Physics, Math and Science Articles

Independent Research: Thinking Outside The Box Versus Knowing What’s In The Box

In Memory of Dr. Thomas J. LeCompte (1964-2025), Detector Designer and Champion of Education and Science. Prologue Someone who shows interest in science is initially a welcome development. So are fresh ideas from unexpected quarters. In contrast, there is a scientific community that is meticulously organized down to the last detail, allowing little to no…

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Approximate LCDM Expansion in Simplified Math (Part 2)

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  Part 2: Time and Distance In Part 1 we have seen how one of the simplest ways of expressing the fractional expansion rate of the universe,…
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Physics PhD Job Search: Start Well Before Graduation

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Start your job search well before graduation In the previous chapter you finished your thesis defense and submitted your thesis to the graduate school.…
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Learn About Neutrino Masses and Speed

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It was hard to miss the 2011 OPERA neutrino speed measurement that indicated superluminal neutrino speeds (and turned out to be a measurement error), but…
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Understanding the General Relativity View of Gravity on Earth

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Often students have difficulty reconciling the General Relativity (GR) view of gravity versus their own experience with gravity on the surface of Earth.…
cosmo

Approximate LCDM Expansion in Simplified Math

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 If we restrict ourselves to a spatially flat LCDM universe model (and ignore the early radiation energy density), the first Friedmann equation…
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Teaching Math as Obvious Thinking | Make Math Click

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My goal when I teach math My #1 goal, when I teach a math class, is to convey a way of thinking about math. It's quite different from what most students…
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Should You Do Science for Love or for Money

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When I look over the most highly cited papers and my favorite accomplishments, I am struck by the fact that most of the projects were not funded by…
measuringentanglement

Can You Measure Quantum Entanglement?

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Though any pair of particles, given their history, might happen to be entangled, some pairs are more entangled than others.Since at least the 1990s,…
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Preparing for Your Physics PhD Thesis Defense Effectively

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Overview: The Thesis Defense At this point you have completed writing your thesis, your adviser has approved it, and you have distributed it to all…
garrett

Garrett Lisi’s Superparticle Bet With Frank Wilczek

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There is an interesting story unfolding in particle physics. The main motivation for building the Large Hadron Collider was to search for new particles.…
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Writing Your Doctoral Thesis: Guide for Physics Grad

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Introduction At this stage you have performed your doctoral research, maybe published (or are about to publish) a paper or two, and may have presented…
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Some Useful Integrals In Quantum Field Theory

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In my paper on renormalisation I mentioned what most who have studied calculations in Quantum Field Theory find, it's rather complicated and mind-numbing.…
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APS March & April Meetings: Guide for Physics Grad Students

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Overview of the APS March and April Meetings I'll try not to make a habit out of this, but I believe there's something to add to this chapter of the series.In…
physics journals2

How to Publish in a Physics Journal (Addendum)

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 When I first wrote this part of the series, I wasn't quite sure if I should include this. for most people submitting to most of the physics journals,…
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Presenting Physics Research: Conference Tips for Students

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Why attend physics conferences? I mentioned earlier that physicists communicate their work in two main ways: publications in peer-reviewed journals…
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How to Write a Master Degree Thesis As a Physics Major

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Your First Scientific Paper Ought to be good! Structure and Contents of a Master's Degree Thesis This guide was written some years ago as a guideline…
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Retrocausality: How Fundamental is the Arrow of Time?

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In this Insight, I'll discuss a recent experiment ([1]  [2] [3]) by some Australian physicists that has brought a thought experiment into the real world…
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How to Publish Your PhD Research in Physics Journals

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Publishing your Ph.D. research in physics journals At this stage you are well into your Ph.D. research and may already be producing new results. This…
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Research Ethics for Physicists: Keep a Detailed Lab Notebook

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Starting Your Research and Keeping Good Records Now, where were we? Oh yes — you have started your actual research work. You and your adviser have…
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Initiating Physics PhD Research: Getting Started Effectively

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Initiating Research Work It has been a while since the last installment of this series, so let’s recap where you are right now. You should have already…
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Choosing a Physics Research Advisor in Graduate School

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Choosing a Research Area and an Advisor In the previous part, I described the trials and tribulations of going through the qualifying exam that almost…
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Reversible vs Irreversible Gas Compression and Expansion Work

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Introduction In learning Thermodynamics, one of the difficult concepts that many students struggle with is the difference between reversible and irreversible…
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Introduction to Causal Perturbation Theory

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Relativistic quantum field theory is notorious for the occurrence of divergent expressions that must be renormalized by recipes that on first sight sound…
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LHC Quiz: Think You Know about the LHC?

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News of the LHC progress has dazzled scientists and hobbyists alike. It's now time to show just how much you know about the operation.Please share…
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Pass Physics Grad Qualifying Exams: Strategies & Plan

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Starting Graduate School: Coursework and Campus Life You are now entering your first year of graduate school. Academically, you will typically take…
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Entering Physics Graduate School Without a Physics Degree

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Can you enter physics graduate school without a physics degree? I decided to write about this because it is a very common question on many physics forums:…
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Frequently Made Errors in Heat: Elementary Level

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1. Heat, Work, Internal Energy, and Kinetic Energy "If heat is the motion of molecules, why isn't it Kinetic Energy?"In everyday use, we may think…
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Errors in Probability: Continuous and Discrete Distributions

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1. Classifying as discrete, continuous, or mixed These statements (or equivalents) can be found in authoritative-seeming websites:X "A random variable…
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Weak Values Part 2: The Quantum Cheshire Cat Experiment

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In a previous Insight, Weak Values Part 1: "Asking Photons Where They Have Been," I showed different methods for computing the relative intensities in…
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Weak Values Part 1: Asking Photons Where They Have Been

In a previous Insight on retrocausality, I explained an experiment by Danan, Farfurnik, Bar-Ad, and Vaidman (DFBV)[1], “Asking Photons Where They Have…
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Negative Absolute Temperatures: Explanation & Examples

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It's a famous result in thermodynamics that you cannot reach absolute zero no matter how hard you try. Given the definition of absolute zero, it is also…
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Guide to Publishing in Peer Reviewed Journals

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From Concept to Manuscript You've done the science.  You had an idea, performed an extensive literature review, designed an experiment, ran the experiment,…
What is Energy

A Definition and Controversy of Energy

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What is energy? Energy is a fundamental concept that refers to the capacity of a system to do work. It is a scalar quantity, meaning it has magnitude…
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Careers with a Physics Degree: Alternatives & Advice

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Nontraditional career paths for physics graduates We are still discussing the final year of your undergraduate education. So far, we have covered what…
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Frequently Made Errors: Pseudo and Resultant Forces

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  1. Real versus Fictitious Pseudo, or "fictitious", forces can arise when a non-inertial frame of reference is used. Using a non-inertial frame…
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LHC Part 3: Protons as Large as a Barn

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Introduction See also part 1 and part 2 of the series.The LHC commissioning phase is coming to and end. On Wednesday May 20th 2015, the first collisions…
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Physics Blogs You Need to Be Reading

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These are some of the best physics blogs, updated regularly, written by some of the top minds. The feeds are updated on page refresh, so bookmark this…
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Why Renormalisation in Quantum Theory Needs a Cutoff

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Introduction This is a follow on from my paper explaining renormalization. A question was raised - why exactly do we need a cut-off. There is a deep reason…
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Frequently Made Errors in Mechanics: Springs

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  1. Springs in Series "A spring of constant ##k_1## is connected in series with a spring of constant ##k_2##.  What is the spring constant…
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How to Scientifically Measure How Many Days Are in a Year

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How many days are there in a year?Ask pretty much anyone and they will tell you 365, except for leaps years which have 366. In addition, most people…
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Frequently Made Errors in Probability: Conditionals in Natural Language

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  1. Turning a verbal condition into Algebra An actual thread..."A study of auto accidents has found that 40% of all fatal accidents are…
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Understanding the US Physics Graduate School System

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Understanding the US Graduate School System We are still in the discussion of your fourth and final year of college. This time I’ll explain the US…
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Frequently Made Errors in Mechanics: Momentum and Impacts

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  An impact is an impulse (change of momentum) that involves arbitrarily large forces acting very briefly. These result in near-instantaneous…
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5 Common MATLAB Error Messages and How to Fix Them

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In this Insight, I'll go over 5 common MATLAB error messages, what they mean, and how to fix them. Hopefully, after reading this post you'll find yourself…
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Frequently Made Errors in Mechanics: Hydrostatics

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  1. Archimedes' Principle X "When a body is placed in a liquid, the weight of the body equals the weight of the liquid displaced"That will…
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Can Gene Editing Eliminate Alzheimer’s Disease?

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The development of the CRISPR/Cas9 system has made gene editing a relatively simple task.  While CRISPR and other gene-editing technologies stand to revolutionize…
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Physics Graduate Assistantships: TA vs RA Explained

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Assistantships in US Physics Graduate Programs We are still discussing the final year of your undergraduate program, when you are applying to graduate…
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Some Conceptual Difficulties in the Roles of Variables and Constants

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1. Variables and Constants When is a constant not a constant?  When it varies.In the standard equation ##y=ax+b##, we are used to thinking of x and…
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Derivation of Gauss’s Law: Coulomb to Flux Explained

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Gauss's law was formulated by Carl Friedrich Gauss in 1835. It is one of the four Maxwell's equations that form the basis of classical electrodynamics.…
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Physics Grad School: Senior-Year Application Guide

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Senior Year — Preparing for Graduate School You have now reached your final undergraduate year. By this point you have completed core courses in the…
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Brachistochrone Subway Tunnel: Fastest Tunnel Shape Explained

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Introduction A subway tunnel could, in principle, operate without external energy (like electricity) if we assume zero friction everywhere. The train…
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Frequently Made Errors in Equation Handling

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  1. Algebra versus Arithmetic When numerical values are provided as inputs in a question, it is tempting to plug these into the equations…
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Physics Major Guide: Succeed in Years 3–4 and Research

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Becoming a Physics Major (End of Year 2) So far, I have covered what a student needs through the end of the second year of study. In most U.S. schools,…
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Frequently Made Errors in Mechanics: Kinematics

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  Kinematics is the subset of dynamics that only concerns itself with time, displacement, velocity, and acceleration. A problem is…
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How to Become a Medical Physicist in 3653 Easy Steps

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For many physics students, Medical Physics is that branch of the discipline that seems to hover in the no-man's land between academia and "industry." …
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Mathematical Prep for Physics Majors — Essential Guide

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Part III: Mathematical Preparations In most universities in the U.S., students must declare a major by the end of their second year. That decision is…
periodic table

It’s Elemental! The Periodic Table Quiz

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The periodic table is something we all are made aware of early in schooling, but have you really looked at it closely and learned about it's lessor known…
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Frequently Made Errors in Mechanics: Moments

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 The term "moment" is used in various ways in Physics and Mathematics:Given a force and a reference point, the force has a moment (or…
renormalization

Quantum Renormalisation Made Easy

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What Is The Issue With Renormalisation If you have an interest in physics you have likely come across renormalisation before, although what it really…
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Mutual Inductance: When k≠1 and Two Coupling Coefficients

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Mutual inductance and the coupling coefficient A commonly used formula for mutual inductance M between two nearby coils L1 and L2 is M = k√(L1*L2).…
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Learn About the Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger Experiment

In two previous Insights, I shared Mermin's explanation of the Hardy experiment[1] and the Mermin device[2]. Both of his corresponding AJP papers…
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The Quantum Liar Experiment: An Instantiation of the Mermin Device

In 1981, Mermin published a paper[1], "Bringing home the atomic world: Quantum mysteries for anybody" in which he explained the mystery of quantum nonlocality[2]…
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Essential Guide: Surviving Your First Year in Physics

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Part II: Surviving the First Year of College This part covers survival tips for the first two undergraduate years. You’re now in college and intend…
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Frequently Made Errors in Mechanics: Friction

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  1. Direction of the normal Definition: The normal force that body A exerts on body B is that force of minimum magnitude which suffices to…
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Early Physics Education in High Schools For Physics Majors

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So You Want to Be a Physicist: A 22-Part GuideIntroduction: The motivation for creating the seriesWhy this series One of the most frequent questions…
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Explore Some Sins in Physics Didactics

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Introduction There are many sins in physics didactics. Usually, they occur, because teachers, professors, textbook or popular-science-book writers, etc.…
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A Continuous, Nowhere Differentiable Function: Part 2

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This is Part 2 of a series of articles in which the goal is to exhibit a continuous function that is nowhere differentiable and to explore some interesting…
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Frequently Made Errors in Mechanics: Forces

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 Notation: On this page, a circumflex signifies an average. 1. Forces as vectors A force is a vector, i.e. has magnitude and direction.…
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Richard Feynman Quiz: Think You Know Richard Feynman?

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Richard Feynman is one of the most popular and highly regarded physicists of all time. You think you may know him, but do you? Let's find out by taking…
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Overcoming Challenges of Self-Studying Number Theory

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Introduction During my summer break I spent several hours each day self-studying mathematics—primarily number theory—even though I had no prior experience…
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Particle in a Box: 1D & 2D Quantum Visualizations

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Introduction The particle in a box is a staple of entry-level quantum mechanics courses because it provides a clear contrast between classical and quantum…

LHC Part 2: Commissioning

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Introduction Last month, I wrote a FAQ about working at the LHC, at the time the first beams were circulating in the machine after a stop of two years.…
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A Continuous, Nowhere Differentiable Function: Part 1

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When studying calculus, we learn that every differentiable function is continuous, but a continuous function need not be differentiable at every point.…
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Understanding Entropy and the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics

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Introduction The second law of thermodynamics and the associated concept of entropy have been sources of confusion for thermodynamics students for centuries.…
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Albert Einstein Quiz: How Well Do You Know Albert Einstein?

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Albert Einstein is arguably the most famous scientist of all time, but how much do you actually know about him? Let's find out by taking this quiz! No…
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Why CRISPR Technologies Won’t Lead to Designer Babies

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The prospect of designer babies has been a staple of the dystopian futures imagined by science-fiction writers, evoking fears of eugenics (e.g. Brave New…
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Is Zero a Natural Number?

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Using: Anderson-Feil Chapter 1.1 Is zero a natural number? This is a pretty controversial question. Many mathematicians - especially those working in…
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Formal Syntax and WFFs in Set Theory (Hrbacek-Jech)

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Hrbacek–Jech Chapter 1.2: Formal Language and WFFs Introduction Hrbacek and Jech do not go into full detail about what a property is formally. This…
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Space Law Explained — Outer Space Treaty & Satellite Rules

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*This Insight is intended to have a logical basis but not to be taken as purely factual or legal advice. Key PointsOuter Space Treaty does not provide…
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Bioethics & Genetic Engineering: Ethics and Policy

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Bioethics Key PointsWorrying about the future now means recognizing advances in technology, such as genetic engineering, that have already arisen. …
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How to Spot Pseudoscience: A Practical Science Guide

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It often feels like we're being swamped with "science" these days — but much of it is not real science. Genuine science follows the scientific method,…
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Solar Eclipse Viewing & Safety Guide — What to Expect

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Eclipse Viewing Key PointsNever view the Sun with the naked eye for any length of time; doing so can cause irreversible eye damage or blindness. …
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Star Fate: From Nebulae to White Dwarfs and Black Holes

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Star Fate: From Birth to Black Holes Stars form in vast clouds of gas and dust called nebulae. Over time gravity pulls material together until the core…
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The Science Crackpot Index and Bingo Game

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Discussing science online can be a frustrating experience when no quality controls are in place—which is often the case.As part useful reference…
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Hand-to-Hand Combat Physics — Force, Momentum, Speed

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Physics of Hand-to-Hand Combat Hand-to-hand combat (often abbreviated H2H or HTH) refers to fighting at very close range, usually without weapons. It…
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Interview with Mentor Integral

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Meet a Mentor is a biweekly (twice a week) series to help you get to know your wonderful Mentors better.Constructive questions and comments are welcome!Today…
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Interview with Astrophysicist D H

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Meet a Mentor is a series to help you get to know your wonderful Mentors better.Constructive questions and comments are welcome!Today we meet:…
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Meet Mentor George Jones — UNBC Physicist & Educator

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Meet a Mentor is a weekly series to help you get to know your wonderful mentors better.Constructive questions and comments are welcome! Today we meet:…
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Interview with Mentor Evo

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Meet a Mentor is a biweekly (twice a week) series to help you get to know your wonderful Mentors better.Constructive questions and comments are welcome!Today…

Interview with Mentor LisaB

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Meet a Mentor is a fun series to help you get to know your wonderful Mentors better.Constructive questions and comments are welcome!Today we meet: LisabGive…
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Interview with Biologist Ryan_m_b

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Meet a Mentor is a fun series to help you get to know your wonderful Mentors better.Constructive questions and comments are welcome!Today we meet: @Ryan_m_bGive…
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Interview with Mathematician Mark44

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Meet a Mentor is a series to help you get to know your wonderful Mentors better.Constructive questions and comments are welcome!Today we meet: Mark44How…
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Interview with Physicist jtbell

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Meet a Mentor is a weekly series to help you get to know your wonderful Mentors better.Constructive questions and comments are welcome! Meet the Mentor:…
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Meet Mentor DaleSpam — Biomedical Engineer & Mentor

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Meet a Mentor: DaleSpam Meet a Mentor is a fun series to help you get to know your wonderful Mentors better. Constructive questions and comments are welcome! About…
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Meet Mentor Chestermiller — Chemical Engineering Profile

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Meet a Mentor is a fun series to help you get to know your wonderful Mentors better.Constructive questions and comments are welcome!Today we meet:…
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Evolution Explained: FAQs, Evidence & Common Misconceptions

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Key PointsEvolution is a scientific theory supported by multiple independent lines of evidence. In science, the term “theory” denotes a well-tested…
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5 Pieces of Evidence that Support Theory of Evolution

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Evidence for Evolution If you’re new to the topic, these primers provide helpful background:What is Evolution: A Beginner’s Guide What Is…
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Studio in a Box: Learn About Digital Modeling Amplifiers

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Digital Modeling Key PointsDigital Signal Processing (DSP) emerged in the mid-1970s, enabling musicians to simulate acoustic spaces and reproduce…