Physics - Page 2

Looking at the stars, some people frequently dream of developing new horizons, colonization of planets of the Solar System and their satellites, others dream of Mathew McConaughey. The rest of humanity plans the interstellar space traveling in a long-term perspective. Everybody believes the main problems during the space mission are the supply of air, food and water. We have bad news for you, all the astronauts will possibly be dead due to the lethal dose of radiation even before they get to the far planets. This will be caused by the cosmic rays. Continue reading →

Aurora is a phenomenon widely recognized by the population of the high latitudes and the Southern Hemisphere. In daily use, we call it accordingly to its location: either aurora borealis (North Pole) or aurora australis (South Pole). It can be frequently observed in the North of the Continent of North America, Nordic countries and Siberia. The Cree Indians, one of the most numerous Canadian tribes, call it Dance of the Spirits and read them as their gods’ messages. Vikings, in their turn, considered them to be the reflections of the swards of valkyries in the sky. Finally, dwellers of the Russian shore of the Arctic Ocean believe aurora is a frozen song. But what aurora actually is and how can it be forecast? Let’s take it closer. Continue reading →

Each of us hears the sound from the speakers every day multiple times without even paying attention to it: in a café or pub, in the gym or in transport, at home, etc. But how often do you think of how the speakers actually work? Did you know that their sound can control the element of water? Let’s see what tricks you can perform with the water flow and consider some other features of the speakers. Continue reading →

Most often, the question “why is the snow white” is asked by children, yet not all adults know the answer as well. Why it’s white and not red, green or whatever? Moreover, there’s one more question concerning snow. Why is the ice transparent while the snow is white? The answer to both of these questions is connected with two things: the very notion of color and the structure of snow and ice. We’ll start with the first problem. Let’s explain it from physics perspective. Continue reading →

You’ve probably ever observed snowflakes. Even with the naked eye you can notice  that none of them ever repeats another. In one cubic meter of snow there are approximately  350 million snowflakes, and each of them is unique. How’s that possible? To answer that question let’s consider the physics of snowflake formation. It’s interesting, that you can not have a pentagonal or heptagonal snowflake, they all have strictly hexagonal shape. Continue reading →