Browsing Archive: August, 2012

Astrophotography Trip

Posted by on Saturday, August 25, 2012,
As promised, here are a few of the astrophotographs that I took on my recent camping trip. They were taken at Sandpiper Beach, on Hornby Island, British Columbia - which happens to be my favorite place for observing because there is almost no light pollution at all at this site. You really cannot appreciate how bad cities are for observing until you have had a chance to spend a few nights in the wilderness and really see what the night sky should look like.

I must also apologize for the qualit...
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The Standard Model in Review: Part 2

Posted by on Friday, August 24, 2012, In : Particle Physics 
In the last post, I introduced the now complete Standard Model of particle physics and the three fundamental forces it contains. In this post, we move on to the actual matter.

The matter in the Standard Model is divided up into three generations of two classes of particles, each with two sub-classes. To date no one has been able to provide a concrete explanation of why there are exactly three generations, but it will likely be discovered in the coming decades. 

The first class is the Leptons.  ...
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The Standard Model in Review: Part 1

Posted by on Friday, August 24, 2012, In : Particle Physics 

Now that the Standard Model has been completed with the Higgs discovery, I have had several requests to explain the Standard Model of physics in laymen's terms, for those who are interested in the current state of particle physics. I have written about this in the past, but since some people are still asking I will re-post it here.

The Standard Model of physics describes all of the known particles and forces, but we also know that it is incomplete as 95% of the energy in the Universe is still...


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$24 Million for Fundamental Physics

Posted by on Wednesday, August 1, 2012,
I just heard that the newest and most lucrative prize in physics has been awarded to eight noted theorist. Each of them will receive $3 million for their lifetime of contributions to the fundamentals of physics. And unlike the Nobel prize, this one doesn't get divided (and it is focused more on the theorists than experimentalists).

For those who haven't heard of this prize, it was set up by a Russian theoretical physicist and Internet entrepreneur who wanted to encourage research in fundamenta...
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About Me


Dr. Chris Bird I am a theoretical physicist & mathematician, with training in electronics, programming, robotics, and a number of other related fields.

   

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