Netflix science documentary
More and more people today are interested in science. With the development of modern technologies, it becomes possible for everyone to get the access to the most interesting and fascinating science documentaries. Video-streaming companies allow us to watch the best science shows and movies, giving us…
Uses of gravitational force
Gravity between planets We can now use Newton s Law to derive some results concerning planets in circular orbits. Although we know from Kepler s Laws that the orbits are not circular, in most cases approximating the orbit by a circle gives satisfactory results. When two massive bodies exert a gravitational…
Universe expansion accelerating
One of the observational foundations for the big bang model of cosmology was the observed expansion of the universe. Measurement of the expansion rate is a critical part of the study, and it has been found that the expansion rate is very nearly flat . That is, the universe is very close to the critical density, above which it would slow down and collapse inward toward a future…
Continue ReadingNewtons Apple Tree
In May 2015, UNL planted two Flower of Kent trees on the west side of Jorgensen Hall, home of the Physics & Astronomy Department. Landscape Services cloned the two trees from the original Flower of Kent tree granted to the university in 1991. Also called Newton’s Apple Tree, UNL s first Flower of Kent tree can be found on the southwest corner of Behlen Observatory. UNL…
Continue ReadingForce of gravity on Earth
Gravity is one of those things we take completely for granted. And there are two things about it that we take for granted: the fact that it is always there, and the fact that it never changes. If the Earth s gravity were ever to change significantly, it would have a huge effect on nearly everything because so many things are designed around the current state of gravity. Before…
Continue ReadingWhat is the pull of gravity?
• Reading level: Young Adult • Hardcover: 208 pages • Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) (May 10, 2011) • Language: English • ISBN-10: • ISBN-13: 9937 Ah, at last a book with many of my favorite things all mixed up. But, what do you get when you mix troll dolls, Slinkies, John Steinbeck, and Yoda? From past experience, I can tell you some of my best laid culinary plans…
Continue ReadingLaw of gravitational pull
In my two previous posts, I explained how understanding the laws of the universe and the differences between perception and reality can help businesses to do better marketing. In this one, I take these concepts a bit further to show marketers how they can use gravity - the least understood of the four fundamental forces of nature - to improve their marketing. What is gravity?…
Continue ReadingHiggs particle
[Updated slightly, to reflect the fact that a Higgs of some type has been discovered, as announced at the LHC on July 4th, 2012.] Most of us learned in school, or from books, that all the materials around us — everything we eat, drink and breathe, all living creatures, and the very earth itself — are made from atoms. These come in about 100 types, called “the chemical elements”…
Continue Reading