Showing posts with label physics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label physics. Show all posts
Sunday, July 13, 2014
Spooky Actions at a Distance?
Speaker: N. David Mermin. Oppenheimer Lecture Program at UC Berkeley. Einstein's real complaint about the quantum theory was not that it required God to play dice, but that it failed to "represent a reality in time and space, free from spooky actions at a distance." I shall use the rhetorical device of a computer-simulated lecture demonstration (a cartoon version of recent experiments in Vienna) to explain both the appeal of Einstein's criticism and the remarkable act that the "reality" he insisted upon is nevertheless unattainable.
Saturday, November 10, 2012
The Mystery of Empty Space
Get ready to re-think your ideas of reality. Join UCSD physicist Kim Griest as he takes you on a fascinating excursion, addressing some of the massive efforts and tantalizing bits of evidence which suggest that what goes on in empty space determines the properties of the three-dimensional existence we know and love, and discusses how that reality may be but the wiggling of strings from other dimensions.
Thursday, October 4, 2012
The End of Space and Time
Robbert Dijkgraaf's focus is on string theory, quantum gravity, and the interface between mathematics and particle physics, bringing them together in an accessible way, looking at sciences, the arts and other matters.
About the Lecturer
Robbert Dijkgraaf is Distinguished University Professor of Mathematical Physics at the University of Amsterdam and President of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Related Links:
String Theory
Robbert Dijkgraaf is Distinguished University Professor of Mathematical Physics at the University of Amsterdam and President of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.
String Theory
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
Throughout recorded history, humans have longed for a world in which there is more out there than meets the eye. Everything from Hidden universes and alternate realities to vastly different speculations about heaven, hell, and an afterlife have fascinated humankind for millenia, and more recently have captured the public's imagination in such TV shows as The Twilight Zone and Star Trek , in innumerable science fiction books and movies, and art from Picasso to Dali.
Physicists are now hotly debating the possible existence of any underlying mathematical beauty associated with a host of new dimensions that may or may not exist in nature. Further, it has now been proposed that the extra dimensions of string theory may not even be microscopically small. Instead, they could be large enough to house entire other universes with potentially different laws of physics, and perhaps even objects that, like the eight dimensional beings in a Buckaroo Banzai story, might leak into our own dimensions. Whenever scientists speculate about such hidden realities as extra dimensions we have to ask ourselves whether their speculations are more likely to reflect the world as it is, or as our minds are programmed to want it to be. Does the longstanding human love affair with extra dimensions reflect something fundamental about the way we think, rather than about the world in which we live?
About the Lecturer
Lawrence Krauss is a Canadian-American theoretical physicist who is a professor of physics, Foundation Professor of the School of Earth and Space Exploration, and director of the Origins Project at Arizona State University.
Related Links:
Parallel Universes
String Theory
Physicists are now hotly debating the possible existence of any underlying mathematical beauty associated with a host of new dimensions that may or may not exist in nature. Further, it has now been proposed that the extra dimensions of string theory may not even be microscopically small. Instead, they could be large enough to house entire other universes with potentially different laws of physics, and perhaps even objects that, like the eight dimensional beings in a Buckaroo Banzai story, might leak into our own dimensions. Whenever scientists speculate about such hidden realities as extra dimensions we have to ask ourselves whether their speculations are more likely to reflect the world as it is, or as our minds are programmed to want it to be. Does the longstanding human love affair with extra dimensions reflect something fundamental about the way we think, rather than about the world in which we live?
Lawrence Krauss is a Canadian-American theoretical physicist who is a professor of physics, Foundation Professor of the School of Earth and Space Exploration, and director of the Origins Project at Arizona State University.
Parallel Universes
String Theory
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Exploring the Universe from the South Pole
The study of the origin, evolution and make-up of the universe has made dramatic and surprising advances over the last decades John E. Carlstrom, Professor at the University of Chicago and the deputy director of the UCSB Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, describes new measurements being carried out with the 10-m South Pole Telescope to test the inflation theory of the origin of the Universe and to investigate the nature of dark energy.
Monday, August 20, 2012
The Universe in a Nutshell by Michio Kaku
The Universe in a Nutshell: The Physics of Everything. What if we could find one single equation that explains every force in the universe? Dr. Michio Kaku explores how physicists may shrink the science of the Big Bang into an equation as small as Einstein's "e=mc^2." Thanks to advances in string theory, physics may allow us to escape the heat death of the universe, explore the multiverse, and unlock the secrets of existence. While firing up our imaginations about the future, Kaku also presents a succinct history of physics and makes a compelling case for why physics is the key to pretty much everything.
About the Lecturer
Dr. Michio Kaku is an American theoretical physicist, the Henry Semat Professor of Theoretical Physics in the City College of New York of City University of New York, a futurist, and a "communicator" and "popularizer" of science.
Dr. Michio Kaku is an American theoretical physicist, the Henry Semat Professor of Theoretical Physics in the City College of New York of City University of New York, a futurist, and a "communicator" and "popularizer" of science.
Saturday, July 14, 2012
A Universe From Nothing by Lawrence Krauss
Physicist Lawrence Krauss gives a lecture on cosmology, including recent advancements and their possible implications for origins of the Universe.
About the Lecturer
Lawrence Krauss is a Canadian-American theoretical physicist who is a professor of physics, Foundation Professor of the School of Earth and Space Exploration, and director of the Origins Project at Arizona State University. He is the author of several bestselling books, including The Physics of Star Trek and A Universe from Nothing.
Lawrence Krauss is a Canadian-American theoretical physicist who is a professor of physics, Foundation Professor of the School of Earth and Space Exploration, and director of the Origins Project at Arizona State University. He is the author of several bestselling books, including The Physics of Star Trek and A Universe from Nothing.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Physics of the Impossible - Teleportation, Invisibility and Force Fields
One hundred years ago, lasers, televisions, and computers seemed physically impossible. Today, teleportation and invisibility seem equally far-fetched. Renowned physicist Michio Kaku explores how mind reading, the routine use of force fields, and other feats that are currently science fiction may become commonplace tomorrow.
About the Lecturer
Michio Kaku is an American theoretical physicist, the Henry Semat Professor of Theoretical Physics in the City College of New York of City University of New York, a co-founder of string field theory.
Related Links:
Sci-Fi Science: Physics of the Impossible
Visions of the Future
Michio Kaku is an American theoretical physicist, the Henry Semat Professor of Theoretical Physics in the City College of New York of City University of New York, a co-founder of string field theory.
Sci-Fi Science: Physics of the Impossible
Visions of the Future
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)