Physics

Although dark matter makes up 80% of all matter in the universe, physicists are still struggling to understand exactly what it is. This perplexity is largely due to the fact that dark matter is invisible and difficult to study directly, but a dwarf…

From Scientists recreate what may be life’s first spark Credit: Wikimedia Commons, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nucleobase#mediaviewer/File:DNA_chemical_structure.svg How did life originate? This puzzle has been studied by scientists for hundreds of…

Presented by Jeong-Mo Choi, Bryan Weinstein, and Amy Gilson Did you know that principles and equations from physics can be used to study evolution? We’ll describe how physics-based models can be used to predict evolution, on the level of individual…

Figure 1~ Artist’s conception of the electron electric dipole moment (Adam West). Everything and Nothing Ask a physicist “Why is there something rather than nothing?” and you’re likely to provoke consternation. Science, the…

Presented by Stephen Portillo, Zachary Slepian, and Kate Alexander As the result of observational and theoretical breakthroughs starting in the twentieth century, the cosmology of the Big Bang Theory was established. A crucial part of this captivating…

Presented by Mike Goldman, Joey Goodknight, and Tansu Daylan What do the interior of an atom, the bottom of a volcanic caldera, and the center of the sun have in common? Mike will begin with an introduction to quantum mechanics, which explores its…

The history of modern physics contains several examples of crazy and successful new ideas. Unfortunately for scientists at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, their “impossible” space engine may not be one of them. Why? Simply put, it violates Isaac…

Presented by Anjali Tripathi How many planets are there? What are they like? In this lecture, we will talk about the variety of planets that are found beyond the Solar System. These so-called exoplanets have been discovered near and far, throughout…

We may know that the universe began with a Big Bang, but until yesterday, we had no direct evidence for the drastic expansion the universe is thought to have undergone in the moments after its birth. This “inflationary” model has grown from a speculation…

For many years, sunlight has been seen as a potential gold mine of useable energy for our global needs.  Having successfully used the sun to grow food to feed the world, people are now trying to harvest the sun’s energy and convert it into electric…