"Realize that there is an underpinning reality, a reality that exists below the reality that we feel with our fingers and see with our eyes"
What color is the night sky? Black, speckled with stars? Sure, but only to the underdeveloped human eye. Some animals see a completely different sky altogether. With Xperia arc and Dr. Joshua Peek's latest app, you can view the heavens in all their normally unseen glory: X-rays, gamma rays, far infrared, and more.
Showing posts with label Reality. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reality. Show all posts
November 19, 2011
Slowing down light
By use of a Bose--Einstein condensate, Danish physicist Lene Vestergaard Hau (Harvard University) succeeded in slowing a beam of light to about 17 metres per second, and, in 2001, was able to momentarily stop a beam completely.
About a decade ago, Hau started playing with BECs — for a physicist, that means shooting lasers at them. She found that lasers of the right wavelengths could tune the optical properties of a BEC, giving Hau an almost supernatural command over any other light shined into it.
Her first trick was slowing a pulse of light to a crawl — 25 kmph as it traveled through the BEC. Since then, Hau has completely frozen a pulse and then released it. And recently she shot a pulse into one BEC and stopped it — turning the BEC into a hologram, a sort of matter version of the pulse. Then she transferred that matter waveform into an entirely different BEC nearby — which emitted the original light pulse. That's just freaky. Hey, Einstein may have set that initial speed limit of light, but he only theorized about BECs. "It's not breaking relativity," Hau says. "But I'm sure he would have been rather surprised."
This clip was taken from BBC documentary Absolute Zero.
About a decade ago, Hau started playing with BECs — for a physicist, that means shooting lasers at them. She found that lasers of the right wavelengths could tune the optical properties of a BEC, giving Hau an almost supernatural command over any other light shined into it.
Her first trick was slowing a pulse of light to a crawl — 25 kmph as it traveled through the BEC. Since then, Hau has completely frozen a pulse and then released it. And recently she shot a pulse into one BEC and stopped it — turning the BEC into a hologram, a sort of matter version of the pulse. Then she transferred that matter waveform into an entirely different BEC nearby — which emitted the original light pulse. That's just freaky. Hey, Einstein may have set that initial speed limit of light, but he only theorized about BECs. "It's not breaking relativity," Hau says. "But I'm sure he would have been rather surprised."
This clip was taken from BBC documentary Absolute Zero.
The Bose-Einstein condensation of matter
In school we all learned that there are 3 states of matter; solid, liquid and gas. It turns out that we have been lied to. Most people will have heard of plasma which is sometimes called the 4th state of matter but there are many more. Have you ever heard of the Bose-Einstein Condensate phase of matter? Prepare yourself for some truly mindblowing stuff.
More info: Wikipedia - Bose-Einstein condensate
This clip was taken from a two part BBC series called absolute zero. Part 1 is called "The conquest of cold" and part 2 "The race for absolute zero". PBS has cut down that material to a single episode called absolute zero (1h40, HD) but I would recommend watching the longer BBC version.
More info: Wikipedia - Bose-Einstein condensate
This clip was taken from a two part BBC series called absolute zero. Part 1 is called "The conquest of cold" and part 2 "The race for absolute zero". PBS has cut down that material to a single episode called absolute zero (1h40, HD) but I would recommend watching the longer BBC version.
September 23, 2011
How long is a piece of string?
How long is a piece of string? It sounds like a ridiculous question... but it isn't. This hour long journey to find out the length of a certain piece of string will blow your mind. This trip takes you from the classical to the quantum and leaves you with more questions than answers. Easily one of the best episodes from BBC's Horizon. I know that an hour of your time is a lot to ask for, but believe me, it's worth it.
September 22, 2011
A cosmic voyage
A voyage through the scale of the universe narrated by Morgan Freeman. HD, full screen, open your mind and feel the chills crawl up your spine.
September 20, 2011
Is reality a mathematical structure?
Is math the foundation of our universe? Max Tegmark seems to thinks so.
September 19, 2011
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