The Physics of Falling Into a Black Hole

There was an art accident recently. A man fell into a black hole—OK, not that kind of black hole, but an art exhibit consisting of an 8-foot-deep circular hole painted black. The idea was to represent the feeling of a super deep, even endless hole. I guess the guy didn't realize it was a hole…

By HotelSalesCareers March 20, 2019 Off

The Exaggerated Promise of So-Called Unbiased Data Mining

Nobel laureate Richard Feynman once asked his Caltech students to calculate the probability that, if he walked outside the classroom, the first car in the parking lot would have a specific license plate, say 6ZNA74. Assuming every number and letter are equally likely and determined independently, the students estimated the probability to be less than…

By HotelSalesCareers March 20, 2019 Off

Space and Time Could Be a Quantum Error-Correcting Code

In 1994, a mathematician at AT&T Research named Peter Shor brought instant fame to “quantum computers” when he discovered that these hypothetical devices could quickly factor large numbers — and thus break much of modern cryptography. But a fundamental problem stood in the way of actually building quantum computers: the innate frailty of their physical…

By HotelSalesCareers March 20, 2019 Off

Physics Owes a Lot to a Little-Loved Math Class

You might have already passed that silly course with a title something like "Introductory Algebra and Trigonometry." It covered a bunch of stuff, but the important part was that the class was a prerequisite for your physics course. But do you really understand the very basic concepts of trig? Yes, I just call it "trig"…

By HotelSalesCareers March 20, 2019 Off

The Insane Physics of Airbags

I can imagine the meeting: A dozen engineers are gathered around a conference table to discuss automobile safety. How can we protect people during a car crash? We have already added seat belts and crumple zones to cars. Is there anything else we can include? One attendee reluctantly raises their hand with a suggestion: "How…

By HotelSalesCareers March 20, 2019 Off