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Questions tagged [popular-science]

Questions in this tag must be answered in a manner that can be understood by a general audience with at most a basic understanding of physics, mathematics and related sciences. Apply it to questions where the asker clearly requests such answers.

Questions in this tag must be answered in a manner that can be understood by a general audience with at most a basic understanding of physics, mathematics and related sciences. Apply it to questions where the asker clearly requests such answers.

251 questions
203
votes
3 answers

Surviving under water in air bubble

An incredible news story today is about a man who survived for two days at the bottom of the sea (~30 m deep) in a capsized boat, in an air bubble that formed in a corner of the boat. He was eventually rescued by divers who came to retrieve dead…
Maxim Umansky
  • 4,415
198
votes
15 answers

Why does space expansion not expand matter?

I have looked at other questions on this site (e.g. "why does space expansion affect matter") but can't find the answer I am looking for. So here is my question: One often hears talk of space expanding when we talk about the speed of galaxies…
SoulmanZ
  • 2,095
142
votes
11 answers

How fast does gravity propagate?

A thought experiment: Imagine the Sun is suddenly removed. We wouldn't notice a difference for 8 minutes, because that's how long light takes to get from the Sun's surface to Earth. However, what about the Sun's gravitational effect? If gravity…
Stefano Borini
  • 3,970
80
votes
5 answers

How literally should you take "The Higgs boson gives other particles mass"?

A standard phrase in popular discussions of the Higgs boson is that "it gives particles mass". To what extent is this a reasonable, pop-science, level of description of the Higgs boson and it's relationship to particles' masses? Is this phrasing…
Dave
  • 4,203
56
votes
4 answers

On a hot day, when it's cooler outside than in; is it better to put a fan in an open window pointing inwards or outwards?

If it's really hot inside, but cooler outside; what is the best way to place a single fan to try and cool a room down? I always assumed it would be better pointing inwards (and this thread suggests the same). However; today I had a thought - if the…
Danny Tuppeny
  • 662
50
votes
5 answers

Is it possible to have a geostationary satellite over the poles?

My understanding of orbital mechanics is very limited, but as I understand geostationary satellite, they stay in place by having an orbital speed corresponding to the spot they're orbiting over. So my basic intuition tells me that it's not possible…
mikl
  • 627
47
votes
8 answers

Explaining to a five year old - why don't bubbles run like water

My five-year old daughter was asking about astronauts the other day and why they float in space. After me showing her a few bits on the kids section on the NASA web site I started explaining about the planets and how the sun was a ball of gas and…
GrandMasterFlush
  • 561
47
votes
5 answers

Why are protons, rather than electrons, the nucleus in atoms?

I have been wondering why only electrons revolve around protons instead of protons other way around. They have electrostatic force and I think mass factor has nothing to do here. Then why?
Cyberax
  • 737
41
votes
2 answers

What are Stephen Hawking's main contributions to research-level physics?

Without a doubt, Stephen Hawking is the most famous living scientist; indeed, his public visibility in all of history seems to be rivaled only by Einstein and easily eclipses giants of physics such as Bohr and Dirac. Media portrayals of Hawking…
user55611
39
votes
2 answers

How does the Higgs mechanism work?

I'm not a particle physicist, but I did manage to get through the Feynman lectures without getting too lost. Is there a way to explain how the Higgs field works, in a way that people like me might have a hope of understanding?
Mike Dunlavey
  • 17,328
37
votes
6 answers

Blowing your own sail?

How it this possible? Even if the gif is fake, the Mythbusters did it and with a large sail it really moves forward. What is the explanation?
mathematiccian
  • 479
36
votes
10 answers

Is coherent light required for interference in Young's double slit experiment?

In this Veritasium video, a home experiment is presented which appears to produce a very good double-slit interference pattern with normal sunlight. The experiment is an empty cardboard box with a visor and a placeholder for a microscope slide with…
AnimatedPhysics
  • 658
36
votes
10 answers

Why are extra dimensions necessary?

Some theories have more than 4 dimensions of spacetime. But we only observe 4 spacetime dimensions in the real world, cf. e.g. this Phys.SE post. Why are the theories (e.g. string theory) that require more dimensions taken seriously by scientists?…
Fakrudeen
  • 761
32
votes
2 answers

What forces are at work causing sand to migrate to the centre of a spinning bucket of water?

A bucket is filled with water and a handful of sand. The water is then spun. Why and what forces are in play which cause the sand particles to congregate in the centre of the bucket?
Charles Hendry
  • 321
29
votes
4 answers

Is space "real", or is it some sort of accepted postulate?

What is space? It seems to be everywhere in the equations of physics, as some sort of postulate or hidden hypothesis. We also have a direct experience of it, but is it "real"? The fact that we experience it doesn't mean that it exists by itself. For…
Peter
  • 291
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