Here's my idea for this week, anyway--I was wondering if you writer-buddy types would like any tutorials on physics? Modern physics (general relativity and quantum mechanics in particular) tends to be pretty intriguing to most people, but also hard to follow, so I thought I'd offer my services as a geek.
Have you got any questions you'd like answered? Concepts you'd like explained? Please feel free to post them in the comments and I'll try to get to them this week! My credentials are an M.Sc. in physics.
11 comments:
ooh! ooh! ooh!
yes please!!! :)
I would like to know how magnetism and gravity are related...
:P
Geek me on down, baby.
Now that you mention it...
...how about some all-out geekiness on the physics of ghosts/spirits/chi?
*wipes anticipatory drool off chin*
B.S. in Physics in 1990. Lucky if I remember anything.
Aspiring X: Will do! :D
Sarf: Oh, sure, ask a HARD question...
Special relativity and magnetism are worth talking about, but gravity is general relativity and I don't think there's anything there I could discuss that wouldn't include tooooo much math for a blog.
Whirlochre: I am boogying with my slide rules out, baby.
Miss Sharp: Hee! Well, given I'm a skeptic, that could be delicate... Mind you, there really is some fascinating connections between science and what at least appears to be paranormal phenomenon. I'll look into it a bit!
Sarah: Hi five, baby! As far as I'm concerned, you're part of the club. (Don't tell anyone if I screw up, okay? :-D)
PS to Sarah: Merry Monteleone asked me if I could pass along your address so she can send you a thank you note for the books I sent her on your behalf.
Obviously I can't, but maybe you could pop over to her blog? She's got a new post up now about the flood.
Hi,
Found you via the Writtenwyrd comp, in which we're locked in battle!
Great blog; loads of interesting stuff. I'd love to more about the "spooky" effects of quantum mechanics. For example the notion of observing something changing its state - how does it know?!
Simon Kewin: *waves* Hi and welcome!
I'm planning on doing a post on quantum mechanics, so I will definitely try to talk about the "spooky" stuff.
I'll give you the punchline for the "observing-changes-everything!" weirdness, because this is really a pet peeve of mine. No one ever defines what they mean by "observing".
What does it mean to observe a table? It means the light strikes the table, then bounces off and your eye detects that light.
When you "observe" a particle, the same thing is happening--you're bouncing another particle off the first one.
And of course that's going to change what the first particle does! If you throw a marble through the air and hit it with a hammer, that's changes how it moves also.
Thanks for that. Reducing it particles makes it seem a little clearer to me. Is there no way of observing that doesn't involve actively bouncing particles of the thing being observed? Guess not! So you can never be a passive observer?
Simon Kewin: In some cases, you can detect (for example) photons given off by the particle you're studying, but even that affects the parent particle's trajectory. So no, there's no such thing as a passive observer on the quantum level.
Which always kinks my brain, because I start wondering whether the things I've learned are the physics of the system or just the constraints on learning about the system.
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