Monthly Archives: July 2011

Q: Does light experience time?

The original question was: Given that light is moving at light speed, and time slows down as a massive object approaches the speed of light, does light travel through time?  Does the whole time slowing down thing just not apply … Continue reading

Posted in -- By the Physicist, Philosophical, Physics, Relativity | 120 Comments

Q: Would it be possible for humans to terraform mars?

Physicist: In terms of feasibility: no.  In terms of being remotely possible: yes, but probably not permanently. Mars is much colder than Earth, has no water, and effectively no air.  On the up side, unlike many planets, you can stand … Continue reading

Posted in -- By the Physicist, Astronomy, Biology, Physics | 31 Comments

Q: Can light be used to transfer energy instead of power lines?

The original question was: Is it possible that, when more efficient methods of harnessing light energy are established, light could be used as a means to transfer massive amounts of energy (for instance, enough to power a city) without physical … Continue reading

Posted in -- By the Physicist, Engineering, Physics | 7 Comments

Particle physics, neutrinos, and chirality too!

Physicist: This was an email correspondence that was too interesting to abandon, but covered so much ground that it didn’t easily parse into just a couple of questions. Q: What force is the ‘kinetic’ force? If 2 particles bounce of … Continue reading

Posted in -- By the Physicist, Particle Physics, Philosophical, Quantum Theory | 3 Comments

Q: What are integral transforms and how do they work?

Mathematician: If you have a function f(x) and a function k(x,s) then you can (as long as the product of f(x) times k(x,s) is integrable on the set X) always form another function of a new variable s as follows: … Continue reading

Posted in -- By the Mathematician, Engineering, Equations, Math | 9 Comments

Q: How does reflection work?

The original question was: How does reflection work (what happens on the reflective surface), why is the angle of incidence equal to the angle of reflection and can this be viewed both from particle and wave point of view? Physicist: … Continue reading

Posted in -- By the Physicist, Geometry, Philosophical, Physics | 2 Comments