There is a lot of hub-bub about a neutrino that was witnessed moving faster than the speed of light, a feat which was deemed impossible by Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity. The science community is working overtime to figure out if the experiment can be repeated and confirmed, as it would have a major impact on our understanding of physics.

I’ve been doing some reading to get a better grasp of what, exactly, a neutrino really is. It is a rather elusive particle, which adds an air of mystery (not to mention difficulty) to any observation experiments.

One thing I do know is that, at this very second, billions of neutrinos are passing straight through your body without even slowing down.

The existence of the tiny neutrino particle was proposed as a solution to some “missing energy” observed in radioactive decay. It was theorized that some sort of particle was carrying this energy away. Shortly thereafter Enrico Fermi worked out the specific role that the mystery particle needed to fill, dubbing it the neutrino due to it having no electromagnetic charge… the particle was neutral.

The fact that it is neither negatively or positively charged is what makes it so hard to detect. It has so little interaction with other particles that it can zip right through objects without stopping, slowing, or changing direction. All the neutrinos that are generated from our sun not only pass through your body, but right through the core of the earth and out the other side on their journey across the universe.

That’s the trouble. If they pass through the solid granite of the earth without a second thought, how can our scientists “capture” neutrinos in any sort of observation equipment? Studying neutrinos is a bit like trying to spot bigfoot… if bigfoot was also invisible and moving about the speed of light. All they have to go on is the footprints and broken branches left behind.

The original experiment that caught a glimpse of neutrinos occured in 1956. There was a big water tank. While the vast majority of neutrinos pass through silently, due to sheer volume they would sometimes collide and interact with protons in the water. This would create positrons, which would in turn create a pair of gamma rays if it collided with an electron. The gamma rays excited a scintillator, which is  a material that absorbs gamma rays and emits light. Finally, the tiny flashes of light were recorded by sensors inside the tank.

It was a Rube Goldberg machine on the atomic scale, but it worked. The experiments recorded about three light flashes per hour. More intricate, modern experiments can not only catch the existence of neutrinos, but capture information about the direction and speed of travel. The largest neutrino-catcher actually uses the solid ice of Antarctica as its water tank. Through this we are able to see evidence of cosmic explosions and supernovas far beyond the range of our telescopes.

The complexity required to observe neutrinos is why physicists are being extremely cautious about this new “faster than light” hypothesis.

Does this really explain what a neutrino is? Perhaps I should just leave it at the description by Frederick Reines, telling us that a neutrino is “the most tiny quantity of reality ever imagined by a human being.”

• Source: All About Neutrinos – IceCube South Pole Neutrino Detector

One third of Americans believe in Astrology, which suggests that the position of the stars at your birth provide insight into your personality and even the course of your life. Any regular readers ought to know I tend to stick with the scientific process when it comes to wishy-washy information, so it’s no particular surprise to me that any scientific testing of astrology fails to produce any significant results.

Let’s take a look at one specific test. (McGrew & McFall, 1990) In an effort to be as fair as possible to the astrologers, the experimenters asked for a list of personal information that they would need to succeed. Twenty-three profiles were gathered for a mix of “average American” 30-year-olds which included facts on hobbies, family, health, travel, and answers to the 61 questions chosen by the Indiana Federation of Astrologers.

The test was for 6 professional astrologers, offered by the IFA to have “superior ability”, to match these profiles with the star charts corresponding to the precise time and place of birth. They could also record their confidence in each match. The study also had one control subject, not an astrologer, to have a go at matching.

Despite making every effort to meet the astrologer’s wishes, then best result was matching only 3 out of 23 test cases. On average, the astrologers were 73.5% confident in their correctness. In this study, the “random guy” non-astrologer tied for the best with 3 matches. So the core belief of astrology, that the star chart from birth can influence a person’s character, didn’t reveal itself here.

After these results were published, the IFA, which was consulted all along and agreed to the test on their conditions, denounced the findings. No other objective test I’ve found has produced any results significantly better than what could be obtained randomly. One interesting study compared over 2000 pairs of twins to their (identical) birth charts, and again no correlation was found.

Astrology is a creative art that survives through anecdotes and faith. Just like any other psychic claims, when the cold hard facts are recorded and studied, all the claims crumble. While horoscopes are generally rather harmless, I am rather irked by the thousands of self-proclaimed astrologers who earn their living by lying to the public, and sometimes earn a pretty penny by preying on the desperate and vulnerable.

That said, we do owe a tip-of-the-hat to astrology, for it was these people who “played science” 600 years ago that went on to create the true sciences beginning with Astronomy. You wouldn’t want to go to a doctor using 600 year old methods, would you? (oh, wait, some people do that too!)

Hey, I just read my horoscope for today:

Be aggressive and forceful when it comes to exerting your will, Aquarius. Let others know that you won’t be a pushover. Your opinions are extremely important, and they need to be heard by the people who matter the most. Have faith that whatever you say has the power to come true, especially when you enlist the help of those around you. Opportunity lies in joining hands with others.

You heard it here first. What I’ve said is extremely important! Join together people! Spread the word!

• Source: A Scientific Inquiry Into the Validity of Astrology (PDF Document)
• Is Astrology Relevant to Consciousness and Psi? (PDF Document)
• Horoscope published by the all-knowing and mystical Horoscope.com

Yesterday the thought occurred to me that I don’t really know how a battery works. Whatever goes on inside that little cylinder is a mystery to me. Now that I know the secret, it seems even more amazing!

First , let me get the words right. A battery is actually defined as a set of individual things that work in unison. So when we say “battery”, we’re talking about a collection of Galvanic cells. (also called Voltaic cells) Let’s examine a single cell to see what’s really going on in there.

The goal of a cell is to create a flow of electricity. Looking at this from the atomic perspective, imagine the individual atoms all lined up in a length of wire. When the electricity flows, it’s not the atoms that are traveling, but the electrons (the tiny bits that orbit around the nucleus) that are getting passed from one atom to the next like a hot potato. This is called electron flow, and it’s what makes your lights turn on.

A galvanic cell controls the electron flow to create direct current, where the electrons move in a single direction from one side of the battery to another. However, the secret of the “stored energy” inside a battery is that the electrons cannot flow until it’s hooked up to a complete circuit. Otherwise any battery would drain itself before it could be used.

To understand the individual parts of a cell, let’s have a look at the simplest battery I know; a lemon. Stick a galvanized (zinc coated) nail in one end, and a copper penny in the other side. Combined with the citric acid playing the role of an electrolyte, you’ve got yourself a functioning battery capable of providing about 1 volt of electricity.

At the nail end, the zinc is oxidized (or more commonly; “rusted”) by the acid which creates a bunch of negatively charged electrons. Those electrons really want to zip over to the penny to balance things out, but they cannot flow through the lemon. Only when the nail is connected to the penny by a wire will the electrons be able to move across. Along the way they will provide electricity to any little lightbulb in its path.

We all know batteries have a limited lifespan. That is a limitation of the chemical changes going on. Eventually the nail cannot be oxidized anymore, and the electrons are happy in their balanced state… so no more flow.

A rechargeable battery can reverse the chemical process when power is supplied to the cell, actually de-oxidizing the metal, and setting things up to happen all over again.

• Source: Galvanic cell – Wikipedia

Hey, it’s been a while since the previous LSNED story. I hope you’ve been learning some interesting facts on your own, but here we meet again to scratch our collective foreheads and raise a glorious chorus of “Huh, neat.” The topic du jour, for no particular reason, is resonant frequency.

The classic image of the concept of resonance is when the big, fat, braided opera singer hits the high note causing wine glasses to shatter. It really can happen. If the singing frequency matches the crystal glass resonance frequency, the vibrations can be strong enough to overwhelm the strength of the glass. So what is this special frequency?

Well it’s different for every object, but it is the frequency of vibration at which the object is naturally prone to movement. Picture a swingset in the playground. As the swing moves back and forth it is, technically, vibrating. (in really slow motion, on a large scale) Each complete movement from back to forth is called an oscillation. The period of time between each oscillation is the frequency. Frequency is measured in hertz. (cycles per second)

Here’s the interesting fact: Whether you are casually rocking on that swing, or going full blast, the frequency will remain the same. The time it takes for you to move back and forth (to oscillate) is the same even if the distance covered is vastly different. (you may be swinging further, but you’ll be moving faster… it all evens out)

I just put this to the test by hanging a pair of scissors from the ceiling on a thread. (a basic pendulum, long enough to move fairly slow) One oscillation took about 3 seconds, no matter how much I pulled the scissors back. So, my pendulum had a resonant frequency of about 0.3 hertz.

The special thing about hitting this resonant stride which causes wine glasses to break is that there is nothing to dampen the vibrations. Near 100% of the energy of that sound wave would be converted into movement. At non-resonant frequencies, the vibrations would fight against the crystals natural tendencies and fizzle out. (so it’s not that resonance can amplify waves, so much as accumulate when incoming energy is “in phase“)

The other important ingredient of resonance is the quality factor (Q factor). This is the difference between the ringing of a crystal wine glass versus a regular drinking glass. The crystal has a higher Q factor that lets the resonance do its thing without dampening. An expensive violin would have a higher Q factor than a cheap student fiddle.

Resonance is why different things have different sounds. If you drop a handful of change, the quarters sound different than the nickels because different metals resonate at different frequencies. Guitar strings will change their tune when stretched tight because it changes the resonant frequency. When you’re driving down the highway, your car might start to shake more at a certain speed because you found a resonant frequency.

One famous resonant disaster occurred in 1940 when the Tacoma Narrows bridge in Washington state shook itself to total collapse on a windy day. (the whole thing was caught on film) It wasn’t terribly windy, just 42 mph, but it was enough to get the solid steel girders resonating, and the Q factor wasn’t low enough to dampen it.

• Source: Resonance – Wikipedia

Last night I lay awake trying to force myself back into a proper diurnal schedule. It’s 4 AM or so and I find myself laying on my back, throwing a white balloon towards the ceiling and watching it glide back down, gracefully curving in whatever direction the nozzle is pointing. (due to aerodynamics, I suppose)

As it nears the ceiling, I see a flicker of light. At first I figure it’s merely the street lamp, flooding annoyingly in my window, reflecting off the white balloon surface and dancing on the roof… but it has an odd look about it. A few more investigative tosses and I discover the truth.

As the balloon gets within one foot of my compact fluorescent light bulbs, they spring to life with a dull, flickering glow. Of course, interesting things like this are the last thing you need when trying to fall asleep. I’m now more awake and conducting science experiments with my lamp.

It’s the static electricity in the balloon that is exciting the mercury/phosphor (I’m not sure which) in the bulb. Rubbing the balloon against my head strengthened the glow effect (and my hairstyle). The reaction starts happening about a foot away, and curiously the bulb stays dark if neither object is moving.

Now, the practical life lesson here is this. Should you find yourself lost on a remote island with only a balloon and a fluorescent bulb, you can combine the two to make a signaling device. Probably not bright enough for passing airplanes, but very effective should somebody else happen to be walking along the beach.

Now I know what you’re thinking! If I’m stuck on a deserted island where am I going to find a balloon? Fortunately, the effect can also be created using any fluorescent bulb and a cat.

This could save your life some day. You’re welcome.

• Source: a restless mind

Hysteria, and particularly the act of promoting hysteria, ranks pretty high on my pet peeves list. As such, I have a distaste for FOX news. Here’s one such headline they offered up in January:

Scientists Not So Sure ‘Doomsday Machine’ Won’t Destroy World

Since knowledge immunizes fear, let’s take a closer look at understanding this machine; the Large Hadron Collider. The big picture goal of this machine is to understand more about the physical structure of particles the form the universe. They do this by re-creating conditions as seen shortly after the “big bang” that got this party started.

The LHC itself is a 27 kilometer loop, a racetrack of sorts, that is built underground near Geneva in Switzerland. It is a particle accelerator with the job of getting two particle beams going around this racetrack in opposite directions. These beams travel as close to the speed of light as possible (0.999999991) and finally the beams are crossed as the particle collisions are observed.

The energy of that collision is equivalent to a head-on crash of two Subaru cars traveling at 1712 kilometers per hour. Sounds like a wild Friday night at the CERN lab, but this is serious business. Many scientists share the LHC and run various experiments to test their own research projects, but on the top of CERN’s “most wanted” list is to prove existence of the Higgs boson particle.

The Higgs boson is the missing piece of the particle puzzle. Currently it is entirely theoretical. It fills a hole in the picture scientists have of the fundamental structure of all matter, and it is a significantly important gap. So important that it has been nicknamed “the God particle”.

Now bear with me as I attempt to summarize my own semi-understanding of this thing in a very brief fashion.

There are four fundamental forces in the universe. Electromagnetic force, the Strong nuclear force, the Weak nuclear force, and Gravity. In the 1970s it was proposed that the Electromagnetic and Weak forces are in fact two ends of the same stick, with only subtle differences. An attempt was made to unify them into one mathematical theory, but a hiccup prevented this. It would only work if the particles responsible for the force had no mass. Enter the Higgs boson.

It is proposed that a soup of these Higgs particles is all round us, in every corner of the cosmos. All other particles have zero mass, and it is only through interacting with the Higgs field that they can achieve mass. So one of the experiments at the LHC is to separate and identify this elusive Higgs particle, which would be a huge step forward in our understanding of “stuff” in the most general sense.

Being an immensely complex machine, the Large Hadron Collider has spent more time under maintainance and repair than actually in operation, but as these bugs get worked out we can expect some serious scientific progress. (which is probably what has FOX so riled up)

• Source: the official CERN site abdout the LHC
• In case you’re curious to read an article that offers nothing of value, here’s a link to the FOX News fear-mongering story

At the conclusion of yesterday’s story, the Hamburg sandwich (aka: hamburger) had just began it’s rise to fame at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis. At the same event another famous food was born… the ice cream cone. Not ice cream itself, mind you, just the cone. Apparently the guy at the booth ran out of dishes and on a whim started to roll up waffles to put the ice cream in.

Interesting… but not what I wanted to tell you about today. Rather, my mind got to wondering how ice cream works. If I put a bottle of milk in the freezer it would end up as a solid block of white ice. What keeps ice cream so deliciously soft? To answer that question, the internet introduced me to Professor Douglas Goff, Ph.D. who is an honest-to-goodness professional ice cream scientist. His article told me all the secrets.

Ice cream is suspended in a frozen balancing act. Milk is the primary ingredient, and that is mostly water. (which, in case anybody asks, is what cows drink) Dissolved in the water is plenty of sugar. As a result, the freezing point of that water is “depressed”. When this mix is frozen, some of the water turns to ice, but that just leaves more sugar for the remaining water. Eventually it finds the balance. At -16 degrees Celsius, the optimum temperature for serving up ice cream, about 28% of the water remains unfrozen due to the dissolved sugar.

As another illustration think of a popsicle. That’s just water and sugar stuck in the freezer, but it doesn’t freeze anywhere near as solid as pure ice cubes. It is, however, tougher than that creamy ice cream, so there must be more to it than sugar.

The other thing that keeps ice cream deliciously edible on a moment’s notice is air. After milk, air is the second most prominent ingredient. Technically, ice cream is a foam. The mix is whipped and stirred while freezing to make all the difference between ice cream and a creamsicle.

I’ll leave you with one handy ice cream tip: Eat it now! Between the non-freezing sugar solution and being an oil-and-water emulsion, ice cream is fragile. Every time it gets warm and re-frozen more ice crystals form, and it gets more icy and less creamy. Of course, now you’re eating it in the name of scientific research.

• Source: Finding Science in Ice Cream

P.S. Today one budding scientist will be personally researching the ice cream and cake cohesion factor in the presence of flame. Happy birthday to Blanche!