Monthly Archives: January 2010

Q: Will black holes ever release their energy and will we be able to tell what had gone into them?

Posted on January 14, 2010 by The Physicist

Physicist: In any reasonable sense the answer to both of these questions is a dull “nope”.  In theory however, the answer is an excitable “yup”! Blackholes lose energy through “Hawking Radiation”, which is a surprising convergence of general relativity, quantum … Continue reading →

Posted in -- By the Physicist, Astronomy, Entropy/Information, Physics, Quantum Theory | 4 Comments

Q: What are the Intersecting Chord and Power of a Point Theorems?

Posted on January 14, 2010 by The Mathematician

Mathematician: The Intersecting Chords theorem asks us to consider two intersecting line segments inside of a circle (such that each line segment starts and ends on the edge of the circle). Each line segment can be thought of as being … Continue reading →

Posted in -- By the Mathematician, Geometry, Math | Leave a comment

Q: How far away is the edge of the universe?

Posted on January 13, 2010 by The Physicist

Physicist: If you ever hear a physicist talking about “the edge of the universe”, what they probably mean is “the edge of the visible universe”.  The oldest light (from the most distant sources) is around 15 billion years old.  Through … Continue reading →

Posted in -- By the Physicist, Astronomy, Physics, Relativity | 79 Comments

Q: Why do superconductors have to be cold?

Posted on January 1, 2010 by The Physicist

Physicist: The long answer is really, really long.  Superconductivity comes in a variety of different forms, and there’s a different explanation for each.  To sum them up in a thumbnail sketch of a thumbnail sketch: In conductors, the primary cause … Continue reading →

Posted in -- By the Physicist, Physics, Quantum Theory | 5 Comments