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Physics Facts

The World's Largest Laser

In a rural community in Northern California, in a building spanning the length of two football fields scientists are creating the world's largest laser. The National Ignition Facility project, know as ... Continue reading

The target chamber inside which NIF's 192 laser beams will converge upon a fusion-fuel-filled target.

Bizarre Boiling

The next time you're watching a pot of water boil, perhaps for coffee or a cup of soup, pause for a moment and consider: what would this look like in space? Would the turbulent bubbles rise or fall? ... Continue reading

Without buoyancy, the vapor produced by boiling simply floats as a bubble inside the liquid after the heating has stopped. Surface tension effects cause the many small bubbles produced to coalesce into one large sphere.

Tick-Tock Atomic Clock

Modern navigators rely on atomic clocks. Instead of old-style springs or pendulums, the natural resonances of atoms -- usually cesium or rubidium -- provide the steady 'tick' of an atomic clock. The ... Continue reading

24 GPS satellites orbit Earth.

Earth's Magnetism

Most ancient civilizations were aware of the magnetic phenomenon. Sailors in the late thirteenth century used magnetized needles floating in water as primitive compasses to find their way on the sea. ... Continue reading

Front page of the William Gilbert's book ' De Magnete' from 1600.