Category Archives: cosmology

Faster than lightning

Posted on September 17, 2015 by tkflor

Can a charged particle moving through the atmosphere have a speed greater than the speed of light in the air? I saw this question posted on Writers’ Cafe. After I ran a limited survey that got both “Yes” and “No” … Continue reading →

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Initial Conditions in the library

Posted on September 5, 2015 by tkflor

Initial Conditions finds a place on the library shelf. Thanks to Princeton Public Library!

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The Perfect Theory – Physicists’ Battles for Muggles

Posted on June 28, 2015 by tkflor

After the ceremony, as the audience and speakers milled around, ready to escape into the London evening, a Polish physicist named Ludwik Silberstein ambled over to Eddington. Silberstein had already written a book about Einstein’s more restricted “special theory of … Continue reading →

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Forty-two

Posted on June 20, 2015 by tkflor

“Tell us!” “All right,” said Deep Thought. “The Answer to the Great Question…” “Yes..!” “Of Life, the Universe and Everything…” said Deep Thought. “Yes…!” “Is…” said Deep Thought, and paused. “Yes…!” “Is…” “Yes…!!!…?” “Forty-two,” said Deep Thought, with infinite majesty … Continue reading →

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Raisin cake and the expanding universe

Posted on June 12, 2015 by tkflor

“Put a raisin cake in the oven, and it’s very small. Then you let it go, and the distance between the raisins is like the distance between the galaxies – it gets larger and larger with time.” Neta Bahacall, in … Continue reading →

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CP Violation: what is it and when does it matter?

Posted on May 17, 2015 by tkflor

“Suppose the TV-news suddenly reported one evening that visitors from outer space were planning to land on Earth; that the space travellers have radioed a demand for immediate information about the composition of the Earth. Does it consist of Matter … Continue reading →

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Shadow World – an unusual hero’s journey

Posted on March 28, 2015 by tkflor

“If this is about anything, it’s the boundary between creation and madness, art and science, the natural and the artifactual. Characters are fictional although some are inhabited by amalgamated aspects of real people. The science is factual but I insert … Continue reading →

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Stars and dreams

Posted on December 27, 2014 by tkflor

“I confess I do not know why, but looking at the stars always makes me dream.” Vincent van Gogh “Love what you do and do what you love. Don’t listen to anyone else who tells you not to do it.” … Continue reading →

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From outer space to a book cover

Posted on December 19, 2014 by tkflor

   “But you are resolved to pursue it right now. Are you ready to gamble on your career, going boldly where no one else cared to go before?” “You paraphrased the wrong movie. I’m neither the first nor the only one … Continue reading →

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Quotes from speculative science (fiction)

Posted on November 15, 2014 by tkflor

Without tags, would a short piece of text be enough to distinguish between an article about science and a piece of speculative fiction? For example, here are two quotes: (a) “… the initial leap from nothing to something may have … Continue reading →

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