Jan 22, 2017 12:04 AM
What Effects Of Quantum Physics Can We Observe In Our Daily Lives?
http://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2017/0...ily-lives/
EXCERPT: In a trivial sense, everything you see around you is a quantum phenomenon because it’s made of elementary particles that are described by quantum mechanics. It so happens that quantum mechanics reproduces classical physics in the appropriate limits, but they’re all fundamentally quantum. A basketball bouncing is a quantum effect because it’s made up of molecules all obeying quantum rules, and all those molecules just happen to add up to a basketball. That’s probably not what you wanted to hear, though. In a slightly stronger sense, classical physics is an inadequate way to describe much of anything at a fundamental level....
What is the Alcubierre "warp" drive?
https://m.phys.org/news/2017-01-alcubierre-warp.html
EXCERPT: It's always a welcome thing to learn that ideas that are commonplace in science fiction have a basis in science fact. Cryogenic freezers, laser guns, robots, silicate implants… and let's not forget the warp drive! Believe it or not, this concept – alternately known as FTL (Faster-Than-Light) travel, Hyperspace, Lightspeed, etc. – actually has one foot in the world of real science.
In physics, it is what is known as the Alcubierre Warp Drive. On paper, it is a highly speculative, but possibly valid, solution of the Einstein field equations, specifically how space, time and energy interact. In this particular mathematical model of spacetime, there are features that are apparently reminiscent of the fictional "warp drive" or "hyperspace" from notable science fiction franchises, hence the association.
Background: Since Einstein first proposed the Special Theory of Relativity in 1905, scientists have been operating under the restrictions imposed by a relativistic universe. One of these restrictions is the belief that the speed of light is unbreakable and hence, that there will never be such a thing as FTL space travel or exploration. Even though subsequent generations of scientists and engineers managed to break the sound barrier and defeat the pull of the Earth's gravity, the speed of light appeared to be one barrier that was destined to hold. But then, in 1994, a Mexican physicist by the name of Miguel Alcubierre came along with proposed method for stretching the fabric of space-time in way which would, in theory, allow FTL travel to take pace....
Wrestling With the Mysteries of Physics Is Good for Your Soul
http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2017/01/car...-soul.html
EXCERPT: [...] "Reality Is Not What It Seems" takes much the same approach, all part of an attempt by [Carlo] Rovelli to entice readers to engage both intellectually and emotionally with physics’ attempts at answering fundamental questions about the universe and the nature of reality. It’s one thing to get a basic conceptual grasp of, say, the theories for why our universe may well be just one of many, or how every object has its own time. It’s another to absorb those ideas in such a way as to change how we might perceive our own lives. And that, the relevance of physics to our day-to-day and why it can matter to laypeople, is what Rovelli spoke with us about — along with his concerns for the status of science in contemporary society and the stupidity of simulation theory — over the phone from his home in Marseille....
http://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2017/0...ily-lives/
EXCERPT: In a trivial sense, everything you see around you is a quantum phenomenon because it’s made of elementary particles that are described by quantum mechanics. It so happens that quantum mechanics reproduces classical physics in the appropriate limits, but they’re all fundamentally quantum. A basketball bouncing is a quantum effect because it’s made up of molecules all obeying quantum rules, and all those molecules just happen to add up to a basketball. That’s probably not what you wanted to hear, though. In a slightly stronger sense, classical physics is an inadequate way to describe much of anything at a fundamental level....
What is the Alcubierre "warp" drive?
https://m.phys.org/news/2017-01-alcubierre-warp.html
EXCERPT: It's always a welcome thing to learn that ideas that are commonplace in science fiction have a basis in science fact. Cryogenic freezers, laser guns, robots, silicate implants… and let's not forget the warp drive! Believe it or not, this concept – alternately known as FTL (Faster-Than-Light) travel, Hyperspace, Lightspeed, etc. – actually has one foot in the world of real science.
In physics, it is what is known as the Alcubierre Warp Drive. On paper, it is a highly speculative, but possibly valid, solution of the Einstein field equations, specifically how space, time and energy interact. In this particular mathematical model of spacetime, there are features that are apparently reminiscent of the fictional "warp drive" or "hyperspace" from notable science fiction franchises, hence the association.
Background: Since Einstein first proposed the Special Theory of Relativity in 1905, scientists have been operating under the restrictions imposed by a relativistic universe. One of these restrictions is the belief that the speed of light is unbreakable and hence, that there will never be such a thing as FTL space travel or exploration. Even though subsequent generations of scientists and engineers managed to break the sound barrier and defeat the pull of the Earth's gravity, the speed of light appeared to be one barrier that was destined to hold. But then, in 1994, a Mexican physicist by the name of Miguel Alcubierre came along with proposed method for stretching the fabric of space-time in way which would, in theory, allow FTL travel to take pace....
Wrestling With the Mysteries of Physics Is Good for Your Soul
http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2017/01/car...-soul.html
EXCERPT: [...] "Reality Is Not What It Seems" takes much the same approach, all part of an attempt by [Carlo] Rovelli to entice readers to engage both intellectually and emotionally with physics’ attempts at answering fundamental questions about the universe and the nature of reality. It’s one thing to get a basic conceptual grasp of, say, the theories for why our universe may well be just one of many, or how every object has its own time. It’s another to absorb those ideas in such a way as to change how we might perceive our own lives. And that, the relevance of physics to our day-to-day and why it can matter to laypeople, is what Rovelli spoke with us about — along with his concerns for the status of science in contemporary society and the stupidity of simulation theory — over the phone from his home in Marseille....