31
POPSSeeing in four dimensions The videos are all available free at www.dimensions-math.org. The videos go on to show how we can visualize imaginary numbers geometrically, how fractal patterns emerge in the Mandelbrot set and Julia sets, and how beautiful and complex shapes can be built up from circles.
8
POPSDo parallel universes really exist? Something to ponder while you look up into the night sky. The best time is a campfire with some friends or family. Interesting conversation... To read the full article: http://science.howstuffworks.com/parallel-universe.htm
7
POPSHigh-flying Electrons May Provide New Test Of Quantum Theory "The experiment, outlined in a new paper,* would not only mean more accurate identifications of elements in everything from stars to environmental pollutants but also could put the modern theory of the atom to the most stringent tests yet." "NIST researchers Joseph Tan and colleagues hope to implement this approach experimentally in their Electron Beam Ion Trap Facility. The idea would be to strip an atom of all its electrons, cool it and inject a single electron in a high-flying orbit. Then the researchers would use a sensitive measurement device known as a frequency comb to measure the light absorbed by this Rydberg atom. The result could be an ultraprecise frequency measurement that would yield an improved value for the Rydberg constant. Such a measurement would be so sensitive that it could reveal anomalies in quantum electrodynamics, the modern theory of the atom."
28
POPSBefore the Big Bang - the Big Bounce Now, however, Dr Bojowald and fellow physicists are exploring territory unknown even to Einstein - the time before the Big Bang - using his new theory, called Loop Quantum Cosmology. An analysis of this, one of a series of newly-emerging theories which combine Einstein's theory of gravity (general relativity) with that of the subatomic world (quantum theory), "is supposed to provide a non-singular framework in which one could address the question of what was there before the Big Bang," he says.
27
POPSOrigins of Life? The origin of life to me has always been a struggle between ocean floor vents, and building blocks coming from outside our planet.
12
POPSNanotubes yield the Blackest Black 30 times darker than the current Standard of Blackness set by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology. The light that hits it is not reflected it is collected, but they have so far been working with visible light, and are continuing tests with other wavelengths. The creator Pulickel Ajayan, also holds the 2006 Guiness Book record for worlds smallest brush
4
POPS Algebraic Surfaces I clipped the images but had to stop clipping the formulas - ie: there are more formulas at the source
31
POPSIs Time disappearing from the universe? At an everyday level, the change would not be perceptible. However, it would be obvious from cosmic scale measurements tracking the course of the universe over billions of years. The change would be infinitesimally slow from a human perspective, but in terms of the vast perspective of cosmology, the study of ancient light from suns that shone billions of years ago, it could easily be measured Difficult to fathom.
52
POPSThe Mathematical Lives of Plants The seeds of a sunflower, the spines of a cactus, and the bracts of a pine cone all grow in whirling spiral patterns. Remarkable for their complexity and beauty, they also show consistent mathematical patterns that scientists have been striving to understand. ... Scientists have puzzled over this pattern of plant growth for hundreds of years. Why would plants prefer the golden angle to any other? And how can plants possibly "know" anything about Fibonacci numbers? For the first time, scientists have found convincing biochemical mechanisms responsible for the interlocking spiral growth patterns seen in many plants. (The Romanesco broccoli plant is a striking example.) The video of the experiment with magnetized liquid iron droplets demonstrates how the geometry of such growth could occur in nature.
2
Clips
Latest Pops
Latest Comments
Most Pops
Tags
Print
Save
Turn on live update