The Coldest Place in the Universe

     Where's the coldest spot in the universe? Not on the moon, where the temperature plunges to a mere minus 378 Fahrenheit. Not even in deepest outer space, which has an estimated background temperature of about minus 455°F. As far as scientists can tell, the lowest temperatures ever attained were recently observed right here on earth.
   
     The record-breaking lows were among the latest feats of ultracold physics, the laboratory study of matter at temperatures so mind-bogglingly frigid that atoms and even light itself behave in highly unusual ways. Electrical resistance in some elements disappears below about minus 440°F, a phenomenon called superconductivity. At even lower temperatures, some liquefied gases become "superfluids" capable of oozing through walls solid enough to hold any other sort of liquid; they even seem to defy gravity as they creep up, over and out of their containers.
    
     Physicists acknowledge they can never reach the coldest conceivable temperature, known as absolute zero and long ago calculated to be minus 459.67°F. To physicists, temperature is a measure of how fast atoms are moving, a reflection of their energy—and absolute zero is the point at which there is absolutely no heat energy remaining to be extracted from a substance.


Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/phenom-200801.html#ixzz1dmyNsdVR

Graphic: ketchup bottle problems solved

Ever get frustrated with the leftover ketchup stuck in the bottom of the bottle and try to use a knife to get it out???


Well, look no further for a solution to that problem. Plant researchers, inspired by the near frictionless surface of the Pitcher (type of plant), have found a way to have the ketchup not stick to the bottom of the bottle.


Check out this article:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/8886117/Graphic-ketchup-bottle-problems-solved.html


Can you think of any problems this will cause besides the one mentioned in the article?

Tesla Coil

The Tesla coil is one of Nikola Tesla's most famous inventions. It is essentially a high-frequency air-core transformer. It takes the output from a 120vAC to several kilovolt transformer & driver circuit and steps it up to an extremely high voltage. Voltages can get to be well above 1,000,000 volts and are discharged in the form of electrical arcs. Tesla himself got arcs up to 100,000,000 volts, but I don't think that has been duplicated by anybody else. Tesla coils are unique in the fact that they create extremely powerful electrical fields. Large coils have been known to wirelessly light up florescent lights up to 50 feet away, and because of the fact that it is an electric field that goes directly into the light and doesn't use the electrodes, even burned-out florescent lights will glow.

Physics Jokes Anyone?

Ever wonder if you could tell your friends some funny physics jokes to get them more interested in a topic?

Well, below is a few to make you chuckle. Tell me your favorite one and why it's funny in class for some extra credit.

Gravitation can not be held responsible for people falling in love.

What did the thermometer say to the graduated cylinder? "You may have graduated but I've got many degrees".

Rene Descartes sits down for a meal at a Parisian restaurant. The waiter asks for his order and he orders a hamburger.The waiter asks, "Would you like fries with that?"Descartes says, "I think not," and instantly disappears.

What happens when electrons lose their energy? They get Bohr'ed.

A neutron walks into a bar and orders a beer."How much for the beer?" the neutron asks the bartender."For you?" replies the bartender,"no charge."

Courtesy of: http://www.jokesclean.com/Physics/

Are physicists really crazy?

Can we all agree that most physicists are a little bit crazy?


Well, in Isaac Newton's case, he wiated almost twenty years to publish his results from an experiment where he had formulated and numerically checked the gravitation law. His original conclusion was formulated by 1666, but wasn't published until s1687 in his book Principia for the pure reason that he could not justify his method of numerical calculation in which he considered Earth and the moon as point masses.


So, not only did Newton wait twenty years or so to publish his results, he also invented a type of calculus-based mathematics in order to solve his calculation problem.

Concluding, Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation states that:
Each mass particle attracts every other particle in the universe with a force that varies directly as the product of the two masses and inversly as the square of the distance between them. In equation form this looks like:

F=-G[(mM)/r^2]e_r.


What other equation have you seen that looks similar to this but applies to point charges?

Yay Hadron Collider!!!

http://chaospet.com/2008/09/12/107-large-hadron-collider/

Calculus Anyone?

How do you feel about using a TI-89 calculator?

Are you aware of all of the functions your calculator has?

Well, follow this link below and take a look. The video more describes calculus than the functionality of your calculator, but it is fantastic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-f2DH9jFck&feature=related

What is one thing that you know about calculus? (Not how you feel about it, but the actual content matter in the course.)