Physics, Pixelated
Why Does a Third Polarizer Let Light Through? T...
Cross two polarizing filters and the view goes black. Slide a third filter between them at 45° and light reappears, about one eighth of the original. Adding a filter lets...
Why Does a Third Polarizer Let Light Through? T...
Cross two polarizing filters and the view goes black. Slide a third filter between them at 45° and light reappears, about one eighth of the original. Adding a filter lets...
What Is the Photon Sphere, and What Did the Eve...
Near a black hole there is a radius where gravity bends light into a circle: the photon sphere, at r = 3GM/c² for a non-spinning hole. It is unstable, so...
What Is the Photon Sphere, and What Did the Eve...
Near a black hole there is a radius where gravity bends light into a circle: the photon sphere, at r = 3GM/c² for a non-spinning hole. It is unstable, so...
Fermions vs Bosons: What Is the Difference?
Every particle in nature is either a fermion or a boson. Fermions, like electrons and quarks, have half-integer spin and obey the Pauli exclusion principle. Bosons, like photons, have integer...
Fermions vs Bosons: What Is the Difference?
Every particle in nature is either a fermion or a boson. Fermions, like electrons and quarks, have half-integer spin and obey the Pauli exclusion principle. Bosons, like photons, have integer...
Does Erasing Information Cost Energy? Landauer’...
Deleting a file feels free, but physics says erasing information has a minimum cost. Landauer’s principle puts it at kT ln 2 per bit, about 2.9 × 10⁻²¹ joules at...
Does Erasing Information Cost Energy? Landauer’...
Deleting a file feels free, but physics says erasing information has a minimum cost. Landauer’s principle puts it at kT ln 2 per bit, about 2.9 × 10⁻²¹ joules at...
How Did Rømer Measure the Speed of Light with Io?
In 1676, at the Paris Observatory, Ole Rømer noticed that eclipses of Jupiter’s moon Io came late when Earth was moving away from Jupiter and early when it was approaching....
How Did Rømer Measure the Speed of Light with Io?
In 1676, at the Paris Observatory, Ole Rømer noticed that eclipses of Jupiter’s moon Io came late when Earth was moving away from Jupiter and early when it was approaching....
What Is the Born Rule, and Why Is Probability |...
Quantum mechanics describes a particle with a wavefunction ψ, but experiments record definite clicks. The Born rule is the bridge: the probability of finding the particle is the squared magnitude...
What Is the Born Rule, and Why Is Probability |...
Quantum mechanics describes a particle with a wavefunction ψ, but experiments record definite clicks. The Born rule is the bridge: the probability of finding the particle is the squared magnitude...