科普物理
We propose the use of specific dynamical processes and more in general of ideas from Physics to model the evolution in time of musical structures. We apply this approach to two \'Etudes by F. Chopin, namely op.10 n.3 and op.25 n.1,…
As new concepts of sending interstellar spacecraft to the nearest stars are now being investigated by various research teams, crucial questions about the timing of such a vast financial and labor investment arise. If humanity could build…
A brief introduction to radar: principles, Doppler effect, antennas, waveforms, power budget - and future radars. [13 pages]
This note is a geometric commentary on maximum-entropy proofs. Its purpose is to illustrate the geometric structures involved in such proofs, to explain more in detail why the maximization of the entropy can be turned into the minimization…
The purpose of this paper is to explore the possibility space of scenarios of 'contact'--the discovery of extra-terrestrial life, whether intelligent or not--using a morphological approach utilising seven principal parameters, chosen both…
The richness of the universe teaches us modesty and guides us to search for both primitive and intelligent forms of life elsewhere without prejudice.
Experiments are done by colliding a swinging bat with a stationary baseball or softball. Each collision was recorded with high-speed cameras, from which the post-impact speed, launch angle, and spin of the ball could be determined. Initial…
The aim of this paper is to bring a mathematical justification to the optimal way of organizing one's effort when running. It is well known from physiologists that all running exercises of duration less than 3mn are run with a strong…
The LIGO-VIRGO collaboration has detected directly on Earth the gravitational wave signals generated by the collision and the merger of two massive black holes at astronomical distance. This major discovery opens up the way to Gravitational…
Many doctors although they have not firsthand experience of judo, describe it as a sport unsuitable for children. Theoretically speaking falls derived by Judo throwing techniques,could be potentially dangerous,especially for kids,if poorly…
The hypothesis that Earth was intentionally seeded with life by a preceding extraterrestrial civilization is believed to be currently untestable. However, analysis of the situation where humans themselves embark on seeding other planetary…
M-dwarf stars are more abundant than G-dwarf stars, so our position as observers on a planet orbiting a G-dwarf raises questions about the suitability of other stellar types for supporting life. If we consider ourselves as typical, in the…
During its active lifetime a star burns its nuclear fuel and gravitation is held off by the pressure of the heated gas. Gravity should take over once this fuel is exhausted unless some other agency saves the star from such a fate. Low mass…
If a civilization wants to maximize computation it appears rational to aestivate until the far future in order to exploit the low temperature environment: this can produce a $10^{30}$ multiplier of achievable computation. We hence suggest…
This article provides answers to the questions posed in the title. Contrary to the most common views, we show that neither the entropy, nor the Second Law may be used for either living systems, or to life phenomenon.
We start with reviewing the origin of the idea that entropy and the Second Law are associated with the Arrow of Time. We then introduced a new definition of entropy based on Shannons Measure of Information, SMI. The SMI may be defined on…
The sciences of complexity present some recurrent themes: the emergence of qualitatively new behaviors in dissipative systems out of equilibrium, the aparent tendency of complex system to lie at the border of phase transitions and…
A hard difficulty in Astrobiology is the precise definition of what life is. All living beings have a cellular structure, so it is not possible to have a broader concept of life hence the search for extraterrestrial life is restricted to…
We introduce The Fabric of the Universe, an art and science collaboration focused on exploring the cosmic web of dark matter with unconventional techniques and materials. We discuss two of our projects in detail. First, we describe a…
Frolop and Scott (2016) claim significant 1-1 correspondence between anomalies in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and the digits of pi, which they call 'Pi in the Sky'. They have without attribution republished the famous work of Joe…