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Thursday, February 29, 2024

Might the strong force have an effect on the gravitational waves zipping through the universe?

 A really interesting idea is being investigated by astronomers at LIGO, the famous experiment that detected gravitational waves, predicted by Einstein around 1915 and discovered by LIGO in 2015. Some early low-energy gravitational waves should have been produced in the fractions of a second after the Big Bang occurred. This is similar to the microwave background found everywhere in the universe. New techniques are being considered for trying to detect these incredibly low energy waves, which would have been generated during a phase where the strong nuclear force emerged from the Big Bang. More fascinating ideas to consider! 



How did first cells on earth come to exist? Scientists have some thoughts

 This is an article from phys.org, and gets into how some scientists are thinking the first cells to form on earth came into existence. Always fascinating to think about this! 



Tuesday, January 23, 2024

Earth's magnetic field has anomaly!

 As the seniors were discussing, the earth's magnetic field is constantly changing, and every 200,000 or so years, on average, it reverses! Compasses will point south someday, as they have many times in earth's history. 

From computer simulations, one thing that happens before a reversal is the earth's overall magnetic field weakens, and then anomalies in the field begin to form - small regions of the field where it begins to reverse itself, due to complex fluid dynamics going on in the earth's liquid iron outer-core. Scientists are identifying such anomalies, suggesting that the weakening field (the has in fact decreased at a quick pace over the last few centuries) may be getting set for a full reversal! This is something to follow in the coming years, to see how the field evolves. 



Monday, January 15, 2024

Get up to speed with AI - it will affect some 40% of jobs globally

 A new report from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concludes that AI will affect nearly 40% of jobs around the world. In developed countries, it is expected to impact as high as 60% of jobs! These are staggering numbers that will have a profound impact on people's lives in every country around the world, eliminating many while increasing productivity, which is the driver for nearly any company. Some tech leaders say the effect AI will have on humanity is on par with the effect fire had - that is, how shall we say...BIG! 

For students, this means there is a new pressure to become acquainted with and learn how to use AI in creative ways. It means finding jobs where showing actual, real humanity will be irreplaceable. No one can predict how this will turn out. The implementation of AI into the global economy will evolve quickly, and without feelings. It will be a multi-trillion dollar industry, so many are looking at how they can profit from the development of AI. This is already a big part of your world, and is about to become one of teh most dominant pieces of your world, whether you like it or not. 

Friday, December 15, 2023

A climate scientist's approach to dealing with the latest global climate conference

 For the past two weeks, tens of thousands of delegates from, I believe, every country on the planet, were in Dubai for this year's global climate conference. There have been something like 30 of these over the past few decades. And unfortunately, no real progress has been accomplished

We just had the latest hottest year on record. We just had a record year for most CO2 emissions. And the 'agreement' signed in Dubai a couple days ago, looks to reduce and eliminate burning fossil fuels by 2050. That sounds great! But the trouble is history shows this will not come close to happening, and since there is no timetable or blueprint for actionable steps or goals along the way, it is easy to be skeptical that not much progress will be made even twenty years from now. 

Keep in mind more poorer countries will want to progress and develop, and population growth continues to happen. We will see 10 billion people in the next few decades. Our younger generation needs to be aware of all this and take the lead sooner than later, since you and your kids will inherit a massive problem. 



Saturday, December 9, 2023

Does Gravity have to be quantized?

 For many decades, the assumption in physics has been that all the forces, including gravity, must be quantized - that is, we must look and find the quantum theory for gravity. And that the key to the "theory of everything" rests on that great discovery waiting to happen. 

But decades of work by the top theoretical and mathematical minds of multiple generations have not resulted in any testable theories. A good question to ask is: does gravity have to be quantized? Maybe, just maybe, gravity in this universe is 'classical' and continuous, and really just the result of warps in spacetime as Einstein proposed in general relativity! Some physicists are asking just that type of question, and developing theories based on gravity being classical with the others - electromagnetism and the strong and weak nuclear forces - follow quantum field theories. Maybe, just maybe, this is the reason gravity is SO different from the others and so difficult to link into the Standard Model. I am really interested in seeing how this evolves, and may very well create testable experiments in the near future...something that has not happened yet for quantum models of gravity. In the end, experimental results will determine how things really work. 



Sunday, November 12, 2023

Greenland's glaciers - before and now

 A report about Greenland's glaciers, and some before and now photos. So frustrating and maddening the human race collectively moves on this at glacially slow rates...





Wednesday, October 25, 2023

Article about EMPATHY Project in The Evanstonian

  One of our students at Evanston Township High School, Emir Bombaci, was kind enough to write about EMPATHY in our student newspaper. We certainly appreciate the positive coverage, and are in the process of raising some more funds to help some of the new schools get started with this process! Check out the EMPATHY website for more information.

Monday, October 9, 2023

Nobel Prize for Economics for understanding economics of the gender gap in the labor market

 The last Nobel, for economics, was awarded today to Claudia Goldin, a Harvard professor, for her groundbreaking work in understanding the historical reasons and consequences of the gender gap in payment for work. She went through a study of 200 years of data to understand how women's roles in the labor market have evolved, and the reasons why they evolved the way they did. To this day, this is a topic of much debate and political and economic activity, as record numbers of women are becoming educated and are working on careers. 

This is also historic, since Dr. Goldin is just the 3rd woman to win the Nobel in economics. 

Wednesday, October 4, 2023

Nobel Prize in Chemistry for Quantum Dots

 Three scientists are sharing the Nobel in Chemistry for their discovery and applications of quantum dots

Moungi Bawendi (MIT), Louis Brus (Columbia U), and Alexei Ekimov (industry, NY), discovered these tiny bits of matter in their nanotechnology work. When materials shrink in size, at some point the laws and weirdness of quantum mechanics take over. Quantum dots are nanomaterials that are so small, this happens - effectively they are the smallest particles in nanoscience. 

Researchers and doctors use these for everything from television images on flat screens to LED lighting to surgeons using them to help remove tumors.