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5 votes
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The spool paradox
4 votes -
The first few moments of an explosion can't be simulated yet. But there's a team at the University of Sheffield working on it.
12 votes -
I am a cosmologist, AMA
Ok ok disclaimer, I am a cosmology PhD candidate, don’t have the degree yet. However I do feel comfortable at this point calling myself a cosmologist (I think for the first time ever). In any...
Ok ok disclaimer, I am a cosmology PhD candidate, don’t have the degree yet. However I do feel comfortable at this point calling myself a cosmologist (I think for the first time ever). In any case, with all the new people here, I think an AMA might be fun. I will try my best to answer all of the questions I get asked, but it may not happen quickly!
A bit about my research. I study the conditions in the early universe, specifically when the cosmic microwave background was forming, and I use CMB data to test our understanding of this era. The CMB formed roughly 300,000 years after the big bang, when the universe was 1/1000th its current size. The patterns that we see in the temperature fluctuations of the CMB can tell us a lot about the universe at this early time, and specifically we can try to use them to see if anything ‘unexpected’ happened at this time, like a hitherto undiscovered particle annihilating into ‘normal’ particles (for example).
Ask me anything about the early universe, or physics writ large, and I will do my best to answer!
51 votes -
Ronald Reagan and the biggest failure in physics
5 votes -
Multi-layer reactive foil: no fuel, no oxygen, tons of heat
9 votes -
How NASA reinvented the wheel
2 votes -
How medieval thinkers foreshadowed modern physics in investigating the character of machines, devices and forces
4 votes -
Prince Rupert's Drop exploding in molten glass
6 votes -
The gambler who beat roulette
12 votes -
Can water solve a maze?
11 votes -
“What If?” Eleven serious answers to slightly crazy science questions
3 votes -
A crucial particle physics computer program risks obsolescence
12 votes -
A new way to achieve nuclear fusion: Helion
5 votes -
US to announce fusion energy ‘breakthrough’
13 votes -
The turntable paradox: A ball on a spinning turntable won't fly off as you might expect. In fact the ball will have it's own little orbit exactly 2/7th the angular speed of the table. Here's why.
6 votes -
Sound
6 votes -
No one in physics dares say so, but the race to invent new particles is pointless
12 votes -
US physics body concedes mistakes in study of missile defense
8 votes -
How petrol pumps know when to turn themselves off
10 votes -
These metals destroy themselves to prevent rust
7 votes -
Physics duo finds magic in two dimensions
4 votes -
Gallium: The liquid metal that could transform soft electronics
7 votes -
LHCb (Large Hadron Collider beauty) experiment discovers three new exotic particles
11 votes -
Controversy continues over whether hot water freezes faster than cold
7 votes -
Prince Rupert's Drop exploding in epoxy resin at 456,522 fps
6 votes -
Powerful ‘machine scientists’ distill the laws of physics from raw data
19 votes -
How do these rocks move on their own in the desert? Ninety-nine years later... we solved it.
19 votes -
Nuclear waste is safer than you think
12 votes -
What "impossible" meant to Richard Feynman
7 votes -
Detailed footage finally reveals what triggers lightning
12 votes -
Dr Ken Libbrecht is the world expert on snowflakes, designer of custom snowflakes, snowflake consultant for the movie Frozen - his photos appear on postage stamps all over the world
6 votes -
The big misconception about electricity
14 votes -
Fractal ink jets that power spiral motion
2 votes -
Interactive Double Pendulum Playground
4 votes -
How close is nuclear fusion power?
8 votes -
MIT scientists report 'major advance' in fusion energy
21 votes -
Why things fall off cranes
6 votes -
Havana syndrome and the mystery of the microwaves
6 votes -
The new thermodynamic understanding of clocks
3 votes -
Lawrence Livermore claims a milestone in laser fusion, produces three times more energy than was absorbed by the fuel
16 votes -
Dispelling the myths of nuclear energy
10 votes -
Cheap material could help convert waste heat into electricity
7 votes -
Smarter Every Day's 'Nuclear Submarine Deep Dive' completed playlist
10 votes -
The spring paradox
4 votes -
The Mould Effect: A new theory
7 votes -
Three months in Monte Carlo
4 votes -
AlphaFold DB provides open access to protein structure predictions for the human proteome and twenty other key organisms to accelerate scientific research
4 votes -
ITER site construction is now 78% complete
11 votes -
The military’s mobile nuclear reactor prototype is set to begin taking shape
11 votes