String Theory

Due to recent mocking's about String Theory, I am going to do a post explaining the very basic concepts of string theory, with no math involved - although I may show the equation used to 'back-up' string theory.


String Theory basically says that all particles (ie gluons, electrons, tau's) are made up of vibrating string, that vibrate at many different 'pitches' if you want to say; these are "excitation modes."


There are two main types of String Theories, one with open string loops, and one with closed string loops. the strings with closed loops can break into open string (like snapping an elastic band in a sense) and those with closed string loops cannot break into open strings.


Like mentioned before in another post about SUSY (Super symmetry), SUSY is a big part in String Theory. When string theory contains fermions (basically elementary particles), SUSY is needed.


String Theory also tells us that there are more than our 3 general dimensions (left/right, up/down, forward/back) in some theories there are up to 14 dimensions!

There is not much to talk about while speaking about the basics of string theory, it is very complex and the math is very very hard to understand.


Here is just some of the math involved in String Theory, as you can tell - its not easy to understand.


String Theory is probably our best competitor for a T.O.E in my opinion, but it would take a lot to completely prove strings, the split apart a quark to find a string, we'd need a machine apparently as big as Jupiter!


String Theory is becoming more and more precise every day. It is the biggest and best theory of our universe.


Thanks for reading, Ben.

Methods of Terraforming

Methods of Terraforming

As I described in my last post the beginning of the terraforming process would need to include heating. A great rise in Mars' average temperature would be needed before a change was noticeable in an increase of the volume of carbon dioxide in the air. A mass increase in the average heat of the planet could be achieved through satelite mirrors which orbit Mars and direct a higher concentration of sunlight on to the planets surface - thus raising the temperature. Heating the frozen carbon dioxide on areas of the surface of Mars would achieve the desired affect of the increase of greenhouse gases in the environment. This is turn would heat the planet and this cycle would continue until optimum temperature was achieved.

I sometimes find it funny how on this planet we are desperate to decrease the number of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere however we need to increase them on Mars in order to achieve the first few steps of terraforming.

Another way that Mars could be heated is by producing power plants around the planet which have the sole purpose of making greenhouse gases. This in turn would cause the greenhouse effect which could start the 'cycle'.

After this process takes place and the heat of Mars is ok for human, animal or plant life - basic plants could be introduced to the surface able to survive some of the rest of mars' conditions. The plant life would photosynthesise and a little breathable oxygen would be introduced to Mars' environment. This would take years and would have to take place on a mass scale however the results would be amazing for the human race. Later on organisms like bacteria could be introduced and then more complex life.

Another problem that humans would have to tackle in order to make the planet habitable is Mars' lack of a magnetosphere. Since the planet does not have a magnetosphere harsh radiation would penetrate the atmosphere and harm any life living on the surface. So underground shelters or bunkers would have to be used to sustain life. 

The human race would have to make many sacrifices in order for Mars to become habitable however the end result would be magnificent - a new Earth for the human race.

Quantum Ghosts.

Quantum mechanics can describe many things, from the universe to gluons. M Theory and String Theory tell us there are 14/12 dimensions. What do these have in common though?


In quantum mechanics, particles can be in two places at once, or even everywhere at once. String theory tells us that particles can be in different dimensions.


And classical physics tells us that E.N.D. "Energy never dies."


So what happens when you die?


Where does the energy locked away in your body go?


It cant die with you, as energy cannot die.


Some people speculate ghosts to be particles in other dimensions, energy locked away in unknown dimensions, yet we can only see them at certain times. That is why we have 'sensed' ghosts, or even picked up heat signatures from them. Many people are sceptical about ghosts, they shun their existence and feel very strongly about this.


Why can't they exist, cause you can't see them? You can physically see air at room temperature, that still exists right? We have evidence toward ghosts, just since there is no physical explanation for them - we do not believe, and their existence being 'over-hyped' and 'over-exaggerated' in cinemas, movies etc.


Ghosts aren't too unrealistic, they're believable.


Exorcisms. Scary, yes I know - but real? That's for you to decide.


Many people have reported possessed people to spit up iron like fingers during an exorcism, and speaking in an unnaturally low, demonic voice - is it true? Can one's body really be possessed by a demon?


Watching footage of exorcisms is very very disturbing. Watch one if you may.


People would not go to the extent that they do in these videos of exorcisms if they weren't actually possessed. There are videos of women biting their own arm off (apparently), and it isn't CGI either. Could the devil exist in someone's soul? Many people says its all a lie. Many people would disagree.


It isn't their opinion that should matter to you, you should make your own assumptions. Its your life, right? You decide what you do... Unless you're possessed, then well - you cant. Ghosts can be anything, they could be energy manifesting itself into a human like form, or the particles in another dimension, in the shape of others. There is startling evidence toward the 'paranormal'.


What do you believe?


Thanks for reading, Ben.

The Photoelectric Effect.

In the spirit of Albert Einstein [again] i'm going to do a post on his, well what should be - most famous discovery. 

In 1905 Albert Einstein published a paper on the Photoelectric Effect [which I spoke about on Wednesday, it was in his 'Annus Mirabilis' year]. The photoelectric effect is the effect in which delocalised electrons are 'emitted' from a metal, due to the absorption of light.

Albert Einstein concluded that light is a particle, called a photon. Yet, it is also a wave. This is particle-wave duality, in light. 

These delocalised electrons can only be 'freed' if the wavelength of the light is high enough to over come to work function, i'm going to call the work function W [it is sometimes noted as Wo] - W is the amount of energy need to free an electron.

If we have red light, at a wave length of 700nm hitting sodium, will electrons be released?

In any equation you will be given W, which for sodium is 3.6x10^-19 J. 

You are given the wave length too, 700 nm, or 7x10^-7 m - you will also be told h, which is Planck's constant, or 6.626x10^-34.

If you didn't know, the energy of a photon is equal to E=hf or E=hc/λ.

So, E = (6.626x10^-34 * 3x10^8)/7x10^-7 - this equals... 

2.84x10^-19 J!

So, like Einstein found out, red light does not excite electrons enough to let them 'escape' the sodium, as it is not higher than W - or 3.6x10^-19 J.

Now onto violet light, with a wavelength of 400nm! Once again lets do our equation, but this time we'll use 4x10^-7m instead of 7.

So, E = (6.626x10^-34 * 3x10^8)/4x10^-7 - this equals... 

4.97x10^-19 J!

This is high enough to allow electrons to escape, and with a little extra math, we can work out their velocity too!

We'll use the equation: hf=W+1/2mv^2. Where hf is what we've just done, W is the work function, m is the mass of an electron and v is the velocity.

Since we know hf (we've just worked it out) as 4.97x10^-19 J, then...

4.97x10^-19 J = W+1/2mv^2.

Substitute an electrons mass and the work function of sodium into it and we get: 4.97x10^-19 J = (3.6x10^-19)+1/2(9.11x10^-31)*v^2.

You will always be given the mass of an electron, just incase theirs any confusion.

We can then work out the velocity by subtracting things from both sides.

Minus W off both sides and we get 1.37x10^-19 (4.97-3.6).

So, 1.37x10^-19 = 1/2(9.11x10^-31)*v^2.

If we times both sides by two, then divide by 9.11x10^-31 we get...

3x10^-11. The equation now states 3x10^-11 = v^2.

If we square root both sides we get the velocity, which is...

5.48x10^5 m/s - thats is incredibly fast!

Sorry for the long winded and mathematically challenging post, when you read this i'll be in Scotland somewhere so thank you for reading, once again;

Thanks for reading, Ben.

(If you're wondering why this is Ben's post since I said he was away this was saved in the drafts - as he said above he's in Scotland, thanks)

Terraforming

"All civilisations become either space faring or extinct."
-Carl Sagan

 Terraforming

Current projections show that the world's population will reach 9 billion by around 2050.

Our worlds population is currently growing at 1.15% per year.

In 40 years the population of Earth has doubled.
Doubled.

That's a growth of 3 billion per year.

We need more space - and fast.

The  more the population grows, the more food we need. The more energy we need. The more homes we need.

The more space we need.

Logically the human race needs to move and branch out from our home planet and soon. But since the space travel technology we have today isn't amazing perhaps we should looks for places closer to home, in our Solar System.

This is where terraforming comes in.

 

An artists conception of a terraformed Mars.

Humans can obviously not survive the temperatures of Mars (on average around −63 °C).
We can't survive the radiation on Mars' surface.

and without a great supply of water or a place to grow crops without an indoor maintained environment sources of nourishment would be bleak.

These problems restrict us as we need to wear space suits in order to survive for even a quick mission on planets like these.

And do you know how much these things cost?

A space suit today costs around 13-16 million dollars.

So some how I don't think a selection of the human race will be prancing around mars in these super priced suits.

We need to alter the environment of mars itself which will allow the human race to live how they are ... and their are certain ways to do this - as fantasy as it sounds.

The first step is that we would need to heat up Mars. 

The good thing about terraforming is that it is all a chain reaction - and technically it has happened before. On the planet we are on right now. Years ago our planet was riddled with lava and plate tectonics but now it is home to features like lush forests and fields. So this transformation can take place and maybe to induce it on other planets like Mars we should just look back to our distant past.

Heating up the planets temperature would start the process of a chain reaction by melting the supposed frozen carbon dioxide around Mars. Increasing the volume of carbon dioxide in the air is the basis of the 'plan'.

We all know that the basis of photosynthesis is that plants take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen right? So eventually by introducing plants or structures such as stromatolites onto the planet the planets environment could essentially become healthy enough to support human life.

Anyway, this is the basic idea of terraforming and I will be talking about it in more detail and describing some of the methods in future posts. I'm sorry for our strange blog schedule recently and we should get it back soon - (Ben is away at the moment and I will be taking over some of his posts.) But thank you for reading guys - Chris.

Albert Einstein!

"A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new." - Albert Einstein

Happy birthday to the most influential and in my opinion one of the smartest men to ever have lived! Albert Einstein, 133 years since his date of birth today. 


I take it all of you have heard of him, yes?


But I take it all of you do not know what he actually did, no?


You will all of heard have E=mc^2 but apart from that many people do not know much of Albert's work. He didn't even win his Nobel Prize for his most known equation; E=mc^2 - it was a totally unrelated (kind of) subject. 


Einstein received his Nobel Prize for his discoveries regarding the photoelectric effect, and "his contributions to Theoretical Physics."


In this post I will highlight some of Einstein's key papers.


His main papers were his theories of General and Special Relativity, these revolutionised physics as we know it. Without these papers I do not think we would be where we are today with physics. 


Einstein published 4 main papers in 1905, they are called the Annus Mirabilis papers, this translates from Latin into extraordinary year. It as an extraordinary year indeed, 4 papers published in basically 4 month, on after another.


One on Brownian Motion, which was the evidence needed to prove the atom.


One on the Photoelectric Effect, which said that light 'traveled' in particles, and were called 'quanta'. This then lead to the uprising of quantum theory. (This was published before the Brownian Motion paper).


The next was on Special Relativity, which was about electricity - and Maxwells equations to do with it. it then goes on to talk about the speed of light. 


And finally the Matter-Energy Equivalence, which contains the amazing equation E=mc^2, this paper lead to Einstein hypothesising that gravity bends light etc.


Einstein has accomplished a lot in physics, he is the most successful physicist who has ever existed in my opinion, even 65 years (approx) after his death - we still know his name. He has left a physics legacy, which lead to quantum theory and another whole branch of physics. Take some time out of your day today to appreciate the work of Albert Einstein.


Thanks for reading, Ben.

Albert Einstein!

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex... It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction."

You will rarely hear a physicist use the word genius when referring to people these day's although there is one person they will always praise.

-Albert Einstein.

The father of modern day physics Einsteins work was crucial and the basis of some of our modern physics today. You've no doubt heard of the equation E=mc^2. (otherwise, have you been living in a cave‽) this equation was created from Einsteins special relativity work and featured in his paper on mass/energy equivalence. This equation is famous worldwide and when physics is mentioned this equation is usually present in most minds today. It basically says that E (energy) = m (mass)*c (the speed of light - in a vaccumn) ^2 and in a way states that mass and energy are one of the same and can be described and equivalent.

But back to Einstein ...

Many of Einsteins papers lead to increase work in that topic and often entire branches of physics - to name a few: in one paper Einstein describes the particle/wave duality of light which later lead to De Broglies theorem of a particle/wave duality for all matter, another instance is general or special relativity which has branched into a field of physics.

It is clear why Einstein is so praised in the physics community - as well as being one of the great mind of history he was shown to set a spark of physics. In my opinion, without Einstein humans would not have near as much of a knowledge of physics than we do today.

In his time he was so famous that people would stop him on the street and ask him to explain some of his many theories - a truly unquestionable, great mind.

It is rare for a physicist from Einsteins time to escape into the world of popular culture but in Einstein's case he is the template for all manner of 'mad scientists'.

I think he accomplised a great deal in his lifetime inspiring other great minds as well as adding to his own scientific contributions.

And why the sudden Einstein post I hear you ask?

Well, there's method in the madness - tomorrow (well in the UK anyway ...) marks the 133rd Anniversary of Einstein's birth - yes, it's Einsteins birthday.

So celebrate the life of this truly great physicist, theologian and philosopher tomorrow - and maybe stop to think what physics would be life without minds like these. 
What science would be like without minds like these.
And ultimately what the world would be like. 

Thanks for reading, Chris.