Results tagged “physics” from theInput.net

A neat video on solutal convection by New Scientist, using cream and Tia Maria:

The Telegraph and New Scientist report on a new Unification Theory by a penny-less surfer and theoretical physics doctorate published recently called "An Exceptionally Simple Theory of Everything":

Lisi's inspiration lies in the most elegant and intricate shape known to mathematics, called E8 - a complex, eight-dimensional mathematical pattern with 248 points first found in 1887, but only fully understood by mathematicians this year after workings, that, if written out in tiny print, would cover an area the size of Manhattan.

Lisi's breakthrough came when he noticed that some of the equations describing E8's structure matched his own. "My brain exploded with the implications and the beauty of the thing," he tells New Scientist. "I thought: 'Holy crap, that's it!'"

What Lisi had realised was that he could find a way to place the various elementary particles and forces on E8's 248 points. What remained was 20 gaps which he filled with notional particles, for example those that some physicists predict to be associated with gravity.

An interesting read, and when the LHC is finished next year, we'll see if the theory pans out against current favourite, String Theory.

Surfer dude stuns physicists with theory of everything [The Telegraph]

Is mathematical pattern the theory of everything? [New Scientist]

If you're tuned into the geeky side of the blogging world, you're no doubt familiar with the obsession over the "plane on a treadmill" problem:

Imagine a plane is sitting on a massive conveyor belt, as wide and as long as a runway. The conveyer belt is designed to exactly match the speed of the wheels, moving in the opposite direction. Can the plane take off?

The problem has divided physicists, pilots, and bloggers alike, inspiring this Joy of Tech comic that sums up the fervour nicely.

Well... Mythbusters to the rescue! In an episode airing in December, Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman will finally lay this problem to rest:

"... We just finished one that has confounded us our entire careers.''

"We put the plane on a quarter-mile conveyor belt and tested it out,'' says Savage about the experiment using a pilot and his Ultralight plane. ``I won't tell you what the outcome was, but the pilot and his entire flight club got it wrong.''

I'm so stoked for this episode. The Physics geek in me can't wait.