Experimental physics is littered with freaky effects, often the product of obscure forces moving and changing objects in ways we don’t expect, but almost always leading to perfectly understandable conclusions. One notable exception – arguably the most notable, in fact – is the double-slit experiment. Cut two narrow, parallel slits on an opaque sheet and …
Continue reading “To be part-wave and part-particle at the same time”
According to the principles of quantum mechanics, you’re a wave – just like light is both a particle and a wave. It’s just that your wavelength is so small that your wave nature doesn’t matter, and you’re treated like a particle. The larger an object is, the smaller its wavelength, and vice versa. We’re confused …
When I stay over at a friend’s place whenever I come to Delhi, I try to help around the house. But more often than not, I just do the dishes – often a lot of dishes. One item I’ve always had trouble cleaning is the strainer, whether a small tea strainer or a large but …
Continue reading “What it takes to wash a strainer: soap, water and some wave optics”
On June 25, scientists announced the discovery of a trio of supermassive black holes at the center of a galaxy 4.2 billion light years away. The find was credited to the European VLBI Network. A Space.com report stated that this network “could see details 50 times finer than is possible with the Hubble Space Telescope”. …
Random Sunset 