Wednesday 22 February 2012

6 findings that defy physics

Meet phenomena that completely contradict the laws of science

Higher speed than the speed of light? Matter disappearing into thin air? Particles that behave differently when observed? This is not stuff of science fiction - it all happens right here in our universe. Learn what are the phenomena that science still can not explain:


1. The sun can emit waves hotter than itself

According to the laws of thermodynamics, heat always travels from the hotter body to the colder body. That's what makes you close to the stove enjoying the warmth on cold days. It is a universal law. Or almost. Apparently, the Sun can emit heat waves hotter than himself.

The surface of the star has an average temperature of 5500 ° Celsius. Since the layer that is hundreds of miles from the Sun, known as "corona", has an average temperature of a million degrees Celsius. According to physics, the heat source (the Sun) should be hotter than its issue. Until now, this is the only case of the phenomenon known in the Universe.


Editora Globo
The Sun is the only object in the universe that contradicts the laws of thermodynamics / / Credit: Shutterstock
2. Gravity doesn't make as much sense as well

Gravity is involved in everything we do - after all it is what keeps us stuck on Earth. But what if the law of gravity was not a law? And if it does not make sense? For know that on a smaller scale, it makes no sense. Just rub the tube of a pen-type "Bic" in her hair and passes it over a pile of papers. The paper is instantly attracted by static electricity from the pen and stick it, contrary to the laws of physics.

This phenomenon is called "hierarchy problem of Higgs." When small particles are analyzed, the gravity becomes very poor - it follows the Newton's laws only larger objects. This means that the smaller the scale of the object being analyzed, the greater the chances of gravity disappear completely. In other words: thank you for being in a large planet, which generates enough gravitational force to keep us on the ground (and to have enough mass to "correspond" to that strength).

3. Spaceships accelerate for no apparent reason

Imagine you're playing in a rocking chair. You boost your body until it reaches the desired speed and when it reaches its limit, waiting for the toy slow start to drive again. Now imagine that, stop playing down to earth, you accelerate instead of stopping, soaring ever higher.

If you remember from physics lessons well, you know that the law of conservation of energy says that this type of situation is impossible. Unless you push more balance with their feet, you will not accelerate, right? Not always.

In the 1980s, the spacecraft Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11, NASA began to accelerate after a huge distance from Earth, rather than simply having their speed reduced. Since then, scientists are trying to figure out what happened with the Pioneers and the NEAR spacecraft and the Galileo spacecraft, which passed the same way.

4. The law of conservation of energy does not work all the time

If you tear a sheet of paper in smaller pieces as you can, have as much paper as ever, but in a different format, correct? And the paper simply disappear as you tear? If you're a good student of physics knows that this can not happen because any kind of material can be completely wiped out - the same way that we can not create something from nothing.

Now suppose that the Earth is consumed by a black hole. It increases the mass, the same as the mass increases after meals. After all, everything you eat is still there. But, sometimes, black holes disappear completely - taking everything with them and swallowed.

According to physics, they should give away a radiation wave proportional to everything consumed. But, according to Stephen Hawking, all they do is throw random waves of energy. Simply put: if one day the Earth is actually swallowed by a black hole, not only the planet will cease to exist, but any sign that one day he lived.

5. Particles behave differently just because someone is watching

Remember that friend who seems to another person when talking to a group of strangers? Because there are particles which behave similarly. During a day, scientists researched uranium. It is known that this element when it is unstable, undergoing a process of weakening radioactive after some time. And when scientists were not looking, the uranium was exactly what was expected of him - weakened.

But while looking directly into the material, the researchers noticed that there were particles that never weakened. That is, you can stop time for uranium just looking at it. The problem is that in our common life, look for a carton of milk to prevent it from spoiling it makes no sense.

6. Einstein's Theory of Relativity may be wrong

According to Albert Einstein, the speed limit of all that exists in our universe is 299,792,458 meters per second - the known speed of light. It is this rule that is based on the physical theory of relativity that, since 1940, when it was released, it is accepted by the scientific community.

It was in 2011 when scientists at CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research, located in Switzerland) fired a beam of particles per 730 km, the veracity of the theory has been questioned. The problem is that the beam arrived at its destination in Italy, 60 nanoseconds sooner than expected, showing that the firing exceeded the speed of light.

The scientific community was stunned and the test was redone several times - all experiments showed the same result: the particles traveled faster than light. This means that the journey warp drive from Star Trek is possible, but for now, only to neutrinos. And if the whole theory of relativity was overthrown, until time travel is possible.


Via Cracked.

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