Jul 11
This Is How a Transistor Works
Posted in: Today's ChiliTransistors are the magical electronic components that make your computer, smartphone and virtually every other gadget on the planet function—but how the hell do they work?
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Jul 03
You might view your laptop as a nice, neatly contained unit—but there’s more bursting out of it than meets the eye. In fact, all of its electrical components create complex magnetic and electric fields that spread far and wide, and this video shows you their reach.
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Jul 03
Next time you’re trying to squeeze into your skinny jeans, it might pay to give physics a thought—because depending on how fast you’re travelling, you fat frame could look a little different. Randall Munroe explains in the mouse-over text of today’s XKCD:
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Jul 01
Future soldier: Theoretical physicist Michio Kaku on building a Death Star and Silicon Valley brain drain
Posted in: Today's Chili
Morning light shines softly through a large glass window as a travel-weary Michio Kaku gamely musters a smile. Just a few hours removed from a cross-country flight from the East Coast, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that this physicist is plain tired. Then the camera starts rolling. In an instant, Kaku looks rejuvenated as he plays to his audience and waxes poetic about his favorite subject — science.
In the world occupied by nerds and techno geeks, theoretical physicist and futurist Kaku is akin to a rock star. Chalk it up to a flowing mane of pepper-gray locks and the fact he co-created string field theory (which tries to unravel the inner workings of the universe). These days, Kaku can mostly be found teaching at City College of New York where he holds the Henry Semat Chair and Professorship in theoretical physics. When he isn’t teaching, Kaku still spends most of his extra time talking science, whether it be through his radio programs, best-selling books such as Physics of the Future or appearances on shows like The Colbert Report, where he recently enlightened Stephen Colbert about the dangers of sending Bruce Willis into space to blow up a deadly asteroid. As fun as it is for Kaku to talk physics, however, he also considers it a matter of survival
Jul 01
Ever wonder why roller coasters can make even the strongest of stomachs feel like they’re turning inside out? Or why, as you seemingly dangle dangerously upside down, you never quite feel like you’re actually upside down? And did you know that some of the force you feel along the way has the potential to "cause brains to bleed and eyeballs to explode?"
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Jun 28
Remember that time you mixed vinegar and baking soda and decided you wanted to be a scientist? Maybe you should have followed through. Then you could have been one of the guys that just developed a tabletop "gun" that creates positrons by shooting lasers at gold.
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Jun 28
Just imagine what it would be like if we could generate free energy. No need to worry about pollution, or fuel, or effort, or anything. It’s no wonder so many people have tried their hands at building perpetual motion machines. And thanks to the magic of GIFs, none of them ever has to fail.
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Jun 27
As babies, it doesn’t take long for us to realize that—as fun as it is to grab on to everything within our reach—it’s even more fun to chuck those things as far and as hard as we can. And now, thanks to a new study, we know the reason behind that delightfully destructive pitcher’s instinct—and it all started with Homo erectus almost two million years ago.
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Jun 18
Two teams of physicists have stumbled across a weird new subatomic particle that’s unlike anything else we’ve ever seen—and it could rewrite the rules of matter as we know them.
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Jun 18
You’ve probably heard people—including us—banging on about quantum computers for a long ol’ time. But that doesn’t necessarily mean you know exactly how they work. Fortunately this video is here to help.
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