Physics is the study of the fundamental laws of nature that govern how matter and energy behave. It is a broad and diverse field that encompasses a wide range of phenomena, from the smallest subatomic particles to the largest structures in the universe. Physics is concerned with understanding the underlying principles that govern the behavior of the natural world, and it seeks to develop theories and models that can accurately describe and predict these phenomena.
Course Content
Physics
Physics is the study of the fundamental laws of nature governing matter and energy. It covers phenomena from subatomic particles to the universe's largest structures.
For anything Physics related that doesn’t require its own separate discussion.
<a href="https://physicsworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/24-7-24-Sun-like-star-and-neutron-star.jpg" data-fancybox data-src="https://physicsworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/24-7-24-Sun-like-star-and-neutron-star.jpg" data-caption="Survivors Artist’s impression of a Sun-like star (upper left) orbiting a neutron star, with no mass being transferred between the two. The figure also illustrates how the neutron star’s gravity distorts nearby space–time, creating a mirror image of the Sun-like star. (Courtesy: Caltech/R. Hurt (IPAC))”> Survivors Artist’s impression of a Sun-like star (upper left) orbiting a neutron star, with no mass being transferred between the two. The figure also illustrates how the neutron star’s gravity distorts…
<a href="https://physicsworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/24-07-24-gamma-camera.jpg" data-fancybox data-src="https://physicsworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/24-07-24-gamma-camera.jpg" data-caption="Compact camera The Seracam portable gamma camera is mounted on a trolley with an articulated arm for clinical use. A single cable connects to a power supply and a computer for data acquisition and display. (Courtesy: CC BY 4.0/EJNMMI Phys. 10.1186/s40658-024-00659-7)”> Compact camera The Seracam portable gamma camera is mounted on a trolley with an articulated arm for clinical use. A single cable connects to a power supply and a computer for data acquisition and display.…
With the 2024 Paris Olympics just days away, sports fans are braced to see who will run, jump, row, fight and dance themselves into the history books. One of the most exciting moments will be the 100m sprint finals, when athletes compete to become the fastest man or woman on Earth. Over the years we have seen jaw-dropping performances from the likes of Usain Bolt and Florence Griffith-Joyner. Scientists have been captivated by top sprinters – trying to understand how…
Bending light: Artist’s impression of a microlensing event caused by a black hole observed from Earth toward the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). The light of a background star located in the LMC is bent by a putative primordial black hole (lens) in the Galactic halo and magnified when observed from the Earth. Microlensing causes very characteristic variation of brightness of the background star, enabling the determination of the lens’s mass and distance. (Courtesy: J. Skowron / OGLE. Background image of…
Scientists within the JEM-EUSO collaboration are exploiting innovative detector technologies in their quest to observe ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays from space <a href="https://physicsworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/web-mini-euso-asi.jpg" data-fancybox data-src="https://physicsworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/web-mini-euso-asi.jpg" data-caption="Flying high JEM-EUSO’s Mini-EUSO telescope, shown here deployed inside the ISS, employs a Fresnel lens optical system and a focal surface composed of 36 MAPMTs (each comprising 64 channels) with single-photon-counting sensitivity. Mini-EUSO observes the night-time Earth in the near-UV range, primarily between 290–430 nm. (Courtesy: Italian Space Agency)”> Flying high JEM-EUSO’s Mini-EUSO telescope, shown here…
With CERN turning 70 this year, the lab’s former head of communications James Gillies reveals how his team handled unprecedented global interest in the world’s most powerful collider, which ranged from fears of killer black holes to visits from celebrities <a href="https://physicsworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/2024-07-Gillies-Hanks-0902030_03.jpg" data-fancybox data-src="https://physicsworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/2024-07-Gillies-Hanks-0902030_03.jpg" data-caption="Hello Hollywood Set partly at CERN, the hit movie Angels & Demons starred Tom Hanks (second from left), who is shown touring the ATLAS detector in February 2009. (Courtesy: CERN)”> Hello Hollywood Set partly at CERN,…
<a href="https://physicsworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/22-07-24-Scripps-Oceanography-team.jpg" data-fancybox data-src="https://physicsworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/22-07-24-Scripps-Oceanography-team.jpg" data-caption="Solving an underwater paradox Bethan Wynne-Cattanach and Matthew Alford from UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography investigate deep water upwelling aboard a research vessel. (Courtesy: San Nguyen)”> Solving an underwater paradox Bethan Wynne-Cattanach and Matthew Alford from Scripps Institution of Oceanography investigate deep water upwelling aboard a research vessel. (Courtesy: San Nguyen) Seawater located more than 2 km below the ocean’s surface drives the oceanic circulation that helps regulate the Earth’s climate. At these depths,…
Elizabeth Pollitzer says measures must be taken to tackle the gender imbalance among staff and users of large research infrastructures <a href="https://physicsworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/2024-07-Forum-Pollitzer_SML0681.jpg" data-fancybox data-src="https://physicsworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/2024-07-Forum-Pollitzer_SML0681.jpg" data-caption="Getting together Delegates of the Women in Big Science session held at the 2022 Big Science Business Forum in Granada, Spain. Elizabeth Pollitzer is fifth from left. (Courtesy: Fusion4Energy)”> Getting together Delegates of the Women in Big Science session held at the 2022 Big Science Business Forum in Granada, Spain. Elizabeth Pollitzer is fifth from left.…
Spot the difference: deepfake eyes tend to show inconsistent reflections in each eye whereas real eyes (now shown) have largely consistent reflections in both eye (courtesy: Adejumoke Owolabi). How do you spot a deepfake image of a person? The answer might be to look into their eyes. That is according to astronomers at the University of Hull in the UK who say that AI-generated pictures can be unmasked by analyzing human eyes in the same way that astronomers study images…
New and exciting technologies feature in this episode of the Physics World Weekly podcast. Our first guest is the neuroscientist and physicist Jelena Lazovic Zinnanti, who recalls how she discovered (by accident) that nanometre-sized diamond particles shine brightly in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) experiments. Based at Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, she explains how this diamond dust could someday replace gadolinium as a contrast agent in MRI medical scans. This episode also features an interview with Mahdi Bodaghi of…
