You are browsing the archive for Physics Archives - Dan's Wild Wild Science Journal.
10 March 2017
Conspiracy Theory Myths are Not Alternative Scientific Opinions. They are Just Wrong.
I saw this headline today: You see this kind of claim all over conspiracy theory sites online, but it’s just that: a silly conspiracy theory. Let me explain. This is the same as the Surgeon General saying that “We are not totally sure that the oxygen in the air is what keeps us alive”. The science is beyond overwhelming here because there’s no reasonable scientific doubt that the warming over …
25 July 2015
Learning Physics on YouTube Can Be Very Entertaining
UPDATE: Hours after finishing this piece about physics online, I see a TED talk by John Green covering exactly the same subject with some great examples and his enthusiasm for it matches my own. So, enjoy the TED video below, and check out some of the real science on YouTube. I know you will have to wade through the Moon landing hoax,chemtrail,Clinton killed JFK junk, but there is a lot …
3 July 2015
Physics Girl Talks Quarks
THIS is cool science communication! I didn’t know that strange and charm quarks could be inside a Proton/Neutron. Neat!
3 June 2015
This Will Make You Sit Down and Think For A While
I spotted this video thanks to Joe Hanson at It’s OK To Be Smart. He said after watching it that he needed to sit down and think for a while. I love reading about relativity, but i agree with Joe! To get you to watch the 10 minute video, a question: You have identical watches, one you wind up and is running the other is not. Do they have the …
10 August 2014
How Weather and Climate Models Work- or Why Meteorologists Learn Calculus
Numerical weather models have come light years over the last 30 years, and despite what you may think, they make it possible to make very accurate weather forecasts for as much as 5-7 days into the future possible. Have you ever wondered just how they work? It’s not something that you can cover in a few paragraphs, but it is not all that hard to get a basic understanding of …
25 March 2013
2013 Isaac Asimov Memorial Lecture Moderated By Neil de Grasse Tyson
The existence of nothing….
19 August 2012
Pioneer 10 Mystery Solved
Back in April 2009, I wrote a blog post on a fascinating riddle. Pioneer 10, one of the space probes that has left the solar system, is not where it should be. This has been a growing mystery as every possible thing that could cause the spacecraft to accelerate or decelerate was accounted for. At the time, there seemed to be no answer, but now it seems to be solved. Read the original blog …
12 July 2012
X-Class Solar Flare Today Was Facing Earth. Major Geomagnetic Storm Possible
Late word from NASA this evening is that the X 1.4 solar flare today IS headed in our direction, and may produce a moderate to severe geomagnetic storm on Saturday when it arrives. It may produce auroras Saturday down to a latitude of 35 degrees! There is also a significant risk for geostationary satellites and cross polar flights will likely be impacted as well due to HF radio blackouts and some minor radiation risk. The flare produced a notable CME that will take …
9 July 2012
Wondering Why The Higgs Discovery Is Such A Big Deal? Here’s Help.
I saw an excellent piece about the HIggs discovery today that is worth passing on. Two well written pieces actually, one in Forbes and the other by Garance Franke Ruta in the Atlantic. Both of these articles are well worth a read, but if you really want to have an understanding of why this is such a big deal, you will need to spend a bit more time. Albert Einstein famously said “that everything …
Dan Satterfield has worked as an on air meteorologist for 32 years in Oklahoma, Florida and Alabama. Forecasting weather is Dan's job, but all of Earth Science is his passion. This journal is where Dan writes about things he has too little time for on air. Dan blogs about peer-reviewed Earth science for Junior High level audiences and up.