MetaFilter posts tagged with Physics

I Didn't Know That

netbros — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 08:11:17 -0800

Science Hack is a unique search engine for science videos focusing on Physics, Chemistry, and Space. For example, things to do with sulfur hexafluoride. Still growing, the editors are presently indexing other scientific fields of study including Geology, Psychology, Robotics and Computers. Ever wonder why things go bang?

"The simplest example of the truly complex"

amyms — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 15:57:25 -0800

Anything but clear. It is well known that panes of stained glass in old European churches are thicker at the bottom because glass is a slow-moving liquid that flows downward over centuries. Well known, yes, but long known to be wrong. Scientists still disagree about the nature of glass, and researchers continue to try to understand its dual personality . Is Glass Liquid or Solid? Glass: Liquid or Solid - Science vs. an Urban Legend Statistical Calculation and Development of Glass Properties A Brief History of Glass More Glass History Links

Warp Drive

homunculus — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 18:26:02 -0800

Putting the Warp into Warp Drive.

An Engineer's Delight

DU — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 07:47:55 -0800

Friday Flash Fun Some stuff I wish I'd known when I started:

It seems like a sparse toy at first, compared to something like Incredible Machine. But it's more free-form and the sparseness is a good challenge.
You can move the pink object around inside the blue box.
The water rod hasn't been of any use to me so far.
You can move the view around by using the Move tool.

Universe Sandbox

stavrosthewonderchicken — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 23:44:31 -0800

An Interactive Space Simulator "Smash planets together, introduce rogue stars, and build new worlds from spinning discs of debris. Fire a moon into a planet or destroy everything you've created with a super massive black hole. You can simulate and interact with our solar system: the 8 planets,160+ moons, and hundereds of asteroids, the nearest 1000 stars to our Sun, and our local group of galaxies." [31Mb, Windows only, sorry, but see inside for similar Mac and Linux apps] If you're keen and you're not an XP or Vista user, you'll probably like Stellarium [Linux, Mac or Windows] and Celestia [Linux, Mac or Windows] [previously] as well, which are less physics simulation and more 'fly through the universe' brain food, but heaps of fun, too.

Soft Science

sergeant sandwich — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:01:34 -0800

If you like those giant plush microbes but maybe they're a little too life-sciencey for ya, perhaps you would like The Particle Zoo instead.

728 ton pendulum

homunculus — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 20:58:04 -0800

728 ton pendulum in action: Taipei 101's tuned mass damper during the Sichuan earthquake. [Via The Long Now Blog]

KABOOM!

Weebot — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 14:06:11 -0800

Jonathan Golob at Dear Science.org has a series of posts up about nuclear power. Topics include: The physics behind nuclear power, the inner workings of a reactor, nuclear radiation, nuclear waste, the disasters at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, and the future of nuclear power. Also in a truncated podcast form. Bonus links: Jonathan Golob's columns at The Stranger. And his Top 5 Nuclear Weapons.

Reality

homunculus — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 23:40:09 -0800

The Reality Tests. "A team of physicists in Vienna has devised experiments that may answer one of the enduring riddles of science: Do we create the world just by looking at it?"

My eyes!

owhydididoit — Thu, 29 May 2008 07:29:55 -0800

Paul Nylander's home page is garish and busy, but full of interesting tidbits about fractals, insects, physics, and other things.