Category Archives: Physics

My Entry in #SoME3: Negative Mass Part 4: Life, the Universe, and Everything(-ish)

Posted on August 21, 2023 by Alex R. Howe

This is it–the grand finale of my “Negative Mass” video series! See how negative mass would work with “real” atoms, molecules, and even planets. Made for the 3rd annual Summer of Math Exposition video contest.

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Negative Mass Part II

Posted on October 19, 2021 by Alex R. Howe

I finally finished the follow up video to my discussion of negative mass for the Summer of Math Exposition. Check it out.

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New Video: What Does Negative Mass Mean? Part 1

Posted on August 21, 2021 by Alex R. Howe

Grant Sanderson, of the excellent 3Blue1Brown math YouTube channel, has set up a contest for new creators to make math videos, called the Summer of Math Exposition. Well, this isn’t my first math video, but in the spirit of the … Continue reading →

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The Science of Project Hail Mary

Posted on June 15, 2021 by Alex R. Howe

Andy Weir’s latest book, Project Hail Mary, is a very good hard science fiction tale about a journey to another solar system in search of a way to save Earth from disaster. Mr. Weir always does mostly pretty good science … Continue reading →

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A Study in Parallel Universes: the Diproton “Catastrophe”

Posted on March 29, 2021 by Alex R. Howe

Advocates of “fine-tuned universe” claim that if the physical laws of our universe were just slightly different, life would not be able to exist. Some of my colleagues and I previously looked at these claims with the “Weakless Universe,” where … Continue reading →

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What Is the Equation for the Strong Nuclear Force?

Posted on December 29, 2020 by Alex R. Howe

Previously, I described how the weak nuclear force really is a force even though it’s almost never described as one. Instead of a simple inverse square law like gravity and electromagnetism, it decays exponentially so that it weakens over a … Continue reading →

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How Is the Weak Nuclear Force an Actual Force?

Posted on December 28, 2020 by Alex R. Howe

It’s time for another physics explainer. In an earlier post, I explained Lagrangian mechanics and why it uses the weird (to physicists) equation L=T-V. I thought I might do some more posts like that, and I found a topic that … Continue reading →

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Essay: The Real Problem with “The Cold Equations”

Posted on August 30, 2020 by Alex R. Howe

As part of tomorrow’s episode of A Reader’s History of Science Fiction, I felt the need to write a companion essay analyzing one of the most famous (or perhaps infamous) short stories in the history of the genre: “The Cold … Continue reading →

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Why does the Lagrangian equal T-V?

Posted on July 4, 2020 by Alex R. Howe

And here’s one for the category of “Posts where you need a degree in physics to even understand the question.” Okay, there are probably a fair number of you who don’t have a degree in physics who can understand this … Continue reading →

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