Article 25MQ2 Physics Week in Review: December 17, 2016

Physics Week in Review: December 17, 2016

by
JenLucPiquant
from on (#25MQ2)

6a00d8341c9c1053ef01b8d247bbe3970c-800wiJust a quick and dirty roundup of physics links today, as we head into the Christmas holiday....

Grand Unification Dream Kept at Bay. Physicists have failed to find disintegrating protons, throwing into limbo the beloved theory that the forces of nature were unified at the beginning of time.

LIGO black hole echoes hint at tentative signs of firewalls or other exotic physics.

A walk through a laser-scanned forest: Scientists use lasers to accurately "weigh" trees in tropical rainforests.

Nanocrystal night-vision specs will let you see in infrared.

Deep Machine Learning Listens to Bach, then Writes Its Own Music in the Same Style.

Star Wars: Rogue One is here! And a physicist has pinpointed the technology required to build a real-world Death Star. Related: Architects and Engineers Shove a Lightsaber Through the Death Star's Bad Design.

It's Not an Impossible Fish Tank, It's Just Physics.

Have you ever seen hair ice or needle ice or flower ice? You can make them (sort of) in your freezer.

6a00d8341c9c1053ef01b8d247bb37970c-320wiCheck out these Stunning 19th-century astronomical drawings by itienne Li(C)opold Trouvelot: "The splendor of the cosmos in a trailblazing marriage of art and science more than a century before modern astrophotography." [Image: Etienne Leopold Trouvelot; public domain]

It's Time for Particle Physics to go Back to the Future. we're about to see a renaissance in table-top experiments.

2016 in pictures: Nature's picks for best science images of the year. Related: Symmetry's 2016 list of Books in Physics includes tomes on gravitational waves, the "Pope" of physics, and the concept of "now."

NASA Science Chief: "I Have No Worries about the Resilience of This Country." Related: California Governor Says His State Will Be a Sanctuary for Science Under Trump. Also: APS remains unwavering in its commitment to full participation by everyone-Read the letter from APS President & CEO on reaffirming the Society's values. Bonus: Why funding basic science is not a "waste of money."

Two simple math problems to which the first answer you give might not be correct.

Never been able to wrap your head around math? Barbara Oakley says you should think of it like learning a language.

Discover Lincos, the Language a Dutch Mathematician Invented Just to Talk to Extraterrestrials (1960). Related: Cracking Arrival-like alien languages is gaming's new frontier.

Here's what would happen if a giant asteroid struck the ocean. Turns out Deep Impact got a few things wrong.

How loud would it be if all of the cats in the world meowed at the same time? Inquiring minds need to know!

Astronomy, Charlemagne, And The Mystery Of Phantom Time.

Clouds On This Planet Could Be Made Of The Same Stuff As Rubies.

Water, water everywhere on Ceres: Ice lies close to dwarf planet's surface.

6a00d8341c9c1053ef01b8d247bb7f970c-320wiIn "Oil Spill" artist Fabian Oefner explores the shapes and colors of oil floating atop water. [Image: Fabian Oefner]

Water droplets are spherical... unless they're freezing.

Stunning photographs of starry nights over South East Asia by Malaysian photographer Grey Chow.

Two teams of scientists have prototyped a medical device modeled on Star Trek's "tricorder."

Spinning black hole swallows star and surpasses all no supernovae in brightness. Related: Brightest Supernova Ever Seen Was Actually Something Much Darker.

Marie Curie, Ambulance Driver: her Little-Known Humanitarian Heroism and Her Life-Saving Mobile X-Ray Units.

The Man Who Tried to Redeem the World with Logic. Walter Pitts rose from the streets to MIT but couldn't escape himself.

Astrophysicist Marcelo Gleiser on how to let our lives be enlarged by mystery in the age of knowledge.

Gettin' Fizzy With It: The Science of Seltzer on the Gastropod podcast.

Thai Company Wants to Sell You This $1,500 Ghost Repelling Device. And if you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you.

Luminous Loops: Interactive Light Display Inspired by the Zoetrope.

Think Physics: A collection of educational physics films for teachers made by Alom Shaha and Jonathan Sanderson over the years.

Five reasons to teach mathematical modeling.

Secret Science Nerds: Ken Jeong Doesn't Just Play a Doctor on TV.

The 'White Rabbit Project' on Netflix devoted an episode to high-acceleration activities. Forbes' Chad Orzel takes you further down the rabbit hole of G-Forces.

Paradox Girl Is One of the Best Time Travel Series the folks at io9 have Read All Year.

Watch A Brake Disc Explode Under The Power Of Friction.

Get into the holiday spirit with this delightful video from PBS, which discusses some of the science of Christmas.

An oldie but goodie: Neutrons and Coffee: a video made with neutrons. Wow.

Quantum is calling! Fun sequel to the "Anyone Can Quantum" viral video in which Paul Rudd beat Stephen Hawking at Quantum Chess earlier this year, thanks to the power of entanglement. See the original here. And check out this "Making Of" video for good measure. Bonus: my own Time Lord, Sean Carroll, explains the science behind the video. Per Sean: "Jokes should never be explained, of course. But quantum mechanics always should be, so this time we made an exception."

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