Physics - World-of-Newave.info http://answers.world-of-newave.info/physics.htm Latest news and articles about Physics en-us Copyright (c)2004-2008. All rights reserved. webmaster@world-of-newave.com (Webmaster) Tue, 02 Dec 2008 11:40:43 GMT Tue, 02 Dec 2008 11:40:43 GMT Newave Lisa XML Engine v1.0 - http://www.world-of-newave.info/about.htm 60 http://www.world-of-newave.info/images/wi8831.gif World-of-Newave.info - Knowledge and Informational Database http://www.world-of-newave.info/ 88 31 {INTERNET > W} - A Hazy Shock of Winter http://articles.world-of-newave.info/computers/internet/on-the-web/weblogs/personal/w/a-hazy-shock-of-winter-2008124302.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/computers/internet/on-the-web/weblogs/personal/w/a-hazy-shock-of-winter-2008124302.htm Mon, 01 Dec 2008 09:42:19 GMT Winter is easily my least favorite time of year. (Yes, I'm aware it's not technically winter yet. I don't care. You season police and lunar calendar creeps can wax a crescent and shove it up your gibbous. I'm in Boston. It's twenty degrees outside, it's pitch black by three-thirty in the afternoon, and every other house on my block has Christmas lights and rooftop Santas and plastic freaking lawn elves triggered to sing 'O Holy Night' in chipmunk voices when you ring their stupid doorbell. It's winter. To me. The calendar can go suck a solstice.) Now. why am I so down on winter? Is it the cold weather? Nah. I don't mind the cold. I wouldn't be traumatized if I never had to shovel snow again in my lifetime, but generally the prevailing climatological conditions don't factor overmuch into my mood. Is it Christmas? Am I just a bitter old Scrooge? Well... yes. In the interest of full disclosure, I suppose I am. Not the 'steal candy canes from orphans and depants Santa at the mall' kind of Scrooge, mind you. More a 'lock myself in a closet after Halloween and hope to god the carols die down by New Years' Scrooge. Christmas for me is like a small hyper child with a runny nose. I don't hate it. I don't have anything bad to say about it. I'd just prefer it didn't climb in my lap and scream and sing and rub its gooey little paws all over me. ('Oh, Christmas. Always into something. Why couldn't you be more like your brother, President's Day?') But no, Christmastime (which now officially begins during the 4th of July fireworks extravaganza, from what I understand) doesn't get me down. Tired, maybe. Exasperated. Willing to do hard time for manslaughter, if I could just get ten minutes alone with the jackass that recorded those dogs barking 'Jingle Bells'. But down, not so much. No, the reason I hate winter is a simple matter of fundamental electromagnetics. As in the 'static' kind of electro. And me as the magnetics. I can't explain the physics behind it. (No, seriously. Ask my freshman physics teacher; I wouldn't know a Faraday cage from a hamster ball. Which turned out to be most unfortunate for our little lab buddy Mr. Squeakers. Rest his furry, crispy little soul.) All I know is that I'm an unwilling -- but ungodly effective -- lightning rod for the discharge of static electricity. Always have been. Only in winter, when the air is dry and cold and jam-packed full of loose angry electrons waiting to leap at me when I'm not expecting it. But winters here in New England are, like, eight months long. And already this year, I'm feeling the sizzle. When I opened the car door this morning -- *zzzap*! When I turned the key in the lock at the office -- *shhhizock*! As I hung my coat on the (regrettably metal) hook by my desk -- *pppppzot*! "If I attracted stray women the way I attract loose electrons, my life would be an Axe commercial." I'd swear I never touched that hook, by the way. I was a good three inches from it, and the electricity just arced over at my fingers. Like a pack of rabid tigers. I'm telling you, it was vicious. If I attracted stray women the way I attract loose electrons, my life would be an Axe commercial. (Only less smarmy. And with more redheads.) The worst shock of the day came in one of the worst places possible -- the bathroom. I was just putting the final shake on a trip to the urinal, reached for the handle to flush and -- *bbbbbbbzzzzzzowie*!!! I'm pretty sure the bolt passed into my finger, whizzed through my body, and slammed into the wall behind me. Some of the paper towels in the holder back there looked a little singed, is all I'm saying. It's not CSI:Miami proof, but it's solid forensic corroboration. Singed paper towels would totally hold up in court. Meanwhile, the jolt was alarming. I would probably have peed my pants, if I hadn't just gotten finished peeing. And if my peeing apparatus had been tucked away back in my pants already. And if my bladder hadn't just been cooked to medium rare by a rogue bout of ball lightning. Instead, I jumped back from the shock, convulsing and flapping my arms. With my pants still unzipped, and the apparatus downstairs waving about willy-nilly. Thank goodness no one walked into the bathroom just then. Maybe someone out there could explain their way out of looking like 'Cosmo Kramer, sex offender' in a public restroom, but I'm certain that I couldn't. And I have the court-appointed community service records to prove it. Of course, all of these shocking developments pale in comparison to the teeth-rattling thunderbolts unleashed on me by my wife. If I'm the glue getting stuck with these nasty little shocks, my missus is the rubber bouncing thousand-bolt lightning strikes at me. She's like Zeus with those things. Or a much cuter Emperor from The Empire Strikes Back. Some days, I'd swear she keeps a Van de Graaff generator in her pants. (There's a joke to be made here about electrified panties and pubic hairs standing on end. But I like being married, so I'll leave this one to you. Knock yourself out.) Spending a winter with my wife is taking my life in my own hands. Any other shocks I get -- from doorknobs, ungrounded urinal handles and the like -- are solely on the fingers. Unless I start licking my car door or getting 'intimate' with the tailpipe, only my hands are at risk out in the wintry world. My wife isn't nearly so specific, or as merciful. She'll sizzle me with a touch on the elbow, or the cheek, or worst of all, singe my lips when she leans in for a kiss. I think I'm getting a nice smooch; next thing I know, my mouth is soldered shut and no hairs grow back on my chin for a month. Not cool. At least if she ever delivers a fatal shock, she can always resuscitate me. A quick shuffle across the rug and a megawatt poke in the chest would get me going before any fancy defibrillator paddles. Might catch my shirt on fire, too, but I'll climb that electrified fence when I get to it. So winter for me is basically a pain in the neck. And the fingers, and sometimes more sensitive parts. Spring can't possibly get here fast enough. Until then, I'm sewing resistors into my underpants. Or transistors. Capacitors? Damn. I really wish I'd paid attention in that physics class. Wherethehellwasi.Com A Hazy Shock of Winter {new window}   Www.Wherethehellwasi.Com - Winter is easily my least favorite time of year. (Yes, I'm aware it's not technically winter yet. I don't care. You season police and lunar calendar creeps can wax a crescent and shove it up your gibbous. I'm in Boston. It's twenty degrees outside, it's pitch black by three-thirty in the afternoon, and every other house on my block has Christmas lights and rooftop Santas and plastic freaking lawn elves triggered to sing 'O Holy Night' in chipmunk voices when you ring their stupid doorbell. It's winter. To me. The calendar can go suck a solstice.) Now. why am I so down on winter? Is it the cold weather? Nah. I don't mind the cold. I wouldn't be traumatized if I never had to shovel snow again in my lifetime, but generally the prevailing climatological conditions don't factor overmuch into my mood. Is it Christmas? Am I just a bitter old Scrooge? Well... yes. In the interest of full disclosure, I suppose I am. Not the 'steal candy canes from orphans and depants Santa at the mall' kind of Scrooge, mind you. More a 'lock myself in a closet after Halloween and hope to god the carols die down by New Years' Scrooge. Christmas for me is like a small hyper child with a runny nose. I don't hate it. I don't have anything bad to say about it. I'd just prefer it didn't climb in my lap and scream and sing and rub its gooey little paws all over me. ('Oh, Christmas. Always into something. Why couldn't you be more like your brother, President's Day?') But no, Christmastime (which now officially begins during the 4th of July fireworks extravaganza, from what I understand) doesn't get me down. Tired, maybe. Exasperated. Willing to do hard time for manslaughter, if I could just get ten minutes alone with the jackass that recorded those dogs barking 'Jingle Bells'. But down, not so much. No, the reason I hate winter is a simple matter of fundamental electromagnetics. As in the 'static' kind of electro. And me as the magnetics. I can't explain the physics behind it. (No, seriously. Ask my freshman physics teacher; I wouldn't know a Faraday cage from a hamster ball. Which turned out to be most unfortunate for our little lab buddy Mr. Squeakers. Rest his furry, crispy little soul.) All I know is that I'm an unwilling -- but ungodly effective -- lightning rod for the discharge of static electricity. Always have been. Only in winter, when the air is dry and cold and jam-packed full of loose angry electrons waiting to leap at me when I'm not expecting it. But winters here in New England are, like, eight months long. And already this year, I'm feeling the sizzle. When I opened the car door this morning -- *zzzap*! When I turned the key in the lock at the office -- *shhhizock*! As I hung my coat on the (regrettably metal) hook by my desk -- *pppppzot*! "If I attracted stray women the way I attract loose electrons, my life would be an Axe commercial." I'd swear I never touched that hook, by the way. I was a good three inches from it, and the electricity just arced over at my fingers. Like a pack of rabid tigers. I'm telling you, it was vicious. If I attracted stray women the way I attract loose electrons, my life would be an Axe commercial. (Only less smarmy. And with more redheads.) The worst shock of the day came in one of the worst places possible -- the bathroom. I was just putting the final shake on a trip to the urinal, reached for the handle to flush and -- *bbbbbbbzzzzzzowie*!!! I'm pretty sure the bolt passed into my finger, whizzed through my body, and slammed into the wall behind me. Some of the paper towels in the holder back there looked a little singed, is all I'm saying. It's not CSI:Miami proof, but it's solid forensic corroboration. Singed paper towels would totally hold up in court. Meanwhile, the jolt was alarming. I would probably have peed my pants, if I hadn't just gotten finished peeing. And if my peeing apparatus had been tucked away back in my pants already. And if my bladder hadn't just been cooked to medium rare by a rogue bout of ball lightning. Instead, I jumped back from the shock, convulsing and flapping my arms. With my pants still unzipped, and the apparatus downstairs waving about willy-nilly. Thank goodness no one walked into the bathroom just then. Maybe someone out there could explain their way out of looking like 'Cosmo Kramer, sex offender' in a public restroom, but I'm certain that I couldn't. And I have the court-appointed community service records to prove it. Of course, all of these shocking developments pale in comparison to the teeth-rattling thunderbolts unleashed on me by my wife. If I'm the glue getting stuck with these nasty little shocks, my missus is the rubber bouncing thousand-bolt lightning strikes at me. She's like Zeus with those things. Or a much cuter Emperor from The Empire Strikes Back. Some days, I'd swear she keeps a Van de Graaff generator in her pants. (There's a joke to be made here about electrified panties and pubic hairs standing on end. But I like being married, so I'll leave this one to you. Knock yourself out.) Spending a winter with my wife is taking my life in my own hands. Any other shocks I get -- from doorknobs, ungrounded urinal handles and the like -- are solely on the fingers. Unless I start licking my car door or getting 'intimate' with the tailpipe, only my hands are at risk out in the wintry world. My wife isn't nearly so specific, or as merciful. She'll sizzle me with a touch on the elbow, or the cheek, or worst of all, singe my lips when she leans in for a kiss. I think I'm getting a nice smooch; next thing I know, my mouth is soldered shut and no hairs grow back on my chin for a month. Not cool. At least if she ever delivers a fatal shock, she can always resuscitate me. A quick shuffle across the rug and a megawatt poke in the chest would get me going before any fancy defibrillator paddles. Might catch my shirt on fire, too, but I'll climb that electrified fence when I get to it. So winter for me is basically a pain in the neck. And the fingers, and sometimes more sensitive parts. Spring can't possibly get here fast enough. Until then, I'm sewing resistors into my underpants. Or transistors. Capacitors? Damn. I really wish I'd paid attention in that physics class.
A Hazy Shock of Winter [Where the Hell Was I?] {...} Life, from a comic perspective. Original articles, humor, & funny stories daily from an aspiring Boston standup comedian. {...}
Indexed: December 1, 2008, 9:42 am - Page Size: 51KB
Category: Computers > Internet > On the Web > Weblogs > Personal > W

]]> Computers > Internet > On the Web > Weblogs > Personal > W {INTERNET > W} - Dinner http://articles.world-of-newave.info/computers/internet/on-the-web/weblogs/personal/w/dinner-20081142816.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/computers/internet/on-the-web/weblogs/personal/w/dinner-20081142816.htm Sat, 22 Nov 2008 22:31:03 GMT I had a physics exam on Monday. Exams aren't fun, but Monday exams are especially unfun. Especially when they're one hour during the day instead of two hours at night. For the previous exams, I had studied for several days beforehand and got a 7/10 each time, beating the class average of 5.5. But when [...] Theworldofstuff.Com Dinner {new window}   Www.Theworldofstuff.Com - I had a physics exam on Monday. Exams aren't fun, but Monday exams are especially unfun. Especially when they're one hour during the day instead of two hours at night. For the previous exams, I had studied for several days beforehand and got a 7/10 each time, beating the class average of 5.5. But when [...]
The World of Stuff » Blog Archive » Dinner {...}
Published: November 22, 2008, 10:31 pm - Indexed: November 23, 2008, 12:36 pm - Page Size: 14KB
Category: Computers > Internet > On the Web > Weblogs > Personal > W

]]> Computers > Internet > On the Web > Weblogs > Personal > W {EDUCATION > BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY} - So I am doing really poorly in physics right now, and am t ... http://articles.world-of-newave.info/reference/education/colleges-and-universities/north-america/united-states/utah/brigham-young-university/so-i-am-doing-really-poorly-in-physics-right-now-and-20081157417.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/reference/education/colleges-and-universities/north-america/united-states/utah/brigham-young-university/so-i-am-doing-really-poorly-in-physics-right-now-and-20081157417.htm Fri, 14 Nov 2008 12:10:53 GMT Posted on Thu 13 Nov 2008. Follow the link for the full question & answer. Theboard.Byu.Edu So I am doing really poorly in physics right now, and am t ... {new window}   Theboard.Byu.Edu - Posted on Thu 13 Nov 2008. Follow the link for the full question & answer.
If you ever drop your keys into a river of molten lava, forget em', cause, man, they're gone. ?Jack Handy {...}
Indexed: November 14, 2008, 12:10 pm - Page Size: 17KB
Category: Reference > Education > Colleges and Universities > North America > United States > Utah > Brigham Young University

]]> Reference > Education > Colleges and Universities > North America > United States > Utah > Brigham Young University {SYSTEMS > NEWS AND MEDIA} - Review - FlatOut 2 http://articles.world-of-newave.info/computers/systems/apple/macintosh/news-and-media/review-flatout-2-20081137210.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/computers/systems/apple/macintosh/news-and-media/review-flatout-2-20081137210.htm Thu, 06 Nov 2008 21:15:00 GMT Here's a game that doesn't take physics seriously. It encourages you to not only wreck the scenery but also smash your opponents and do whatever you can to win the race. It's addictive Macobserver.Com Review - FlatOut 2 {new window}   Www.Macobserver.Com - Here's a game that doesn't take physics seriously. It encourages you to not only wreck the scenery but also smash your opponents and do whatever you can to win the race. It's addictive
Review - FlatOut 2 || The Mac Observer {...}
Published: November 6, 2008, 9:15 pm - Indexed: November 7, 2008, 10:07 am - Page Size: 40KB
Category: Computers > Systems > Apple > Macintosh > News and Media

]]> Computers > Systems > Apple > Macintosh > News and Media {SYSTEMS > NEWS AND MEDIA} - Mac Gaming News - World of Goo Offers a Sticky Twist on Puzzle Games http://articles.world-of-newave.info/computers/systems/apple/macintosh/news-and-media/mac-gaming-news-world-of-goo-offers-a-sticky-twist-2008111406.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/computers/systems/apple/macintosh/news-and-media/mac-gaming-news-world-of-goo-offers-a-sticky-twist-2008111406.htm Tue, 04 Nov 2008 20:45:00 GMT 2D Boy on Tuesday announced that its physics-based puzzle game World of Goo is now available for Mac OS X Macobserver.Com Mac Gaming News - World of Goo Offers a Sticky Twist on Puzzle Games {new window}   Www.Macobserver.Com - 2D Boy on Tuesday announced that its physics-based puzzle game World of Goo is now available for Mac OS X
Mac Gaming News - World of Goo Offers a Sticky Twist on Puzzle Games || The Mac Observer {...}
Published: November 4, 2008, 8:45 pm - Indexed: November 5, 2008, 9:56 am - Page Size: 36KB
Category: Computers > Systems > Apple > Macintosh > News and Media

]]> Computers > Systems > Apple > Macintosh > News and Media {SCIENCE} - Has new physics been found at the ageing Tevatron? http://articles.world-of-newave.info/science/has-new-physics-been-found-at-the-ageing-tevatron-2008114205.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/science/has-new-physics-been-found-at-the-ageing-tevatron-2008114205.htm Mon, 03 Nov 2008 18:55:00 GMT An unexplained event at the Tevatron particle accelerator at Fermilab just be the signature of a new type of long-lived particle Space.Newscientist.Com Has new physics been found at the ageing Tevatron? {new window}   Space.Newscientist.Com - An unexplained event at the Tevatron particle accelerator at Fermilab just be the signature of a new type of long-lived particle
Has new physics been found at the ageing Tevatron? - space - 03 November 2008 - New Scientist Space {...} An unexplained event at the Tevatron particle accelerator at Fermilab just might be the signature of a new type of long-lived particle {...}
Published: November 3, 2008, 6:55 pm - Indexed: November 4, 2008, 10:12 am - Page Size: 66KB
Category: Science

]]> Science {NEWS > BREAKING NEWS} - Future of physics 'under threat' http://articles.world-of-newave.info/science/news/breaking-news/future-of-physics-under-threat-2008118428.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/science/news/breaking-news/future-of-physics-under-threat-2008118428.htm Mon, 03 Nov 2008 12:11:45 GMT Leading physicists have told the BBC that long-term research is under threat because of a shortage of funding. News.Bbc.Co.Uk Future of physics 'under threat' {new window}   News.Bbc.Co.Uk - Leading physicists have told the BBC that long-term research is under threat because of a shortage of funding.
BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Future of physics 'under threat' {...}
Published: November 3, 2008, 12:11 pm - Indexed: November 5, 2008, 9:10 am - Page Size: 52KB
Category: Science > News > Breaking News

]]> Science > News > Breaking News {SCIENCE > NEWS} - Future of physics 'under threat' http://articles.world-of-newave.info/science/news/future-of-physics-under-threat-2008119764.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/science/news/future-of-physics-under-threat-2008119764.htm Mon, 03 Nov 2008 12:11:45 GMT Leading physicists have told the BBC that long-term research is under threat because of a shortage of funding. News.Bbc.Co.Uk Future of physics 'under threat' {new window}   News.Bbc.Co.Uk - Leading physicists have told the BBC that long-term research is under threat because of a shortage of funding.
BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Future of physics 'under threat' {...}
Published: November 3, 2008, 12:11 pm - Indexed: November 5, 2008, 9:41 am - Page Size: 52KB
Category: Science > News

]]> Science > News {NEWS > BREAKING NEWS} - Physics the Next President Needs to Know http://articles.world-of-newave.info/news/breaking-news/physics-the-next-president-needs-to-know-2008119175.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/news/breaking-news/physics-the-next-president-needs-to-know-2008119175.htm Mon, 03 Nov 2008 05:00:00 GMT From terrorism to space to climate change, the next president will need to have an understanding of the physics behind the headlines. Physicist Rich Muller talks with Wired.com about the science that will be critical to the president's success. Blog.Wired.Com Physics the Next President Needs to Know {new window}   Blog.Wired.Com - From terrorism to space to climate change, the next president will need to have an understanding of the physics behind the headlines. Physicist Rich Muller talks with Wired.com about the science that will be critical to the president's success.
Physics the Next President Needs to Know | Wired Science from Wired.com {...} Physics may be the furthest thing from the minds of the presidential candidates right now, but a solid grasp of the science behind some of the latest headlines will be {...}
Published: November 3, 2008, 5:00 am - Indexed: November 3, 2008, 11:38 am - Page Size: 82KB
Category: News > Breaking News

]]> News > Breaking News {NEWS > BREAKING NEWS} - Future of physics 'under threat' http://articles.world-of-newave.info/science/news/breaking-news/future-of-physics-under-threat-2008118601.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/science/news/breaking-news/future-of-physics-under-threat-2008118601.htm Sat, 01 Nov 2008 02:31:26 GMT Leading physicists have told the BBC that long-term research is under threat because of a shortage of funding. News.Bbc.Co.Uk Future of physics 'under threat' {new window}   News.Bbc.Co.Uk - Leading physicists have told the BBC that long-term research is under threat because of a shortage of funding.
BBC NEWS | UK | Future of physics 'under threat' {...}
Published: November 1, 2008, 2:31 am - Indexed: November 2, 2008, 9:38 am - Page Size: 47KB
Category: Science > News > Breaking News

]]> Science > News > Breaking News