation/observation then we assume that it is true and valid. By “successful” we mean that the results predicted by the model agree with experimental results. It may be that an entirely different model for … Read More

Weirdest Physics Facts

by Author on July 22, 2015 with No Comments

An electron can spin both clockwise and anti-clockwise at the same time. If you were to go round in a circle at a speed close to the speed of light, you will end up traveling forward in time. GPS systems work accurately only because they take into account that time on earth runs more slowly on earth than it does in outer space, as the earth’s gravity slows time down. As already predicted by the general theory of relativity. Two … Read More