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When Lightning Strikes
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimates that there are more than 80 thousand lightning strikes over the continental United States...
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Why Do Cats Always Land on Their Feet?
In 1894, French physiologist Étienne-Jules Marey used a new photographic technique to take a series of photos that documented one of the animal kingdom’s...
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The Healthier Choice: Burger or Hot Dog?
It’s a glorious, late spring afternoon, with just a hint of summer in the air. Heading for the first backyard cookout of the year, you’re faced with a dilemma...
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Don't Bug Me
There are hundreds of species of bombardier beetle found all over the world. With bits of orange or yellow on a black body, and under an inch long, the...
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Blue Moon Rising
The phase of the Moon is constantly changing. On some nights, perhaps tonight, there will be a full moon—a big, bright, circular Moon that lights up the...
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Outsmarting the Casino at Blackjack
A glance at the grandeur of a typical casino in, say, Las Vegas or Monte Carlo tells you that most people lose money when they gamble. There are sound...
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Watts Up With Your Electric Bill?
When it comes to electrical things, energy is the coin of the realm. It takes energy to make the bulb in your flashlight glow, energy to power your cell...
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Total Solar Eclipse 2017: Everything You Need to Know
The sun, Earth, and the moon all stay essentially on one, flat “surface” in space. That means the moon can sometimes move into a position directly between...
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Rain, Rain Don’t Go Away
In general, weather events are predictable, and their effects immediately known. The path of a hurricane before hitting land, for example, is studied days in...
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Accelerating Science for More Than 50 Years
SLAC—the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center before it was renamed in 2008—continues to make its mark on science. Experiments conducted there have...
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The (Hard and Soft) Science of a Great Night’s Sleep (Part 1)
The reason for our interest in sleep is obvious. We all want it. We all need it. Some more than others, sure, but everyone needs to sleep. Going without sleep is...
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Happy Birthday to Two!
How many people must be in a group for there to be a 50-50 chance that two will have been born on the same day in the same month?
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Sugar: The Sweetest Craving
We eat in order to provide our bodies with fuel. Fuel to power our muscles, to enable us to breathe, to pump blood, to walk, and to think. Hunger is our body's...
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Wow Your Friends: Cool (Science) Party Tricks
Here are two science tricks you can easily master and perform for your friends—and impress them by explaining the hows and whys. The first is...
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Don't Try This at Home (Alone)
As we kick-off the Christmas season, reruns of holiday movie classics like Home Alone begin to play on our TVs. Despite the movie’s warm family...
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Now Playing in a Sky Near You
Neon signs are everywhere. Atop a roadside motel or the local pizza place, throwing off light in every color that can be seen from miles away. The physics of the...
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Coffee: Can’t Leave Home Without It
“Have you had your coffee yet?” You’ve probably asked, or been asked, that question many times. What is it about that drug that makes us want it, need it, and...
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The Remarkable Potential of Stem Cells
All living things are made up of cells. There are more than a trillion cells—perhaps more than 30 trillion—in the human body, including many kinds of specialized...
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Warning: Don't Drink the (Ocean) Water
If we could extract all of the salt in Earth's oceans, it would cover the planet in a layer 500 feet deep. There are about 4-and-a-half ounces (almost 8.5...
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There's No Place Like Home... Well, Maybe
Astronomers found the first evidence for a planet outside our solar system in 1992. The list of such "exoplanets" now numbers well over 2,000 with...
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Why Does A Ship Float in Water and I Sink?
Some big, heavy things - like the USS Enterprise - float in water. Some small, light things, like a ball bearing, don't. So size doesn't determine whether...
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Coming Soon: A Rare Astronomical Event
An astronomical transit, like an eclipse, occurs when one object passes between two others. The term “transit” is usually reserved for situations in which the...
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How the Giants Throw No-Hitters
Madison Bumgarner throws a cutter that baffles the hitter, sending the San Francisco Giants back to the dugout while the batter stands, frozen...
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Red in the Face: The Science of Blushing
We've all been there. You do or say something foolish, or you find yourself in an uncomfortable social situation. Blood rushes to your cheeks...
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What Leads to a Pot of Gold?
Light changes direction when it passes from one medium to another – we came across this when we explored the science of mirages. By how much...
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What Star Trek Teaches Us about Antimatter
"The engines are overloading, Captain!" Scotty, the ship's engineer in the original Star Trek series, is gravely concerned. And no wonder...
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When the Moon Goes Dark
The next total lunar eclipse will occur on Sept. 27. Earth's shadow will completely engulf the moon at about 7:47 p.m. in Santa Clara. If...
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The Science behind the Warriors 3-Point Shots
What's the science behind the amazing 3-point shooting of the Warriors Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson? Klay Thompson throws a crisp pass...
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GPS: How Does It Know Where I Am?
Let's wonder together about the Global Position System (GPS). GPS has become ubiquitous. Phones, tablets, laptops, even cameras, have built-in...
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Why Do We See Mirages?
When light from an object enters your eyes, your brain forms an image by tracing that light directly away from you along a straight line. For...
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The Birds and the Bees Know Physics
Let’s wonder together about the birds and bees. No, not those birds and bees! I’m talking about how birds and bees, and animals like sharks...
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Interstellar: The Curious Nature of Time
With the recent release of the movie Interstellar, lots of people have been wondering about time. Without giving too much away, characters in...
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How Fast?
Let's wonder together about motion and speed. A student sat in my office recently and asked how fast she was really moving. A great question, or...
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Hot and Cold
Let's wonder together about temperature, and how and why certain objects are either hot or cold to the touch. Your immediate reaction to the...
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Blue Skies, Smiling at Me
Do you look around the natural world and wonder? Wonder why things work the way they do, why things are the way they are? If you do, then...
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Mission to Mars
The robotic lander InSight successfully landed on Mars on Nov. 26. We asked Phil Kesten, SCU Associate Professor of Physics, for the 411....
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The Physics of Surfing
Like so many areas of life, the art and sport of surfing takes practice–and some basic knowledge of physics doesn’t hurt, either.
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The Moons of Jupiter
A newly-launched space mission to Jupiter will study three of its icy moons' subsurface water for any sign of life.
