Only a year ago I wrote about CERN, the large hadron collider coming back online after repairs.
CERN Scientists announced recently that they had had some amazing success. They figured out how to trap atoms of antimatter. Yes, I said antimatter. The stuff that, if it comes into contact with matter, is destroyed instantly in a violent burst of energy.
They caught 38 antihydrogen atoms in a magnetic trap and held them long enough to study them. When they had captured them in the past they had immediately been destroyed by touching the matter on the side of the container.
One of the scientists said "This will help us understand the structure of space and time. For reasons that no one yet understands, nature ruled out antimatter... this inspires us to work that much harder to see if antimatter holds some secret."
Look for lots more exciting discoveries from CERN!
Friday, November 19, 2010
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Space-Time Invisibility Cloak
What would you do if you could conceal yourself both in space and time? Someday that may be possible to do.
Scientists at the Imperial College London have built on previous work to make this possible -- at least in theory. Scientists have already established that the use of fabrics made with "metamaterials" could bend light around an object making it appear invisible. Does that remind you of Harry Potter's invisibility cloak?
Metamaterials are artificial materials designed and minipulated at the molecular level to interact with and control electromagnetic waves, according to the story on CNN.com.
Scientists now have extended this invisibility cloak idea to time as well. The theory goes that as light enters the metamaterial, some parts speed up and some slow down, creating what they call a "blind spot" in time. Some light gets there before the event and some light after it occurs.
Do you think this would be useful for any real-life applications? No criminal uses, please!
Scientists at the Imperial College London have built on previous work to make this possible -- at least in theory. Scientists have already established that the use of fabrics made with "metamaterials" could bend light around an object making it appear invisible. Does that remind you of Harry Potter's invisibility cloak?
Metamaterials are artificial materials designed and minipulated at the molecular level to interact with and control electromagnetic waves, according to the story on CNN.com.
Scientists now have extended this invisibility cloak idea to time as well. The theory goes that as light enters the metamaterial, some parts speed up and some slow down, creating what they call a "blind spot" in time. Some light gets there before the event and some light after it occurs.
Do you think this would be useful for any real-life applications? No criminal uses, please!
Monday, September 27, 2010
Fun with history
If you're finding your history book a little boring, try the PBS website: Liberty! The American Revolution. http://www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty/
This website has information about the period that 8th graders have been spending time learning about. There are videos and interviews and a game called the "Road to Revolution" game. This game will take you through some familiar territory and reinforce some of the things you're learning.
Don't let your world get turned upside down; learn that history!
This website has information about the period that 8th graders have been spending time learning about. There are videos and interviews and a game called the "Road to Revolution" game. This game will take you through some familiar territory and reinforce some of the things you're learning.
Don't let your world get turned upside down; learn that history!
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
A near miss...
This morning an asteroid came very close to earth. Well perhaps that's an exaggeration, but it was closer than the moon (about 3/5 of the distance to the moon), which is pretty close when you consider all of space.
What makes it even more unusual is that this afternoon, another asteroid will come even closer. At about 5:00 pm an asteroid will pass Earth about 1/5 the distance to the moon.
Scientists are constantly monitoring the skies for Earth-threatening objects. About 50 million near space objects fly by each year. That really keeps the scientists on their toes as they plan what to do if a large object were to be on path to hit the Earth.
Keep looking up and let me know if you see something coming down!
What makes it even more unusual is that this afternoon, another asteroid will come even closer. At about 5:00 pm an asteroid will pass Earth about 1/5 the distance to the moon.
Scientists are constantly monitoring the skies for Earth-threatening objects. About 50 million near space objects fly by each year. That really keeps the scientists on their toes as they plan what to do if a large object were to be on path to hit the Earth.
Keep looking up and let me know if you see something coming down!
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Attention all time travelers!
If you are interested in learning more about time travel, go to the NOVA website. They have interviews with people like Carl Sagan and Clifford Pickover. There is also a section on the vocabulary of time travel and an invitation to learn to think like Einstein! I'll post a link.
I'll also post a link to the How Stuff Works website on time travel. They suggest that we're all time travelers in the sense that even as we sit in class, all around us the future is constantly becoming the present and then the past. Do they think time travel is possible the way we think of it?
Do you? Comment and let me know what you're thinking. (Notice that you're thinking in the present but your thoughts are in the past by the time you post...)
I'll also post a link to the How Stuff Works website on time travel. They suggest that we're all time travelers in the sense that even as we sit in class, all around us the future is constantly becoming the present and then the past. Do they think time travel is possible the way we think of it?
Do you? Comment and let me know what you're thinking. (Notice that you're thinking in the present but your thoughts are in the past by the time you post...)
Welcome to the Wacky World of Enrichment
August is a great month because that's when we welcome our new 6th graders to the wacky world of enrichment! Right now they are on islands where they landed after being shipwrecked while on a cruise. From what I hear, they've encountered some really amazing things.
Seventh graders are time traveling at the moment. They're everywhere from medieval England to ancient Japan to Germany and Poland during WWII. I can't even imagine all the adventures they're having.
Eighth graders, your time is coming! This year band and orchestra are scheduled to conflict with enrichment so we'll have to get together some other way. Start thinking about how we can do that.
Comment any time. I love to hear what you have to say!
Seventh graders are time traveling at the moment. They're everywhere from medieval England to ancient Japan to Germany and Poland during WWII. I can't even imagine all the adventures they're having.
Eighth graders, your time is coming! This year band and orchestra are scheduled to conflict with enrichment so we'll have to get together some other way. Start thinking about how we can do that.
Comment any time. I love to hear what you have to say!
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