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| So you're into sci fi? But what about sci fact? Sometimes fact is stranger than fiction... Each month our very own Voyager Science Queen* will bring you interesting, quirky and downright bizarre tasty morsels from the world of science. And its all completely, totally, 100% true! September Sci-Facts |
Gosh. This month we have a guest writer. I think it is lovely that someone was able to share their passion for science with all of us. So, here she is: WHAT MAKES MATTER, WELL, MATTER? Matter makes up four percent of the known universe, and atoms are its core. Atoms are constructed from a combination of electrons (negatively charged particles), protons (positively charged particles), and neutrons (neutrally charged particles). Protons and neutrons aren’t the end of the road, however, as they consist of quarks, which are divided into six different types: up, down (up and down are the only two flavours that create neutrons and protons), top, bottom, charm and strange. Quarks - and particles called leptons - are fermions, which are elementary particles. Leptons are electrons, muons, taus, electron neutrinos, muon neutrinos, and tau neutrinos. The other type of fundamental particle is the boson, which has two categories: Gauge bosons and other bosons. Gauge bosons consist of gluons, W and Z bosons, gravitons (theoretically), and photons (light!). Other bosons include the Higgs Boson. This is where it becomes interesting, rather than just a list of particles. The Higgs Boson (predicted in 1964, by Peter Higgs) is the only particle not experimentally attested to; but it’s the fundamental core of the standard model of particle physics! The ATLAS project is therefore designed to find the Higgs Boson. The ATLAS is a detector, which will be fitted to the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at Cern. The LHC is a 27 km circular tunnel that accelerates particles; the particles then collide in the ATLAS. Physicists are hoping to detect particles that echo those created from the Big Bang! The ATLAS’ detection of, or its inability to detect, the Higgs Boson will revolutionise modern physics as we know it. Experiments start in 2007. Poor, pitiful, pathetic Pluto You haven’t heard? Unless you have been hiding under a rock for the past month, you must have heard the news. Pluto has been downgraded from a planet to a dwarf planet. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) voted last week to demote Pluto from the solar system's ninth planet, due to its meager size and irregular orbit. Pluto was discovered on February 18, 1930, by an American astronomer, Clyde Tombaugh. He died in 1997. I wonder what he would have thought of the whole deal. Well, I guess that was one way of avoiding the controversy…by demoting Pluto, it weakens the arguments of the ‘they are planets’ supporters. This means that the Solar System has only eight officially recognized planets. Think of all those Science Fiction stories that have to be rewritten. Then again, Mercury and Neptune are pretty small with irregular orbits… Biography of the Month: Clyde Tombaugh Birth Date: 4th February, 1906 Clyde Tombaugh was born in Illinois, USA. As a boy he developed an interest in stargazing and astronomy, and by 1925, Tombaugh was building telescopes rather than buying them. This was the first of more than thirty telescopes he was to build over his lifetime. His interest caught the attention of astronomers at the Lowell Observatory, and they offered him a position as a junior scientist. Pluto was discovered by Tombaugh while at the Lowell Observatory, by comparing a photographic plate taken on the night of January 23, 1930 with two other plates taken in the same month. Because Pluto is so small and so distant from the Sun, the image of the planet is extremely faint and difficult to see. Pluto’s existence had previously been predicted, due to the erratic orbits of Neptune and Uranus. Percival Lowell spent much of his career trying to find the ninth planet. In 1932, Tombaugh entered the University of Kansas. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in 1936. He continued to work at Lowell Observatory during his summer breaks, and after graduation he returned to work at the Lowell Observatory. In 1938, he earned his master's degree. So, he made his great discovery before achieving his degrees!!! Tombaugh went on to discover hundreds of new variable stars, hundreds of new asteroids, two comets, new star clusters, clusters of galaxies including one super cluster of galaxies. In 1946, he went to work for the military at the ballistics research laboratories of the White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. Tombaugh designed many new instruments, including a super camera called the Intercept Ground Optical Recorder. Tombaugh left the missile range in 1955 to take up an academic position. Until his retirement in 1973, Clyde Tombaugh was on the faculty at New Mexico State University. It is sad that his greatest achievement has been downgraded.Concept of the Month: Defining ‘planet’ The scientists of the International Astronomical Union have agreed that for a celestial body to qualify as a planet:
Apparently, Pluto was disqualified because of its highly elliptical orbit that overlaps with Neptune’s orbit. This definition may change again. Lynne’s Literary Comment What is the difference between a folktale and a fairy tale? The fairy tale rarely has characters that are fairies, while folktales feature the Fey regularly. Go figure… |
| *The Voyager Science Queen is also known as Lynne Green So, who is this woman who attempts to entertain us with Science? Well, I really am a scientist. I have a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Queensland, in Zoology. And, at the moment, I am working in a Pathology laboratory. I have always been intensely curious about every aspect of our universe, from the teeny tiny workings of the gene right up to the mind-bending forces that are twisting and knotting inside a blackhole. So, now I am sharing a brain stuffed full of trivia...and hopefully entertaining people at the same time. As well, I write Fantasy stories and novels. One day, I hope to have a book published, but don't hold your breath. Reading is my other major love, and my favourite authors are Terry Pratchett and Isaac Asimov, though I could list hundreds of others. If I had one wish, I ask for more time to write! Read previous Sci-Facts: Putting the Science into Science Fiction Looking for more scientific oddities? Have you checked out Dr Steven Juan's website? He is, quite literally, the wizard of odds! |
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