|
|
|
Love is in the air-Science too!
Ah… love! What a wonderful thing. The meaning of life itself, isn’t it? Artists, poets and play writers have made the greatest progress in humanity’s understanding of love. So what’s love doing in a science column? Well lately scientists have...
Scientists Declaration about The Holy Quran and Islam-Joe Leigh Simpson
Author and editor of over 20 books, and has published over 181 scientific papers. Co-author of The Developing He is the President of the American Fertility Society. He has received many awards, including the Association of Professors of Obstetrics...
Socrates and Sages
You can easily see why it takes more than an Encyclopaedia to be able to follow what is going on from just this little quote. There are many twists and turns to follow in the pursuit of knowledge and its power that has been the purpose of many...
Time travel: sci-fi?
When you look at the clear night sky, you see stars-those tiny diamonds suspended in the vast pitch-black emptiness. But stars shine because…? Our own sun, which is a star, emits light. Stars are like giant bulbs but are much more powerful. Light...
Webcams: Science Fiction Communication at Home
One of the most incredible inventions I’ve ever come across is the web cam and its process of video conferencing. This is just so futuristic I can’t believe they really exist and are readily available to anyone with the Internet, speakers, and the...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Time travel: sci-fi?
When you look at the clear night sky, you see stars-those tiny diamonds suspended in the vast pitch-black emptiness. But stars shine because…? Our own sun, which is a star, emits light. Stars are like giant bulbs but are much more powerful.
Light travels at a speed of 3.0*108m/s in vacuum and space is mostly vacuum. In other words light can cover a mighty distance of 300 000 000m in only 1 second!
The thing is that 300 000 000m is a just one of those small amounts in space. Other stars are billions of kilometres-let alone metres-away. Astronomers in fact use light year as the unit for distance. One light year is the distance travelled by light (in vacuum) during one year. Therefore one light year equals (300 000 000*3600*24*365)m.
A single light year is definitely huge: 9.46 trillion kilometres-no need to put this in digit form-in fact. But where exactly do I want to converge? A star that you see in the night sky is not one but many light years away. This means that it is very far away. But most importantly, it means that light from this particular star takes many years-and not
mere seconds-to reach your eyes! So what?
When you watch a star, you are actually only seeing the light it emitted years ago. At present, the star may be somewhere else in the night sky. (Stars do move in space). It might have deflected a little to the east or north or north-northeast. The star is still emitting light though. This light will however be seen in the following decades or even centuries; or simply next year.
When you watch stars at night, you are actually looking in the past. So who or what is time travelling? The star? You? Or light? The further something is from you, the further in the past you are penetrating into.
Maybe then, someday, the newest technologies will be able to observe these seconds after the Big Bang-if it ever occurred in the first place.
About the Author
Khalil A.Cassimally is the editor in chief of Astronomy Journal and Astronomy Journal Ezine. He is also the co-founder of the RCPL Astronomy Club.
He is currently Senior Columnist at BackWash.com and Columnist for bbc.co.uk h2g2 The Post where he writes 'Not Scientific Science' column.
|
|
|
|
|
| Science/AAAS | Scientific research, news and career information |
| International weekly science journal, published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). |
| www.sciencemag.org |
|
| Science/AAAS | Table of Contents: 1 December 2006; 314 (5804) |
| This Week in Science: Editor summaries of this week's papers. Science 1 December 2006: 1349. ... 2006 American Association for the Advancement of Science. ... |
| www.sciencemag.org |
|
| Science.gov : FirstGov for Science - Government Science Portal |
| Science.gov is a gateway to government science information provided by US Government science agencies, including research and development results. |
| www.science.gov |
|
| ScienceDaily: Your source for the latest research news and science ... |
| ScienceDaily -- the Internet's premier online science magazine and science news web site -- brings you the latest discoveries in science, health & medicine, ... |
| www.sciencedaily.com |
|
| Science News - New York Times |
| Find breaking news, science news & multimedia on biology, space, the environment, health, NASA, weather, drugs, heart disease, cancer, AIDS, mental health ... |
| www.nytimes.com |
|
| Science News Online |
| Weekly magazine offers featured articles from the current issue along with special online-only features. Includes photo collection, archives, ... |
| www.sciencenews.org |
|
| Science in the Yahoo! Directory |
| Explore the fields of astronomy, biology, geology, mathematics, and physics and all of their related disciplines with resources designed for professionals, ... |
| dir.yahoo.com |
|
| Open Directory - Science |
| Agriculture (2454); Anomalies and Alternative Science (525); Astronomy (4208); Biology (20593); Chemistry (4852); Computer Science@ (2358) ... |
| dmoz.org |
|
| BBC - Science & Nature |
| The best of BBC Science and Nature, from TV and radio, to the web and beyond. Take a tour from the smallest atoms, to the largest whales and the most ... |
| www.bbc.co.uk |
|
| Science - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| Sciences versus Science: the plural of the term is often used but is difficult to ... Science education is also a very vibrant field of study and research. ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
|
| Popular Science |
| Monthly magazine about current science and technology. |
| www.popsci.com |
|
| Science/AAAS | ScienceNOW: The Latest News Headlines from the ... |
| AAAS web magazine. Some free sample stories, subscription required for full text. |
| sciencenow.sciencemag.org |
|
| ScienceCareers.org | Science Jobs, Funding, Meetings, and Advice ... |
| Searchable database of jobs, sorted by field specialty. Can post resume and curriculum vitae. Includes tips for improving the workplace for employers and ... |
| sciencecareers.sciencemag.org |
|
| American Association for the Advancement of Science |
| Research news, issue papers. Educational programs, science policy (US and international). |
| www.aaas.org |
|
| NASA - Science@NASA |
| News and features about NASA research, aimed at the general public. Includes sections on astronomy, space science, beyond rocketry, living in space, ... |
| science.nasa.gov |
|
| Science NetLinks: Resources for Teaching Science |
| Resources for K-12 science educators. |
| www.sciencenetlinks.com |
|
| Cool Science for Curious Kids |
| Fun and interactive site to help kids appreciate science. Why are snakes like lizards, and monkeys like moose? Find out here. |
| www.hhmi.org |
|
| Welcome to the Science Museum |
| London museum and library of science. Exhibitions cover all areas of science and technology. Includes online exhibits and a learning area. |
| www.sciencemuseum.org.uk |
|
| New Scientist - International News, Ideas, Innovation |
| Weekly science and technology news magazine, considered by some to be the world's best, with diverse subject matter. Articles from current issue and ... |
| www.newscientist.com |
|
| CNN.com - Science and Space |
| Offers news stories related environmental issues, archeology, astronomy, technology, geology and other science topics. |
| www.cnn.com |
|
|