[Draft] The beckoning frontier … the adventure … “not in my lifetime, you say … or for generations” … and live like what? … well, maybe I’ll pass on that Golden Ticket … Faster-than-light travel (FTL) is a common plot device in science fiction, with a long history in books, short stories, drama series, and… Continue reading The romance of FTL, a stark reality
One of the main themes of this blog is “What’s changed in the last 50 years?” — as far as our understanding of physics and the cosmos. For this post, let’s consider the last 100 years or so. There have been major changes in our cosmic perspective. Rather than adding the content of this post… Continue reading Cosmic retrospective — gamma ray bursts
Fermilab has an amazing presence on the Web. One of their sites is Fermilab at work. There’s a YouTube channel as well. There’s a splendid 10.5 minute video by Dr. Don Lincoln on “Why is the Weak Force weak?” Excellent graphics (including Feynman diagrams) and well presented. Published on Apr 14, 2017 The subatomic world… Continue reading Why is the Weak Force weak?
Happy Pi Day! When you’re trying to solve any interesting problem (a problem about almost anything) — a problem with lots of interplay between different things, it’s important to know what’s important and not, what makes a big effect on the result and not. And just how precise the result needs to be anyway (at… Continue reading Effective theory
So, one of the things that’s always bothered me in stories (film, TV, etc.) is magical powers. Sure, that can be entertaining. These stories are engaging because of strong characters, their conflict (the essential ingredient of any great story), and the ethical dilemmas over use of such powers. We expect magic in classical fairy tales (or in Harry Potter… Continue reading Magic Exclusion Principle
