Physics
How Do Rocket Engines Work?
Rockets differ fundamentally from planes and helicopters in terms of propulsion. Planes and helicopters rely on aerodynamic design for lift and the atmosphere for combustion. How do rockets fly? […]
Physics
Deeper Dive
Wondrium Science Series Answers: Is Light a Wave or a Particle?
Since the time of Newton, scientists have studied the nature of light. One recurring question is whether light is a wave or a particle. Even Sir Isaac himself got some things wrong. […]
Physics
The Discovery of Higgs Boson: Success after 50 Years
In the Large Hadron Collider, or LHC, scientists smashed together beams of protons and looked for the Higgs boson. On July 4, 2012, they announced that that Higgs boson had been finally found. […]
Physics
The Search for Higgs Boson: The LEP Era
With the discovery of W and Z bosons, much of electroweak theory had been confirmed. In 1991, the CERN laboratory turned on a much bigger accelerator, called LEP, to look for Higgs boson. […]
Physics
Higgs Field and the Search for W and Z Bosons
Modern electroweak theory predicted that there should be a massless photon, a massive neutral particle called Z boson, two massive electrically charged particles called W bosons, and a massive and neutral particle called Higgs boson. […]
Physics
Higgs Boson and the Higgs Field
Electromagnetism and weak nuclear force were unified into a combined force called the electroweak force. The electroweak unification predicted four particles that carried the electroweak force and had zero mass. […]
Physics
Can We Make a Subatomic Black Hole?
The fears regarding subatomic black holes are not founded. Physicists like Stephen Hawking believe that even if subatomic black holes are real, they evaporate away before becoming dangerous. […]
Physics
Are Particle Accelerators Really Dangerous?
Though they are certain worries vis-à-vis the particle accelerators, they are not backed by science. One of the concerns is that large accelerators might make subatomic particles, called ‘strangelets’. […]
Chemistry
What Makes Nuclear Fusion Work?
Nuclear fusion is an astronomically powerful source of energy. If harnessed, it could prove unimaginably useful for humanity’s purposes. How does nuclear fusion make energy? […]
Physics
What Is the Planck Spectrum?
0.6 microns is the most popular wavelength to have in sunlight. When we measure the flux density of the Sun, as a function of wavelength, we find it’s a pretty good fit to a theoretical Planck spectrum. […]