FYSE 130 - Physics In Film

"Fat Man and Little Boy" Vs. Fat Giant Lizard The films "Fat Man and Little Boy" and "Gojira" oddly seem to be two sides of the same coin, with one presenting a different answer to the same moral question. They both pose a similiar question, should weapons of mass destruction be destroyed to protect us? Or should they be created to protect us? I know it seems like a contradictory question but just read through this and you'll understand. In "Fat Man and Little Boy", the main plot is focused on the scientists of the Manhattan project trying to figure out whether what they're doing is morally right or wrong. Once all the initial excitement and hysteria around the project fades, it quickly becomes apparent that this weapon of mass destruction is not truly necessary once the allies find out that the Germans are nowhere near developing this bomb. There is a lot of argument about whether or not this weapon of mass destruction is truly neces...

An Unbiased Source on Climate Change Also known as a "Needle in a Haystack" The Copenhagen Diagnosis was originally a book created by 26 individual leading climate change experts around the world. It was mainly created to serve as an in-depth analysis of all the recent scientific data surrounding global warming in the early 2000's. This data was then condensed down and prepared as a report for a climate conference in Copenhagen, Denmark in December of 2009. The book can be purchased online and the report itself can also be downloaded for free. The executive summary is a quick and easy to read 1 page summary of each of the topics that the book presents. This can be found by clicking here. The summary on it's own is a good source of information but the actual report is even better. The summary has a few key points that it makes that is good information to cite for almost any research paper. For starters, it announces that the original models for rising sea lev...

Spiderman: Centripetal Acceleration and Goat Spiderwebs? "The Physics of Superheroes" is honestly really interesting just for the amount of stuff you can learn while talking about something that is genuinely interesting. Although, if you do find yourself reading this for fun you have reached ultimate nerd status. Welcome to the club. One of the most interesting bits that I found in the book pertains to spiderman. Particularly, his webbing and ability to swing from building to building. The question that the author poses is, quite simply, can spiderman swing from building to building on really only spider webbing. As it turns out, from a physics standpoint, it's totally possible. As spidey-boy is swinging amongst the skyscrapers or new york, he is experiencing a centripetal force as he is swinging even though he is not experiencing a pure acceleration in one direction. The author notes that as you swing in a semi-circle, you're constantly changing the directio...