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Featured Stories
  • Death Star Physics
  • 13 Things
  • Ghosthunters
  • NASCAR Science
Is Science Fiction Science FACT?: Death Star Physics
Elder-Geek.com
Image credit: Elder-Geek.comI’m sure that most of you out there have been sitting at home and thinking to yourself, "Golly gee! I wonder how much energy the Death Star needed in order to destroy Alderaan!" No? Hm, it’s just me then. ... Recently I was at the first meeting of the Physics Book Club, having a lengthy discussion about the notion of spinning, time, space, and other such things that physics nerds ponder in their everyday lives. More...

13 More Things That Don't Make Sense
New Scientist
(Image: Loungepark / The Image Bank / Getty)Strive as we might to make sense of the world, there are mysteries that still confound us. In this classic article from 2005, New Scientist takes a tour of thirteen perplexing exceptions that could rewrite all the rules. Cracking any one of them could yield profound truths.

See the list...

Why Ghost Hunters Is the Best Science Show on TV
Discover.com
Of the questions that have troubled great thinkers these last few thousand years, the question of which TV science show is the best has proved among the hardest to resolve. This is partly because the science shows on television keep changing, but it is also a fact that work in the field has, until lately, been spotty and lackadaisical, undertaken more often by desperate science writers for an afternoon than by a dedicated specialist for an entire year. Without further ado I can now reveal the best science show on television: Ghost Hunters, currently in its fifth preposterous season on cable television’s Syfy (né Sci Fi) Channel.No matter how silly and misguided, Ghost Hunters captures an element of science that Numb3rs, House, and even Mythbusters miss.
NSF teams with NASCAR for "The Science of Speed"
Science360.gov
The Science of SpeedA new online series of videos called The Science of Speed reveals the sophisticated science and engineering behind NASCAR racing to teach science. The series can be found on a new website created by the National Science Foundation (NSF), Science360.gov. “NASCAR is built largely on principles of science that produce speed and safety, which is why this marriage makes so much sense. We’re trying to tap into the demographics and enthusiasm of those who follow it and inspire them to learn about science,” says NSF's Jeff Nesbit. To bring the 12-module science video series to computer screens, NSF teamed with NASCAR, the largest sanctioning body of motorsports in the United States, University of Texas at Dallas physics professor Diandra Leslie-Pelecky—author of the book The Physics of NASCAR and Santa Fe Productions, Albuquerque, N.M.

• Moonship Photographed by Backyard Astronomers -NASA
• Long distance space travel might leave you short, fat and ugly -Telegraph.co.uk
• The real science hidden in fairy tales -AIP Inside Science
• Why ET will phone using neutrinos not photons -the physics arXiv blog
• Report: 90% Of Waking Hours Spent Staring At Glowing Rectangles -The Onion
Featured Videos


  • Punk 'N Chuck
  • Saturn Cassini Flyby
  • Science Tricks
  • Intro Physics

Punk ‘N Chuck Competition put on by ISU SPS
LocalNews8.com
Pumpkins were flying sky high at the Punk ‘N Chuck Competition put on by the Idaho State University SPS chapter. Teams from high schools in Blackfoot, Malad and Idaho Falls as well as teams from BYU-Idaho completed with catapults they built and designed. Students were competing for trophies along with bragging rights. In addition to all the catapults built by local high schools and BYU-Idaho, the ISU SPS built a catapult capable of hurling pumpkins 200 yards or more.

Saturn Cassini Photographic Animation
stephenv2.me, Indie filmmaker, animator, photographer and musician

5.6k Saturn Cassini Photographic Animation from stephen v2 on Vimeo.

A not-for-profit animated IMAX film in early production by a single filmmaker. Visit the site to make a tax-deductible contribution to support the film. He hopes to present this clip at the international IMAX show (GSCA Expo) next month.

Top 10 quirky science party tricks
Prof Richard Wiseman's daily blog: richardwiseman.wordpress.com/
Want to make a splash at your next party? Why not try an ace science stunt or two. I have assembled my top ten in the video here. They can all be performed with everyday objects, and only take a few seconds to learn.

Here we go….

The First Casualty of Physics
UMass, Lowell

The First Casualty of Physics is innocence - see the awesome new 'trailer' for the Introductory Physics class at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell.

Watch on YouTube
• Sympathy Tips for Physicists -XKCD
• What would the 'Big Crunch' look like from Earth? -Curious About Astronomy
• The Secret Behind the Visual Effects Oscar -AIP Inside Science
• SETI@Home Adds New Search Method -Slashdot
• The Top Ten Mad Scientists -LiveScience.com
From the Blogosphere

What is Involved in Getting a Ph.D. Abroad?
-Anna Quider, 3rd Year Ph.D Student
 Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, UK

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be blogging about my experiences as an American-trained student working towards a physics Ph.D in the United Kingdom. My goal is to give you an idea of what it’s like to study abroad for your graduate degree, as I knew very little about life as a UK grad student before I became one.
...read more

What's all the hype about SPS?
-By Blakesly Burkhart, Physics Frontline

[W]hat student doesn’t need a support group to keep the magic of physics alive during the tedious times and to occasionally provide a free slice of pizza?  The Society of Physics Students (SPS), sponsored by AIP, does all this and more!
...read more

Google Your Way to Big Science
-Physics Buzz

Google Earth is also a great way to tour big science in all its glory. How, you ask? Well, first download the program. Then make a list of your dream destinations —Fermilab, CERN, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory—and fly to each one.
...read more

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