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Velociraptor42

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  1. Velociraptor42
    The Standard Model theorizes that the Higgs Field switched on about 100 picoseconds after the big bang. Recently, though, physicists have theorized that it happened a little more gradually than "switching on" in a process more like water boiling. When these bubbles of Higgs Field met, they created massive shockwaves that would have come with sonic booms. In one of the most cool theories in the early universe, the noise would have sounded a lot like thunder.

    or this


    (let's see if this cooperates and embeds this time)
    Regardless, researchers are now trying to hear the leftovers of this sonic boom.

    SPACE THUNDER.
  2. Velociraptor42
    Though we may not think of plants as moving things, we are sorely mistaken. The force of an opening flower may be very low - in the micro if not nano newtons - but as they exist and move, they are physics. Enjoy some beauty of nature, all dictated by the ever-present laws of physics.

    photo credit to Yutaka Kitamura






    Source
  3. Velociraptor42

    Time Travel

    By Velociraptor42,

    Everyone loves Ted Ed. And everyone loves time travel. So what happens when you put them together?

    Now, aside from the wonderful wonderful fact that the TARDIS makes a few appearances (making a certain Whovian very happy) as well as the DeLorean, what's actually going on? How does it relate to "time travel"?

    Well, the velociraptor is here to explain this to you. The only constant in the entire universe that is consistently constant (yes that's a sentence) is the speed of light in a vacuum (about 3e8 m/s). Therefore, if someone is moving whilst holding a flashlight, the velocities don't add up or subtract like they usually would. Instead, it is time that is warped. The greater the velocity of the mass, the more time is dilated for it. Essentially, if it was possible to have enough energy to accelerate an object to close to the speed of light (let's say 99.99%), relative to the inertial frame of say, the earth, the object could pass what was 10 years to itself and travel thousands of years into the future of the earth.

    Einstein explains this better than me. But there's some Theory of Special Relativity for ya
  4. Velociraptor42
    Recently I've come across a physics paper describing a certain way of time travel using the awesome theme of Doctor Who (as well as a Portal reference) to explain things. Explaining the name is something I'd rather leave to the creators of this theory though, so here's that:

    The name refers to a bubble (a Domain) which moves through the spacetime at speeds greater than the speed of light (it is Achronal); it moves backwards in time (Retrograde to the arrow of time outside the bubble); and finally, it can transport massive objects (it is Traversable)

    So, what exactly is this TARDIS? Glad you asked. And if you didn't, well, too bad. You're going to hear about it anyway. Or just leave this post. Either way. TARDIS. So. Basically. A light cone is a boundary that shows you what and where can be traveled. If a point source of light were turned on and you watched its 2D passage through time, it would create a cone.
    this probably explains it a bit better than I can
    Anything outside of the light cone would therefore have to move faster than light. Past the event horizon of a black hold, light cones all point inward and so no matter can escape without going faster than light and therefore backwards in time. Well, what if you could bend the direction these cones, and time itself? By creating a circular path (which would require faster than light particles - whoops), you could go back in time, then accelerate forward, even going sideways in time, as long as you ended in the same place you started. Kind of like a loop. However, the fun parts happen when you splice these achronal loops. You could end up in a point in time just prior to when you first started traveling, or if you cut a "donut" (that's what they seem like to me) in half, you could stay moving backwards in time, essentially becoming antimatter (note: look up single electron universe theory if this seems interesting)

    As always, the source explains it much better than I, along with diagrams and other cool stuff and even fandoms.
  5. Velociraptor42
    Oh jeez, more fluids? Thank god this post is more about the images than the workings behind it.

    Back on point though - vortices are ubiquitous, seen wherever there are fluids. Which is everywhere in the universe. And since vortices act similarly no matter what the size, even the smallest of swirls can help us understands occurances such as cyclones and superstorms.

    From smallest to largest, here are some examples:

    In the wake of a water skeeter


    Incense smoke


    Colored smoke in the wake of a landing plane (this one's for you, Bobby)


    The aurora


    Clouds


    Phytoplankton in the ocean


    The center of the HEXAGONAL storm on the polar cap of Saturn


    Aand to top it off, Spiral Galaxy NGC 4921


    For the rest of this series including 24 more stunning photographs as well as the sources, visit here
  6. Velociraptor42
    Totally undisclosed and unknown Physics C student here ready to inform you all about the most important parts of the year: my opinions. Well, there's no need to worry because you will be getting it whether you like it or not. No, really, it's required that I write this so that I can boost my grade and all.
    So. Why am I in Physics C? Good question. It all started back when I was five years old......
    No, but really, it's because I'm going into biomedical engineering and physics is kind of a good thing for an engineer to know. Also, my friend Ender had Mr. Fullerton a few years ago and he told me that even though he was in regents (I think) Mr. Fullerton was an awesome teacher. No, I am not sucking up. Plus, look at this guy. He has a sword. How cool is that? And there's Zoro I mean come on.
    All things aside, I like learning how the world actually functions according to SCIENCE, and feeling smart when I can pull out random facts I remember from class.
    STAND BACK EVERYONE, I'M GOING TO TRY SCIENCE

    Which reminds me. For a webcomic that deals with physics and computers and sarcasm and math and wonderous geeky stuff a lot, go to http://xkcd.com/. Especially check out the what-if section for super science-y stuff because it's all what would happen in random scenarios due to the laws of physics. Woot.

    I believe I am done rambling now. Til next time that I forget I have a post due until an hour before
  7. Velociraptor42
    As per usual, this will make more sense if you start out by watching a lovely
    It's fairly simplistic, but introduces the topic.
    So. Our universe is one with three dimensions of space and one of time. But why? Why doesn't it only have one dimension, or twenty? This is, of course, ignoring string theory/m theory (though I will likely make a post about that later). For a young 3D universe, our temperature is much more uniform than would be expected. There's also that whole pesky question of inflation and how the heck it works.

    A new theory has come out saying that our universe may in fact be the backside of a four dimensional black hole that exists in the larger 4D universe. Confused? Here's a "dumbed down" version of the theory. If that makes sense, you should read this article which goes a little more in depth.

    To put it most simply, our black holes have 2D event horizons, so by extrapolation we can assume a four dimensional black hole would have a three dimensional event horizon. If our universe was in fact a "brane" inside a larger and older 4D universe, that would give an interesting explanation for why our temperatures are so uniform even when looking into the past.

    Long story short? Olivia likes theoretical physics and black holes. When they come together how can I not blog about it?

    If you're still interested, you can read the original physics paper here
  8. Velociraptor42
    First, as usual, watch this video:


    (easter egg: look for the Doctor Who reference at 5:30)

    Yes, that is the entire history and future of everything in seven minutes. Yes, that is kind of scary. But the inevitable heat death of the universe is, well, exactly that. Inevitable. Luckily, we will all be loooooooong dead before then, if that makes you feel any better. Actually I think I just made that worse. Oops.

    Anyways, this brings up the interesting nature of time, and our lack of ability to travel through it. Well, we can time travel, at a rate of exactly one second per second. Pretty lame, and slightly asinine of me to bring up, but it proves the point that for us, time moves only in one direction and at a set speed. I know I've talked about the nature of time multiple times (ha. haha. punny.) but it's just very intriguing. We seem to think we're so important, dividing up our time into smaller time units and carefully planning all of it out, when compared to all of time it's a speck. Yet, our measuring of time as relatively constant (not getting into special relativity of course) is what makes everything measurable in physics.

    Well, time for me to end this post. Cricket's begging to sit on the laptop, and I need to stop making horrific puns.

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