Applied Physics

After Top Gun, the number of fighter pilot recruits exploded. After CSI took over the country, more people went into forensic science. The lesson? Media definitely makes a difference in the level of…

Nanotechnology is a big buzzword this decade but there are questions about how safe nano-based products are and we are unsure how to even measure,  much less regulate, them. Anti-odor socks,…

You have to know your CO2! When I wrote Your CO2 Is Bad For You In Your Space Suit I was not talking about the EPA. Here I will not talk about the life's CO2 exchange cycle either unless I have…

Why is the Fourier Transform so useful both in theoretical and applied science and engineering?  In short, often it is more convenient to solve a problem in Fourier space than the space of the…

We are aware of the large and small. We can, for example, taste and smell the earthy but invisible Streptomyces coelicolor. This soil-dwelling bacterium might have been in…

A Rotational and Translational motion is standalone natural phenomenon For this experiment, two identically thin cylinders which are initially static to the observer are taken. These cylinders are…

Why is the Fourier Transform so useful both in theoretical and applied science and engineering?  In short, often it is more convenient to solve a problem in Fourier space than the space of the…

It's World Series time, which means it's time to talk about physics and baseball once again.    This season, among other things, we've covered the farthest homerun ever hit and how fast a…

Art is many things, but not often enough is it scientific. Fear not, art/science lovers, for Sir Isaac's Loft in the Franklin Institute is here to save the day! I began describing the Loft in my…

Science and art aren't mutually exclusive. You can demonstrate scientific concepts artistically, and sometimes even physics can be phun. Take, for example, Sir Isaac's Loft, a feature in the Franklin…