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10 votes
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An engineer says he’s found a way to overcome Earth’s gravity
20 votes -
If eyes emitted light, could they still see?
Ok, this is one of those thoughts I have in my brain and that I can't quite get rid of. It breaks down into a couple of questions. For the purposes of this, I'm aware that what eyes see is the...
Ok, this is one of those thoughts I have in my brain and that I can't quite get rid of.
It breaks down into a couple of questions. For the purposes of this, I'm aware that what eyes see is the reflection of light bouncing off objects, but I'm curious the impact on the visibility of both objects and other lights.A. If eyes emitted any light, could they still see anything at all?
B. If eyes emitted, for example, red light, could they see everything except red items? What about red lights? Does this change if the light is green or violet?
B.1. If they can't red things would they just be invisible?
B.2. If they can't see red lights, would it matter if the red light they're seeing is brighter or dimmer, and would it still be an invisible/blank space?
C. I'm not sure how infrared interacts here but I know animals that sense infrared do emit it, is there a reason that's different, if it's different.The internet is mostly not super helpful with this, since eyes don't emit light, just reflect it and look glowy, but yeah, anyway... thanks for entertaining my weird fixation.
17 votes -
How to teach yourself physics
11 votes -
I need some help with the sciency bit of my short story
I am writing this short story. It is part of the overall book that I am writing, but it is also a story that can be enjoyed completely on its own. In that story, a planet-sized ship approaches our...
I am writing this short story. It is part of the overall book that I am writing, but it is also a story that can be enjoyed completely on its own. In that story, a planet-sized ship approaches our Solar System, and,
ultimatelymaybe, Earth. For dimensions, let's say it is equal to 1.5 of Earth's diameter. According to Google, that's25,51219,134 kilometers. The Planet-Ship is probably less dense than Earth, as it is largely occupied by biomass and weird alien electronics. You may think of it as a round Borg cube, from Star Trek.My "Round Borg Cube" is completely black and spherical, with a smooth surface without any visible features.
What I wanna know is...
- Assuming that the object is on a very slow path towards Earth, at what proximity will its effects be known?
- At which point will scientists observe its effects, view it, or detect it with instruments?
- If that is at all possible, what would be a threshold in which the "Round Borgs" would have to interrupt their movement in order to remain undetected?
- At which distance will it be visible to the naked eye (if at all)?
- And if they chose to get dangerously close to Earth, what would be the impact on our environment?
I understand that is a lot to ask, but I just can't trust GPT for that kind of stuff, even if their answers sound plausible. Perhaps someone with astronomical knowledge as well as an interest in science fiction will find my questions enticing. I don't expect precise answers because I am not providing precise information. So feel free to speculate on that scenario. In any case, I am grateful for any answer I can get.
Thanks!
22 votes -
How the novel became a laboratory for experimental physics
8 votes -
Moon
10 votes -
The sham legacy of Richard Feynman
28 votes -
Astronomers take the first close-up picture of a star outside our galaxy
9 votes -
James Webb Space Telescope finds stunning evidence for alternate theory of gravity
48 votes -
Google used millions of Android phones to map the worst enemy of GPS--the ionosphere
19 votes -
Mitochondria are alive
14 votes -
Yes, we did discover the Higgs!
9 votes -
Can we ever detect the graviton? (No, but why not?)
26 votes -
2024 Nobel Prize – This year's Nobel Prize announcements will take place between 7th - 14th October 2024
19 votes -
Why is the speed of light so fast?
26 votes -
An astrophysicist attempts to measure the physics of Outer Wilds
23 votes -
Did Sandia use a thermonuclear secondary in a product logo?
41 votes -
Nuclear breakthrough (laser excitation of nuclei) could improve clocks/measurement and detect variance in currently-believed fundamental constants
23 votes -
Webb finds early galaxies weren’t too big for their britches after all
17 votes -
How far away are we from the location of the Big Bang?
16 votes -
Arecibo "Wow!" signal likely caused by rare astrophysical event
23 votes -
Black holes can’t be created by light
16 votes -
Breakthrough in nuclear spectroscopy would lead to more accurate clocks
20 votes -
Chicago’s NASCAR Race is a marvel of physics
6 votes -
‘Story Of Your Life’ is not a time-travel story (2018)
23 votes -
Neutrinos: The inscrutable “ghost particles” driving scientists crazy
20 votes -
Science fiction writer Ursula K. Le Guin made Schrödinger’s cat famous
12 votes -
Paper showcasing a simulation of gravitational waves produced by a warp drive
6 votes -
Why 3D printing buildings leads to problems
3 votes -
Les atomes
4 votes -
NSF halts South Pole megaproject to probe infant cosmos’ growth spurt
8 votes -
The (simple) theory that explains everything | Neil Turok
10 votes -
Does light itself truly have an infinite lifetime?
10 votes -
Super Mario 64's invisible walls explained once and for all
19 votes -
Nobel Prize-winning phycisist Peter Higgs died at 94. About sixty years ago he proposed the Higgs Boson, an elememtary particle essential in describing mass in the Standard Model of particle physics.
28 votes -
Peter Higgs, physicist who proposed Higgs boson, dies aged 94
27 votes -
xkcd: Machine
83 votes -
Unraveling Havana Syndrome: New evidence links the GRU's assassination Unit 29155 to mysterious attacks on US officials and their families
40 votes -
Beyond solid, liquid, and gas: The seven states of matter
10 votes -
The Minecraft boat-drop mystery
7 votes -
The mystery of spinors
4 votes -
When you make a mathematical knot using elastic material you get jumping loops, and challenging puzzles
8 votes -
How the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird works
21 votes -
Tests show high-temperature superconducting magnets are ready for fusion
10 votes -
Why it’s so challenging to land upright on the Moon
12 votes -
Airfoil
18 votes -
The blue LED was supposed to be impossible—until a young engineer proposed a moonshot idea
26 votes -
Astronomers accidentally discover dark primordial galaxy without stars
25 votes -
Arno Penzias, co-discoverer of the cosmic microwave background, has died age 90
24 votes