Enlarge / Artist’s impression of the Ramjet propulsion system proposed in 1960 by physicist Robert W. Bussard (credit: NASA) In Poul Anderson’s 1970 novel Tau Zero, a starship crew seeks to travel to the star Beta Virginis in hopes of colonizing a new planet. The ship’s mode of propulsion was a so-called “Bussard ramjet,” an […]
Tag: Physics
Moonfall trailer is gloriously ridiculous
Halle Berry and Patrick Wilson co-star in director Roland Emmerich’s latest film, Moonfall. Hello, police? I’d like to report a murder—the murder of credible science on the altar of entertainment, as evidenced in the latest trailer for Moonfall. It’s the latest epic disaster blockbuster from director Roland Emmerich, in which the Earth’s existence is threatened by […]
Physicists captured, quantified the sound of champagne’s effervescence
Enlarge / The physics behind champagne’s bubbly delights is surprisingly complex—including the source of its distinctive crackling sound. (credit: Jon Bucklel/EMPICS/PA/Getty Images) There’s rarely time to write about every cool science-y story that comes our way. So this year, we’re once again running a special Twelve Days of Christmas series of posts, highlighting one science […]
Tiny tardigrades walk like insects 500, 000 times their size
Enlarge / SEM Micrograph of a tardigrade, more commonly known as a water bear or “moss piglet. ” (credit: Cultura RM Exclusive/Gregory S. Paulson/Getty Images) There’s rarely time to write about every cool science-y story that comes our way. So this year, we’re once again running a special Twelve Days of Christmas series of posts, […]
New study challenges popular explanation for London’s infamous “Wobbly Bridge”
Enlarge / London’s Millennium Bridge had issues with excessive shaking and swaying when it first opened in June 2000. (credit: Alberto Pezzali/NurPhoto/Getty Images) London’s Millennium Bridge is notorious for its “wobble” when this first opened in June 2k, as thousands of pedestrians streamed across. Londoners nicknamed it “Wobbly Bridge. ” The accepted explanation has been […]
Anti-5G “quantum pendants” are radioactive
Enlarge / This “quantum pendant” purports to protect the wearer from 5G signals. The anti-5G hysteria is a groundless conspiracy theory, but the pendants aren’t just useless trinkets. They emit low levels of ionizing radiation that can cause adverse health effects over time. (credit: Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu) Worried that 5G cell phone towers […]
What physics can teach us about Pamplona’s annual running of the bulls
Physicists from Argentina and Spain have studied the pedestrian dynamics at the annual running of the particular bulls in Pamplona. In his first and arguably most famous novel, The Sun Also Rises , Ernest Hemingway wrote tersely but lovingly about the annual running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain, during the seven-day Festival of San […]
Rigetti announces 80 qubit processor, experiments with “qutrits”
Enlarge / The Aspen-M 40-qubit chip and its housing. (credit: Rigetti) On Wednesday, quantum computing startup Rigetti announced a number of interesting hardware developments. To begin with, its users would now have access to its next-generation chip, called Apsen-M, with 40 qubits and improved performance. While that’s well below the qubit count achieved by IBM, […]
A potential hangup for quantum computing: Cosmic rays
Enlarge / Google’s Sycamore processor. (credit: Google) Recently, when researchers were testing error correction on Google’s quantum processor, they noted an odd phenomenon where the whole error-correction scheme would sporadically fail badly. They chalked this up to background radiation, a combination of cosmic rays and the occasional decay of a naturally occurring radioactive isotope. It […]
Don’t Look Up is fiction. Here’s the real science of that doomsday scenario
Enlarge / Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence co-star as low-level astronomers in Don’t Look Up (credit: Netflix ) Two low-level astronomers discover a “planet killer” comet hurtling toward Earth but struggle to get anyone to pay attention in Don’t Look Up , a new satirical sci-fi from Netflix. Directed by Adam McKay ( The Big […]