Physics http://www.scienceray.com/Physics/index.1532 New posts in Physics Einstein on Spacetime and the Black Hole http://www.scienceray.com/Physics/Einstein-on--Spacetime-and-the-Black-Hole.245039 The black hole is a hypothetical extremely dense and massive heavenly body generally believe to populate the universe in a sizeable degree relative to the visible stars. Everything that falls into its effective territory known as the event horizon is dragged into it and into oblivion by the extremely strong pull of its gravitation. Not even light can manage to escape, making it completely invisible, thus its name.

As early as the late18th century, a British amateur astronomer Reverend John Michel put forward the idea of these bodies with gravity very strong enough to prevent light from escaping. And in 1795 Pierre-Simon Laplace of France arrived at the same deduction independently. But having lived in the period in which scientific developments were just starting, none of them succeeded at providing proofs for their bizarre hypothesis. Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity published in 1916 would later provide compelling and striking theoretical backing for the existence of these invisible, yet extremely massive heavenly objects.

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Simulated view of a black hole in front of the Milky Way. The hole has 10 solar masses and is viewed from a distance of 600 km.

One of the grand deductions from Einstein's field equations is the attachment of time as the fourth dimension, making a four dimensional firmament that Einstein aptly called spacetime. He went on to show the what is now considered as the main crux of the General Theory - the alteration of spacetime geometry when enfolding massive bodies. Very dense or massive objects curve spacetime around it. And everything is constrained to traverse or get dragged into that spacetime curvature, including light. So instead of a force as viewed from the Newtonian theory, gravitation according to Einstein is spacetime warping, leaving the Newtonian gravitation as an accurate approximation only of the new theory in which the former remains nevertheless extremely accurate at predicting behaviors of such relatively non-massive entities  as the planets in our solar system, but when it comes to gigantic bodies in the universe, gravitation being viewed as force fails and as spacetime curvature comes into play. Being the most massive object in the solar system, Einstein predicted and provided rigorous proofs for such curvature existing at the sun and that external light rays passing nearby will traverse such curvature, thus the bending of light.

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Warping of spacetime caused by the presence of a massive and dense body

Controversial at first, but Einstein became extremely famous when the bending of a star light passing near the sun was experimentally confirmed by Arthur Eddington of England during the 1919 total solar eclipse. Here on earth flashlights always travel on a straight line path because the earth's mass and density are insignificant to cause our own spacetime encompassing our little planet to warp, thus the no event or observation of light bending in the earthbound setting.

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Bending of a starlight near the sun

Although spacetime warping and the bending of light near the sun was some indication of the black hole grabbing light into it was not used by Einstein to argue in favor of the existence of the black hole. He reasoned that black hole was sheer product of bizarre illusions of the human mind. In fact, barely three months after the publication of the General Theory, a young German physicist, Karl Swartzchild found one of the exact solutions to Einstein's field equations whose result pointed out strongly to the existence of the black hole. The creator of the theory was all appreciation to the solution that he himself missed to obtain, but surprisingly black holes in the mind of Einstein until his death in 1955 were just sort of mathematical curiosity that simply did not exist.

Nevertheless, Einstein's theory is now the cosmologists' primary tool in unlocking the mysteries of the universe involving complex mathematical proofs for the existence of these strange heavenly bodies.

In addition, the more sophisticated scientific methods and advancement in scientific knowledge today are now gradually bringing to light more compelling evidences of these invisible and strange objects.

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A NASA concept drawing of a black hole

Among the multitude of observed facts supporting their presence are the many recurrent sightings of stars revolving around an invisible center. These are compelling evidences for the orbital motion of heavenly bodies is due to the constant gravitational grip of a much larger body. The situation is pretty much similar to our solar system with the planets revolving around the sun. Alternatively, one may observe gas (from a nearby star, for instance) that has been drawn into the black hole. The gas spirals inward, heating up to very high temperatures and emitting large amounts of radiation that can be detected from earthbound and earth-orbiting telescopes. Such observations have resulted in the general scientific consensus that-barring a breakdown in our understanding of nature-black holes do exist in our universe (Wikepedia).

Quiet remarkably, these discoveries are just subsequent results of further scientific explorations that may have not been ventured upon without the strong theoretical indications provided by the General Theory of Relativity.

]]> Sun, 07 Sep 2008 07:39:52 PST The Bermuda Triangle http://www.scienceray.com/Physics/The-Bermuda-Triangle.163839 The tip of the triangle is believed to start from the tip of Coastal Florida, spreading outwards covering the Bahamas and the entire Caribbean island area east to the Azores.

One theory concerning the strange disappearances of the surface crafts as well as aircraft in the triangle is the opening and closing of dimensional portals. There have been reports of strange swirling lights sometimes accompanied by sounds - temporal distortions - electromagnetic distortions called "electronic fog" that can cause a time storm, and the disappearance of planes and ships. There is something about this fog that is important and gives one the sense of all things paranormal. Who knows maybe one day our scientist of the world may decide to really dig in and explore this option; it would clear a lot of things up and bring closure to the mysteries of the Bermuda Triangle.

Something unexplained is definitely happening in that region of the Atlantic. Christopher Columbus and his crew experienced this very same phenomenon in 1492. This was also reported in the ships log as well as in his journals.


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This theory may also explain how a whole squadron of navy aircraft seemingly disappeared and then reappeared while on a routine mission over the Triangle. The planes encountered an unusual glow in the atmosphere. Unknown to the pilots at the time, they passed off their short exposure to the phenomena as weird, and it raised no alarms. The atomic structure of the airplanes and passengers had been permanently altered due to the absorption of sub atomic particles that would be released as they approached the shifts between the dimensional portal doorways. This would also explain why they could make sporadic contact with the operational base in this dimension, just before they disappeared.

Some strongly believe that the Bermuda Triangle may also be a portal that extraterrestrial beings use to visit our world and time. That they on coming through the portals collect what ever they can rather it be machines or mankind as the object of studies by their race.


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Now that's another interesting point to ponder; it deserves some investigation as well. On many occasions the personal accounts and memories of those claiming that they have been abducted by aliens, tell of how their captors told them that they're visiting from a parallel world within this world. This again points to dimensional travel.

Another potential avenue that could and should be investigated is the theories concerning, “Time Travel “and portals that I would term “Time Portals”. Some of the great thinkers of our time such as “Einstein” and “Michio Kaku” have put forth their theories concerning this and even touched on folding the fabric of time into itself which in theory could create what is called, “Slip Streaming”.

Michio Kaku Speaks about this also in the video above concerning Time Travel, Parallel Universes and Man's Reality. This theory has been proven theoretically possible in the near future.

What if the Bermuda Triangle is a natural occurring doorway that opens up on a random scale? Based on the evidence and theories, it is possible that what has been happening in the Triangle for hundreds maybe even thousands of years.

You be the judge. Thinking outside the box has brought to life many things and also opened new doors in which we can walk through to discover many new and interesting things.

]]> Thu, 10 Jul 2008 09:55:05 PST The Unknown Nature of Forces in a Straw http://www.scienceray.com/Physics/The-Unknown-Nature-of-Forces-in-a-Straw.159137 Several forces cause the liquid to move upwards in a straw. Among them are capillary action, viscosity, suction, adhesion, cohesion, and atmospheric pressure.
We will start with atmospheric pressure. Fluids move from areas of higher pressure to areas of lower pressure. When sucking on a straw, air is removed from inside the straw. The air pressure outside the straw is greater than the air pressure inside the straw; therefore, it pushes down on the surface of your drink. This push forces the drink up through the straw and into your mouth.

The second force is capillary action. Capillary action is when liquids climb the walls of a tube or pull away from them. It occurs due to cohesion and adhesion. Cohesion is the forces of attraction between the molecules of the liquid. Molecules of a liquid are either charged positive or negative in accordance to the atoms the liquid is made of. For instance, water is made of hydrogen and oxygen. Oxygen is partly negatively charged and partially positively charged. This charging keeps the water molecules held together by the hydrogen bond. In all liquids, some type of bonding will be found. While the liquid is climbing up, cohesion keeps the liquid together and intact. Adhesion is the attracting of liquid molecules to each other. In this situation, it is the surface of the water that climbs. Adhesion helps move forward against gravitational forces. Thus, capillary action uses adhesion and cohesion to help the liquid cling to the sides of the straw.

Suction also plays a significant part when liquids are moving upward. When you suck on a straw, the straw creates a vacuum (low pressure) on one side of the straw while atmospheric pressure and water column pressure are pressuring on the waterside. The different pressure causes the water to rise into your mouth.

Viscosity is very important in the rising of liquids through a straw. If the liquid's viscosity is greater, more force is needed to maintain fluid flow through the straw. More suction is needed. If the liquid has a very high viscosity, it may not have the ability to flow through the straw.

From all the forces causing the liquid to move upward, I would have to say that capillary action is the most significant. Without this force, the liquid would not be able to cling to the sides of the straw, therefore not being able to reach the mouth of the person.

]]> Mon, 07 Jul 2008 01:36:36 PST 10 Ways The Human Race Could Become Extinct http://www.scienceray.com/Physics/10-Ways-The-Human-Race-Could-Become-Extinct.153599

  • Global Pandemic

    When an extremely virulent disease begins infecting large populations, a pandemic is declared by WHO (World Health Organisation). There have been many pandemics in the past, examples being ‘The Black Death', which was a strain of bubonic plague striking Europe, and the ‘Spanish Flu' in the 1910s. Influenza is a particular threat - it mutates rapidly and we cannot vaccinate ourselves against it. It has been responsible for decimation of entire populations and is still a threat today. If a hyper-contagious virus were released into the ecosphere it would spread rapidly along transport routes. Aeroplanes would become localised infections, the hosts carrying it to new places. New York, London and other large cities would quickly become abandoned. Pandemics also make excellent films, although the effects are usually exaggerated. (‘I am Legend' particularly - no virus can turn a person feral while keeping them alive).

  • Extreme-adverse Weather

    Either we could cause the weather or it could be a freak occurrence. Phrases like global warming and climate change are thrown around a lot these days and they can be responsible for some weather changes, but we underestimate nature's resilience. Neither the less, a new ice age could emerge (although we are still in one), in which most surface life is killed. Again, films like ‘The Day after Tomorrow' exaggerate the effects.

  • Gamma ray burst

    Even we cannot dodge the light. Gamma rays are emitted from most stars, although our own is pretty docile in that respect, although if a star within a few thousand light years were to go Hypernova (a bigger supernova), the waves of radiation would reach us, practically cooking the surface of the planet. We would have to live underground to survive, but all plant life would certainly die, so we would have to rely on green houses and hydroponics. The frightening thing is that a star near us may have just gone Hypernova, but we won't know about it until the radiation reaches us.

  • Nuclear War

    Nuclear weapons are mankind's stupidest invention. To quote terry Pratchett - "Never give the monkey the keys to the banana plantation", and unfortunately we still don't get on well with one another enough to get rid of them. On declaration of nuclear war, major population centres would be destroyed and satellites would be knocked out of orbit, rendering all devices such as mobile phones and computers useless. Another effect is the raising of several million tonnes of ash and dust into the atmosphere, blacking the skies and wiping out most life.

  • Asteroid Strike

    One of the most well known doomsday scenarios is one we cannot really do anything about. Every year thousands of basketball sized objected hit the Earth. It only takes one a kilometre across to plummet through the atmosphere remains large enough to destroy a city. One that is a few kilometres in diameter hitting the Earth would release the energy of several million nuclear devices.

  • Strangelets

    The least known method of human extinction, strangelets are the result of overly energetic ‘strange' quarks mixing with ‘up' and ‘down' quarks. These stranglets on contact with ordinary matter will convert it to strange matter, and release another strangelet. If one were to hit the Earth, the planet would be reduced to a hot lump of strange matter. Currently they have only been created for thousandths of a second in particle accelerators.

  • Black Hole

    Pretty obvious what would happen. If one were created on Earth the planet would be sucked in, along with the rest of the solar system. However, nobody really knows what goes on inside a black hole, so maybe we would be lucky.

  • Judgement Day

    The Bible says in revelations that on Judgement day or Rapture, God will arrive on Earth to judge the living and the dead. Amusingly, if he arrived tomorrow, his work would be duly archived on the internet with thousands of mobile phone pictures and videos.

  • Re-orientation of Earth's Axis

    Also known as ‘pole shift theory' this would happen if the Earth changed its axis (currently it rests at 23.5 degrees - this is the reason we have seasons). The north and south poles would flip, not only ruining the GPS system but also causing massive change to the environment and redistributing the oceans across inhabited landmass.

  • The Big Crunch

    The one we cannot escape. Theorised as one of the methods of Universal decay, the Big Crunch is the reverse of the Big Bang. Gravity at the centre of the Universe will overwhelm the expanding force and begin to pull the Universe back to a singularity again. There is no chance of escape from this one - there is nowhere to go. Luckily it is only a theory, and would not happen for billions of years anyway, so we would be long gone.
    • ]]>     Mon, 30 Jun 2008 07:05:15 PST     What is a Dream? http://www.scienceray.com/Physics/What-is-a-Dream.115600 My theory of what we interpret a dream to be might be misunderstood. I believe that you are actually reading particles of light, which carry information, just like a computer carries 000011111 and basically reforms it back into the correct format so you can understand it. We absorbed light throughout our life and its broke down into all sorts of electrical pathways.

    To understand light you have to look at what it is made of and how it works.

    In physics, light is made up of photons. They are particles made up of electromagnetic radiation of all wavelengths. To go into too much detail can be confusing but they travel at the speed of light. Photons have both wave and particle properties. This basically determines the way it travels and what energy it stores to enable it to reach vast distances. Its energy can be transferred when it reacts with other particles, hence a particle exchange and interaction.

    If a particle is going the speed of light, all the information it absorbs will have already happened. This is because if you travel the speed of light, what we define as TIME slows down. So if a photon traveling from the sun or a distance star bounces around other galaxies or races around our planet several times before it comes into contact with a human mind, then there could be a possibility that our brain can interpret an electric path of information from that sequence stored via a photon.

    How does a photon or photon properties get into out electric stimulation via our brain?

    Light passes through transparent matter but at a lower speed. The first thing you think of when reading this information is the eyes on the human body. Light is refracted through the eyes in order for us to make sense of images around us. The photon energy must interact or go somewhere else. Maybe we have developed a way of reading this information in the form of dreams.

    We are best able to read these particles in a sequence when we are awakening or daydreaming.

    If you read books on physics its all in there. But we are well off understanding it.

    So if we can read this information, this would explain why humans come up with ideas and wake up with answers. The list goes on. If you look at human history, especially in comic formats, or future visions, artists impression etc. They have actually come true. Are humans seeing vivid images of there future life through light particles? Or for that matter maybe we are picking up vast amounts of information from other galaxies across the universe.

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