Time ceases to exist at the speed of light

I've long been intrigued by the fact that we live in a 'time' bounded realm and that eternity (heaven or hell) is 'timeless'. What then occurs when we die? We are transported from a 'time' oriented existence to a timeless existence? maybe, maybe not.

Anyway thinking back to my college days in studying quantum physics, I remembered that quantum physicists study the nature of light. So then wouldn't time cease to exist if people could be transported at the speed of light?

At least in theory, this idea is reasonable. If a carousel were spinning so that the outer edge of the carousel moved at nearly the speed of light, then time would appear to slow down for people on the carousel. When the carousel riders looked out at the world spinning by, the days would pass very quickly. So the people on the carousel would age very slowly relative to people not on the carousel. This would create, essentially, a time machine that lets the passengers on the carousel travel into the future.

To create a time machine like this, you would really have to do it with a spacecraft moving in a straight line through space. The main problem then becomes accelerating the spacecraft. Let's say that you want to accelerate to a speed approaching that of the speed of light, and you are willing to subject the passengers to 2 Gs of force (twice the force of gravity -- people weighing 150 pounds would feel like they weigh 300 pounds) during the acceleration process. The passengers would have to endure that force for about half a year! Never mind the amount of fuel it would take to provide that acceleration...

In other words, no one is going to be traveling near the speed of light anytime soon. So back to earth and living in time.

Zero Gravity or Micro Gravity

In a lesson this past week, I planted a 'seed' in my students mind by exploring their understanding of gravity. Of course, they are very bright and all know what gravity is experientially. I also asked them, based on their understanding of gravity (not what it really is) if there is such as thing as zero gravity. The answer was a resounding yes.

So now then why does some gravity exist on the moon, I ask. I then went on to introduce a new term related to gravity and have them think of environments of micro gravity.

I'll finish this lesson later in the curriculum, but for now their wheels are turning....

Why America Needs to Explore Space

There was a great but yet alarming article in this past Sunday's Parade section of the newspaper. One of the quotes that got my attention was:

"Science and technology are the greatest engines of economic growth the world has ever seen. Without regenerating homegrown interest in these fields, the comfortable lifestyle to which Americans have become accustomed will draw to a rapid close."

You can read the entire article here.

Slide Show of my trip to Italy this summer

Project-based teaching for science

As a new teacher last year, I leveraged some of my past experiences from the consulting and systems integration business. In that arena, one is constantly implementing project management principles when delivering a solution to a client.

I used some of that this past year in my teaching to see how students reacted and worked with assignments that were project based and research driven. It was a wonderful experience, and I plan to use it more extensively this year.

I was forwarded a great article on this and share it here.

What is Science?

Many activities are today characterized as "Science!", while other activities are just as definitely characterized as "Pseudoscience". We also tend to ascribe something to be science when it should be credited to 'technology'.

So what is science?

In its purest form, science is the systematic enterprise of gathering knowledge about the universe and organizing and condensing that knowledge into testable laws and theories. The success and credibility of science are anchored in the willingness of scientists to:

1. Expose their ideas and results to independent testing and replication by others. This requires the open exchange of data, procedures and materials.

2. Abandon or modify previously accepted conclusions when confronted with more complete or reliable experimental or observational evidence.

Adherence to these principles provides a mechanism for self-correction that is the foundation of the credibility of science.

Shuttle Endeavour set for launch

The next space shuttle mission, STS-118, will be the space shuttle Endeavour which is now scheduled for launch on August 7th.

What makes this flight to the International Space Station significant is that we will have an 'educator' in space again. Not since the Challenger tradgedy in 1986 have we done this. At that time, it was the first attempt to place an educator in space - Christa McAuliffe.

Well this time, it is another educator - Barbara Morgan. What makes this even more significant is that Barbara was Christa McAuliffe's backup in 1986.