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Physics Mysteries
150 questions answered by our physicists
Jaroslav Kores, Ph.D.
For example, affecting another person at a distance greater than 1 m? We have been able to measure "telepathic" waves for over 150 years — since the first electrodes were attached to the brain and thus since the first el…
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Jaroslav Kores, Ph.D.
In the physical sense, certainly yes, in the philosophical sense, maybe also and whether in the metaphysical sense, I don't know. Since we are composed of carbon, oxygen and water, it would be possible to extract these e…
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Jaroslav Kores, Ph.D.
We all have the experience that when we throw something, it falls to the ground. The faster we throw an object, the further it lands. If we throw it very fast, it will not fall to the ground, but will orbit the Earth. Ho…
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Jaroslav Kores, Ph.D.
Although this question is not simple, I would rather answer it than what infinity actually is :D Even though we know relatively a lot about the Universe, it is still very little to be able to answer this question unequiv…
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Jaroslav Kores, Ph.D.
I'm afraid that with my knowledge I won't be able to give a perfectly accurate answer and quite possibly no one knows the exact answer. Actually, no one knows it, because I don't know that it would be possible to unify t…
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Jaroslav Kores, Ph.D.
Before I get to the answer, I have to remind you that electricity is one of many forms of energy and we "produce" it by converting another form of energy into it. Typically, we need to move a magnet that rotates between…
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Jaroslav Kores, Ph.D.
In sports, they say "put the centre of gravity in the knees". Not only a person can change its centre of gravity but even a cat — to always land on all its legs, it uses its tail among other things. The position of the c…
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Edita Bromova
Ionizing radiation is all around us. It arises from the decay of atoms in our surroundings and in our own bodies or it comes to us from space as cosmic radiation. We call materials containing unstable isotopes radioactiv…
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Edita Bromova
A natural reactor really existed. It was "operated" in the Oklo locality in the West African state of Gabon. The uranium ore deposits there at that time contained around three percent of the isotope 235U, which is a conc…
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Edita Bromova
A photovoltaic cell is a thin wafer of silicon modified to function as a semiconductor photodiode. When a photon hits its surface, it transfers its energy to one of the electrons, which is released from its electron shel…
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Edita Bromova
The smallest amount of fissile material in which a fission chain reaction can take place is called the critical amount. Most of the neutrons produced in it during fission continue to participate in fission. This allows t…
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Edita Bromova
A heat pump is actually a bit like a refrigerator. While a fridge takes heat from its interior and heats the room in which it stands, a heat pump takes heat from the external heat reservoir to heat the interior of the ho…
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Edita Bromova
A photovoltaic cell produces electricity after the impact of any photon with a suitable wavelength and does not care if it came directly from the sun, bounced off a wall or the moon or flew out of a light bulb. In all ca…
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Edita Bromova
Uranium is a heavy element that was created by sequential neutron captures in the cores of massive stars, which then ended their lives as a supernova and scattered most of the elements from their core into the wide space…
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Edita Bromova
The site of a nuclear power plant usually occupies an area of approximately three square kilometres and includes, from the animal's point of view, a number of attractive biotopes. There are grassy areas for insects and s…
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Edita Bromova
Small wind turbines can reach 30 to 60 revolutions per minute, but larger ones spin more slowly at a rate of perhaps only ten revolutions per minute. What may look like slow motion from a distance is actually quite fast…
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Edita Bromova
The length of the wind turbine's propeller blades has already exceeded one hundred metres. In 2022, the record was held by a 123 metre long blade from the Chinese firm Lianyungang Zhongfu Lianzhong Composites Group Co.,…
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Jaroslav Kores, Ph.D.
Gravitational force acts on every body. If we want to lift a body, we must exert a greater force in the opposite direction. Buoyant force helps us in water — it has an upward direction and therefore if we want to lift a…
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Jaroslav Kores, Ph.D.
Horse power was introduced by James Watt to be able to approximate the power of the steam engine. Simply put, by determining the horsepower of a horse and comparing it to a steam engine, he could say: "My steam engine wi…
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Jaroslav Kores, Ph.D.
In general, energy that we can't use turns into heat and that's what happens with lightning energy. It is necessary to realize that lightning is actually a slightly stronger example of an electric current (we call it an…
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We can't wait to tackle your interesting questions!