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What is causing so many American citizens to turn their backs on the scientific method? Why are they dismissing and deriding the hard-won, life-saving, Earth-protecting, universe-expanding knowledge we have already earned—knowledge that has cost us dearly?…
In 2023, this “Citizen Science” column focused on distinguishing science from pseudoscience; in 2024, we sought to demystify energy by studying the various flavors of real energy. This year, we’ll further develop our critical thinking skills and sleuthing abilities by looking at outstanding mysteries in physics—what the problem is, why the solution continues to elude us, and what’s been done so far to solve it.…
Mere days before the winter solstice this year, on December 17th, I had the opportunity to visit Stonehenge with my son and husband. Driving clockwise in roundabouts and on the left-hand side of narrow roads gave my brain a workout, but I could still spare a moment of shock as I crested the top of a hill and saw the lone group of large stones surrounded by fields and sheep.…
Here is the core question I want us to ask other risk-averse people like myself: Given the current climate change trajectory (which really does not look good when we look at it honestly), can we afford to let fear and a terrible track record prevent us from further developing nuclear energy as a consistently reliable, carbon-free energy source?…
Consider a thunderstorm, nature’s best display of electric energy. Through complicated collisions and Sisyphean updrafts within the storm, particles with negative charges are driven toward the cloud base, with positive charges accumulating near the top. This separation creates a large electric potential difference (voltage) between the cloud base and the ground below, because the ground often becomes positively charged in response.…
I once saw a magazine ad claiming a magnetic bracelet would heal my pain. Conveniently for the seller, the bracelet was also expensive. Proponents of this “ionized jewelry” claim these magnets can improve blood flow, reduce pain and balance your body’s energy fields.…
First, internal energy (U) is the sum of all forms of microscopic energy in a system. It includes all the kinetic energy (the motions, rotations, and vibrations) of tiny particles and all the potential energy of those particles interacting with each other. Think of Pandora’s box (in the original myth, it’s a jar, not a box!) rollicking with buzzing, sparking, invisible particles of evil and mischief inside.…
Whether it’s a screech, a squeal, a squeak, or a much more pleasant sound—a violin bow rubbing across a string is another stick-slip example—sound energy is a form of mechanical energy that travels through a medium (usually air, water or solid objects) as a wave.…
Actually, a Fourth of July picnic in the park with family, friends and neighbors presents the perfect scenario to think about all the ways we use chemical potential energy without even thinking about it. On a deeper level, the bonds we chemically make or break—and maybe make again—are reflected in the bonds we create or destroy with other people, locally and nationally.…
When you compress a spring, like the one in the click mechanism of a ballpoint pen, you’re using the force (the physics version, F = -kx, not the “Star Wars” version, sorry) to push the spring in, and this force, exerted over a distance, gives you work—which, as we covered in February, is measured in the same units as energy: joules.…