4.6 Billion Years Ago: The Earth Forms
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| Our Blue Marble |
Friday, 30 July 2010
Perseid Meteor Shower
On the 11th-14th Aug 2010 there will be a spectacular meteor shower in the Perseus Constellation. It will be seen all around the world. Just look up and use your eyes!
I will be traveling Europe at this time and hope to see it in all the countries that I stay in.
Here is The New Meteorwatch Trailer http://bit.ly/96rLqJ
Thursday, 29 July 2010
Is Everything Ultimately Random?
We could start by turning this question on its head. Is everything predictable? Can we work out the rules that determine how the processes of the universe occur?
That would give us extraordinary power over nature, the kind of power humanity has always dreamed of......
That would give us extraordinary power over nature, the kind of power humanity has always dreamed of......
Views On the Laws of Thermodynamics
First Law:
You Can't Win
(Conservation of Energy)
Second Law:
You Can Only Lose
"Just as the constant increase in entropy is the basic law of the universe, so it is the basic law of life to be ever more highly structured and to struggle against entropy" Vaclav Havel, 1977
Third Law:
You Can't Get Out of The Game
(Absolute Zero)
Wednesday, 28 July 2010
Furthest Things From The Universe
With the aid of large telescopes, astronomers can look far into the Universe, beyond the edge of our Milky Way Galaxy. As far as those telescopes can probe, we see other galaxies. Most galaxies group together in systems called clusters. A cluster may contain just a few galaxies, or many thousands of galaxies, some smaller than the Milky Way- which is an average-sized galaxy, and some bigger. it's hard to see galaxies that are far away, because the distance makes them look very faint.
2,000 Light Years Away:
The Butterfly Star Cluster in the constellation of Scorpius. The light we see from these stars left just after t he Great Wall of China was built.
31,000 Light Years Away:
The fast spinning Millisecond Pulsar. The light we see from this star left when humans were colonising Europe.
100,000,000 Light Years Away:
Galaxy NGC 5850 in the constellation Virgo. The light from this galaxy left when dinosaurs roamed the Earth.
4,000,000,000 Light Years Away:
Distant galaxies. Some galaxies seen by our telescopes are so remote that the light reaching us now left them soon after the Earth was formed, when it was still being bombarded with meteorites.
2,000 Light Years Away:
The Butterfly Star Cluster in the constellation of Scorpius. The light we see from these stars left just after t he Great Wall of China was built.
31,000 Light Years Away:
The fast spinning Millisecond Pulsar. The light we see from this star left when humans were colonising Europe.
100,000,000 Light Years Away:
Galaxy NGC 5850 in the constellation Virgo. The light from this galaxy left when dinosaurs roamed the Earth.
4,000,000,000 Light Years Away:
Distant galaxies. Some galaxies seen by our telescopes are so remote that the light reaching us now left them soon after the Earth was formed, when it was still being bombarded with meteorites.
Big Events.....
10 Billion Years Ago: Light from the most distant galaxies that we can see with the Hubble Telescope begins its journey towards Earth
Tuesday, 27 July 2010
One, Two, Three...... Lots
How big does a number have to be before we'll call it a BIG Number? You might think that a hundred is big, or a thousand, or a million. But among some groups of people, before modern ideas about counting spread around the world from Europe, it was possible to count only to three. They had no way to describe any large numbers, except by saying "Lots". their counting system would be "one, two, three, lots". If we counted like this, wouldn't maths be a whole lot easier? However it would be hard to cope with our modern world.
What we mean by a Big Number depends on what we are measuring. A thousand people would be a big crowd, but it would be a very small number of atoms or bacteria. The Big Numbers relate to what they are measuring. Some are bigger than others, but they are all big in their own way.
Monday, 26 July 2010
You Don't Understand "Ordinary People"
Unhappy at being treated "increasingly badly" at the Institute for Advanced Study in 1985 26-year-old computer scientist Stephen Wolfram looked to ex-colleague and physics Nobelist Richard Feynman for advice. Feynman's honest, humorous, and less than encouraging response can be read at http://tinyurl.com/233fcgh
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"Find a way to do your research with as little contact with non-technical people as possible, with one exception, fall madly in love! That is my advice, my friend." |
Hayfever Sufferers Know Thy Enemy...
Amazing pictures taken with a scanning electron microscope http://bit.ly/cjAlNr
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