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Top 5 physics experiments you can do at home

October 17, 2022 By Emma Vanstone Leave a Comment

Physics is key to understanding the world around us. While some aspects may seem tricky to understand, many fundamental physics concepts can be broken down into simple concepts, some of which can be demonstrated using basic equipment at home.

This list of 5 physics experiments you can try at home is a great starting point for understanding physics and, hopefully a source of inspiration for little scientists everywhere!

Physics experiments you can do at home

1. archimedes and density.

The story behind Archimedes’ discovery of density is that he was asked by the King of Sicily to work out whether a goldsmith had replaced some gold from a crown with silver. Archimedes needed to determine if the goldsmith had cheated without damaging the crown.

The crown weighed the same as the gold the King had given the goldsmith, but gold is more dense than silver, so if there were silver in the crown its density would be less than if it were pure gold. Archimedes realised that if he could measure the crown’s volume, he could work out its density, but calculating the volume of a crown shape was a tough challenge. According to the story, Archimedes was having a bath one day when he realised the water level rose as he lowered himself into the bathtub. He realised that the volume of water displaced was equal to the volume of his body in the water.

Archimedes placed the crown in water to work out its density and realised the goldsmith had cheated the king!

Density Experiment

One fun way to demonstrate density is to make a density column. Choose a selection of liquids and place them in density order, from the most dense to the least dense. Carefully pour a small amount of each into a tall jar or glass, starting with the most dense. You should end up with a colourful stack of liquids!

2. Split light into the colours of the rainbow

Isaac Newton experimented with prisms and realised that light is made up of different colours ( the colours of the rainbow ). Newton made this discovery in the 1660s. It wasn’t until the 1900s that physicists discovered the electromagnetic spectrum , which includes light waves we can’t see, such as microwaves, x-ray waves, infrared and gamma rays.

How to split light

Splitting white light into the colours of the rainbow sounds tricky, but all you need is a prism. A prism is a transparent block shaped so light bends ( refracts ) as it passes through. Some colours bend more than others, so the whole spectrum of colours can be seen.

If you don’t have a prism, you can also use a garden hose! Stand with your back to the sun, and you’ll see a rainbow in the water! This is because drops of water act like a prism.

3. Speed of Falling Objects

Galileo’s falling objects.

Aristotle thought that heavy objects fell faster than lighter objects, a theory later disproved by Galileo .

It is said that Galileo dropped two cannonballs with different weights from the leaning tower of Pisa, which hit the ground at the same time. All objects accelerate at the same rate as they fall.

If you drop a feather and a hammer from the same height, the hammer will hit the ground first, but this is because of air resistance!

If a hammer and feather are dropped somewhere with no air resistance, they hit the ground simultaneously. Commander David Scott proved this was true on the Apollo 15 moonwalk!

Hammer and Feather Experiment on the Moon

Brian Cox also proved Galileo’s theory to be correct by doing the same experiment in a vacuum!

While you won’t be able to replicate a hammer or heavy ball and feather falling, you can investigate with two objects of the same size but different weights. This means the air resistance is the same for both objects, so the only difference is the weight.

Take two empty water bottles of the same size. Fill one to the top with water and leave the other empty. Drop them from the same height. Both will hit the ground at the same time!

4. Newton’s Laws of Motion

Sir Isaac Newton pops up a lot in any physics book as he came up with many of the laws that describe our universe and is undoubtedly one of the most famous scientists of all time. Newton’s Laws of Motion describe how things move and the relationship between a moving object and the forces acting on it.

Making and launching a mini rocket is a great way to learn about Newton’s Laws of Motion .

The rocket remains motionless unless a force acts on it ( Newton’s First Law ).

The acceleration of the rocket is affected by its mass. If you increase the mass of the rocket, its acceleration will be less than if it had less mass ( Newton’s Second Law ).

The equal and opposite reaction from the gas forcing the cork downwards propels the rocket upwards ( Newton’s Third Law ).

4. Pressure

Pressure is the force per unit area.

Imagine standing on a Lego brick. If you stand on a large brick, it will probably hurt. If you stand on a smaller brick with the same force it will hurt more as the pressure is greater!

Snowshoes are usually very wide. This is to reduce the pressure on the snow so it sinks less as people walk on it.

Pressure and Eggs

If you stand on one egg, it will most likely break. If you stand on lots of eggs with the same force, you increase the area the force is applied over and, therefore, reduce the pressure on each individual egg.

That’s five easy physics experiments you can do at home! Can you think of any more?

Last Updated on June 14, 2024 by Emma Vanstone

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Easy motion science experiments you can do at home! Click on the experiment image or the view experiment link below for each experiment on this page to see the materials needed and procedure. Have fun trying these experiments at home or use them for SCIENCE FAIR PROJECT IDEAS.

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May 10, 2022

At home, do-it-yourself fluid mechanics

by American Institute of Physics

Although the COVID-19 pandemic caused many disruptions in the educational system, it also led to some surprising benefits.

In Physics of Fluids , scientists from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign describe their work with students on an at-home study of complex fluid behavior. The course covers a type of physics known as rheology, which is used to study the way non-Newtonian liquids or semisolid substances flow.

Newtonian fluids have a constant viscosity, but non-Newtonian fluids can deform when force is applied. Sometimes, they respond with plastic flow. Simple rheometric measurements can be carried out in anyone's home to measure quantities such as viscoelasticity, shear thinning, and other rheological properties.

"We initially called the project Shelter-in-Place Rheometry due to the acute nature of the COVID-19 pandemic and shelter-in-place rules," said Randy Ewoldt, the professor involved in developing the course. "But we realized that the idea is more general and have since taken to calling it do-it-yourself rheometry."

The projects assigned to the students had two parts: gathering qualitative visual evidence of rheological properties and taking quantitative measurements. The students checked for four behaviors: shear thinning viscosity, viscoelasticity, shear normal stress difference, and extensional viscosity.

Even without access to laboratory rheometers, the students developed creative and unique ways to carry out their measurements. They studied a variety of common substances, including buttercream frosting, toothpaste, yogurt, peanut butter , mayonnaise, egg whites , and many other substances available in their homes.

One student, Ignasius Anugraha, developed a compression squeeze flow analysis to study buttercream frosting. Anugraha placed the frosting between two cardboard discs and subjected it to a force by stacking ramekins filled with water atop the discs.

The frosting was able to support the weight of the water until a critical value was reached, at which point the frosting collapsed on one side and squeezed out. Using equations involving the weight of the water, Anugraha was able to measure a quantity known as the yield stress.

Another student, Max Friestad, devised an experiment to study a behavior known as gravity-driven filament stretching. Friestad suspended a tube of toothpaste vertically and gently squeezed it, expelling a dollop of toothpaste that slowly extended, stretching downward. Using a cellphone with a high-speed frame-rate camera, Friestad was able to take measurements and calculate the extensional viscosity.

The course was so successful that the faculty continue to offer it, both in-person and online.

"We are currently working on a review of methods which we believe will be useful not only for coursework and instruction but also for research and technical communication," said M. Tanver Hossain.

The article "Do-it-yourself rheometry" is authored by M. Tanver Hossain and Randy H. Ewoldt. The article will appear in Physics of Fluids on May 10, 2022.

Journal information: Physics of Fluids

Provided by American Institute of Physics

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8 Awesomely Simple Science Experiments You Can Do at Home

Science can be a little intimidating. Whether it's the latest research in quantum mechanics or organic chemistry, sometimes science can make your head spin.

But you don't have to go through eight years of school or work in a high-tech lab to do science.

There are plenty of experiments you can do at home. You might even have a few of the materials just lying around the house.

Here are a few easy ways for you to see science in action.

Tornado in a bottle

You can create your own tornado in a bottle. All you need is two bottles, a tube to connect the bottles, and some water.

When you whirl the liquid in the top bottle, it creates a vortex as it drains into the bottom bottle. That's because as the water flows down, air must flow up, creating a spiraling tornado.

You can even add glitter, food dye, or lamp oil to the bottle to make the tornado even cooler.

Rainbow in a glass

This experiment takes advantage of density to create a rainbow in a glass. When you add sugar to a liquid, it causes the solution to become more dense. The more sugar you add, the more dense the solution is.

If you have four different solutions that are all different colours and densities, the colours will layer on top of each other — the denser, more sugary solutions will sit on the bottom and the lightest will sit on the top.

Gooey slime

When you mix glue, water, and a little bit of food colouring, then add some borax, a gooey slime forms. That's because the glue has something called polyvinyl acetate in it, which is a liquid polymer.

The borax links the polyvinyl acetate molecules to each other, creating one large, flexible polymer: slime.

Pasta rocket

Believe it or not, you can create a very simple hybrid rocket engine using nothing but some yeast, hydrogen peroxide, a jar, fire and … a piece of uncooked pasta.

When you mix the yeast and hydrogen peroxide together, they react and create pure oxygen gas. When this gas is funneled through a piece of pasta, all you need is a little bit of fire and you've got yourself a pasta rocket.

Homemade lava lamp

Alka-seltzer is great if you're suffering from heartburn or an upset stomach. But you probably didn't know that it's also great if you're looking to create your own homemade lava lamp.

Because oil and water have different densities and polarities, when you mix them together, the water sinks to the bottom. When you add food colouring, which is water based, it will sink to the bottom as well.

If you crumble in an alka-seltzer tablet, it reacts with the water, causing coloured droplets of water to rise to the top where they then pop, release air, and sink back to the bottom.

This creates a similar show to what you'd see in a lava lamp.

Instant ice

In order for water to become ice, it needs a nucleus in order for solid crystals to form. Usually, water is loaded with particles and impurities that enables ice to form. But purified water isn't. Because of this, purified water can reach an even colder temperature before becoming solid.

If you throw an unopened bottle of purified water into the freezer for a little less than three hours, the bottle will be chilled well below the temperature at which regular water freezes.

When you pour this super-cooled water onto a piece of ice, it provides the water with nuclei, causing it to freeze instantly.

Ferromagnetic fluid

This experiment makes it easy to see magnetic fields in action . All you need is some iron oxide, some water, and a jar.

When you place an extremely powerful magnet along the outside of the jar, the iron filings are attracted to it, piling up, and following the magnet as you move it around.

Baking soda volcano

In this experiment, a chemical reaction between baking soda and vinegar creates 'lava' bursting out of a model volcano.

As the reaction produces carbon dioxide gas, pressure builds up inside a plastic bottle hidden inside the volcano until the gas bubbles and erupts.

This article was originally published by Business Insider .

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May 1, 2007

A Do-It-Yourself Quantum Eraser

Using readily available equipment, you can carry out a home experiment that illustrates one of the weirdest effects in quantum mechanics

By Rachel Hillmer and Paul Kwiat

Notoriously, the theory of quantum mechanics reveals a fundamental weirdness in the way the world works. Commonsense notions at the very heart of our everyday perceptions of reality turn out to be violated: contradictory alternatives can coexist, such as an object following two different paths at the same time; objects do not simultaneously have precise positions and velocities; and the properties of objects and events we observe can be subject to an ineradicable randomness that has nothing to do with the imperfection of our tools or our eyesight.

Gone is the reliable world in which atoms and other particles travel around like well-behaved billiard balls on the green baize of reality. Instead they behave (sometimes) like waves, becoming dispersed over a region and capable of crisscrossing to form interference patterns.

Yet all this strangeness still seems remote from ordinary life. Quantum effects are most evident when tiny systems are involved, such as electrons held within the confines of an atom. You might know in the abstract that quantum phenomena underlie most modern technologies and that various quantum oddities can be demonstrated in laboratories, but the only way to see them in the home is on science shows on television. Right? Not quite.

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We will show you how to set up an experiment that illustrates what is known as quantum erasure. This effect involves one of the oddest features of quantum mechanics--the ability to take actions that change our basic interpretation of what happened in past events.

Before we explain what we mean by that and outline the experiment itself, we do have to emphasize one caveat in the interest of truth in advertising. The light patterns that you will see if you conduct the experiment successfully can be accounted for by considering the light to be a classical wave, with no quantum mechanics involved. So in that respect the experiment is a cheat and falls short of fully demonstrating the quantum nature of the effect.

Nevertheless, the individual photons that make up the light wave are indeed doing the full quantum dance with all its weirdness intact, although you could only truly prove that by sending the photons through the apparatus and detecting them one at a time. Such a procedure, unfortunately, remains beyond the average home experimenter. Still, by observing the patterns in your experiment and by thinking about what they mean in terms of the individual photons, you can get a firsthand glimpse of the bizarre quantum world.

If you want to go straight to the home experiment, it is detailed in the sidebar. The discussion that follows here delves into the science of quantum erasers in general. This explanation will help you understand what the do-it-yourself eraser demonstrates, but you might want to come back to it after seeing what that specific kind of eraser does.

What a Quantum Eraser Erases One of the strange features of quantum mechanics is that the behavior that something exhibits can depend on what we try to find out about it. Thus, an electron can behave like a particle or like a wave, depending on which experimental setup we subject it to. For example, in some situations particlelike behavior emerges if we ascertain the specific trajectory that an electron has followed and wavelike behavior transpires if we do not.

A standard demonstration of this duality relies on what is called a two-slit experiment (your do-it-yourself quantum eraser is similar to this experiment in that it involves two pathways, but not two slits). A source emits particles, such as electrons, toward a screen that has two slits they can pass through. The particles ultimately arrive at a second screen where each one produces a spot. Where each particle lands is to some extent random and unpredictable, but as thousands of them accumulate, the spots build up into a definite, predictable pattern. When the conditions are right for the particles to behave as waves, the result is an interference pattern--in this case a series of fuzzy bars, called fringes, where most of the particles land, with very few hitting the gaps between them.

The particles will generate the interference pattern only if each particle could have traveled through either of the two slits, and there is no way of ascertaining which slit each one passed through. The two pathways are then said to be indistinguishable and each particle acts as if it actually traveled through both slits. According to the modern understanding of quantum mechanics, interference occurs when indistinguishable alternatives are combined in this way.

When two or more alternatives coexist, the situation is called a superposition. Erwin Schrödinger highlighted the oddity of quantum superpositions in 1935, when he proposed his now infamous concept of a cat that is simultaneously alive and dead, sealed inside a hermetic box where it cannot be observed. When quantum interference happens, something in the experiment is like a kind of Schrödinger's cat. But instead of being alive and dead at the same time, the cat may be walking by a tree, passing on both sides of it simultaneously.

Schrödinger's cat ceases to be in a superposition as soon as we look inside its box: we always see it to be either alive or dead, not both (although some interpretations of quantum mechanics have it that we become in a superposition of having seen a dead or a live cat). If a spotlight is shining near the tree, we see the quantum cat go one way or the other. Similarly, we can add a measurement tool to watch each particle as it passes the slits. One could imagine having a light shining on the slits so that as each particle comes through we can see a flash of light scatter from where the particle went. The flash makes the two alternative pathways distinguishable, which destroys the superposition, and the particles arrive at the final screen not in a pattern of fringes but in one featureless blob. Experiments analogous to this scenario have been conducted, and, as predicted by quantum mechanics, no interference pattern builds up.

We need not actually "do the looking." We do not have to detect the light flashes and ascertain which way each particle went. It suffices that the information is available in the flashes and could have been observed in that way.

Now we finally get to the quantum eraser. The eraser is something that can erase the information indicating which path each particle has followed, thereby restoring the indistinguishability of the alternatives and restoring interference.

How might an eraser do that? Imagine that the "flash of light" that scatters from each particle is a single photon. For the photon to reveal the "which path?" information of the particle, it must be possible (even if only in principle) to tell which slit the photon came from. That means we must be able to measure the position of where each photon scattered accurately enough to tell the slits apart. Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, however, tells us that if we instead measure the momentum of each photon with great accuracy, then the photons' positions become less well defined. So if we pass the photons through a lens that makes their momentum information available, the information about their positions is erased. When that happens, the two paths the particles can follow are again indistinguishable and interference is restored.

We have omitted one last tricky detail, but we will come back to that. First, stop and think a bit more about what is happening in the erasing process we just described, because that is where the weirdness lies. When we detect the position where one of the photons scattered, we learn which slit its corresponding particle went through, which means the particle did go through one slit or the other, not both. If we instead detect the photon's momentum, however, we cannot know which slit the particle went through. What is more, when we do many momentum measurements and see an interference pattern, we infer that in those cases the particles went through both slits (interference would be impossible otherwise).

In other words, the answer to the question, "Did the particle go through one slit or both slits?" depends on what we do with its corresponding photon long after the particle has gone through. It is almost as if our actions with the photons influence what has happened in past events. We can find out which slit the particle went through, or with our quantum eraser we can delete that information from the universe.

Strangest of all, we can decide which measurement to make after the particle has passed through the slits--we can have the apparatus for both alternative measurements in place, with a switch that we flick one way or the other just before each photon arrives. Physicists call this variation a delayed-choice experiment, an idea introduced by John A. Wheeler of the University of Texas at Austin in 1978 that extends a scenario that Niels Bohr and Albert Einstein used in their arguments about quantum mechanics and the nature of reality in 1935.

At this point, some particularly clever readers will be worrying about a fundamental problem that seems to undermine what we have just described: Why can't we delay the choice of our photon measurement until after we have seen if the particles form an interference pattern? We could, in fact, arrange to do just that by having the final screen not too far from the slits and the photon detector much farther away. So what would happen if we saw the particles form fringes but then chose to do photon position measurements that should prevent such fringes from forming? Wouldn't we have created a paradox? Surely we would not expect the already registered interference pattern to vanish! Similar reasoning suggests we could use the delayed-choice effect to transmit messages instantaneously over arbitrary distances (thereby circumventing the speed of light).

That tricky detail that we omitted earlier is what saves the day: to see the interference of the particles after applying the quantum eraser, we first have to divide them into two groups and observe the groups separately. One group will display the original pattern of fringes; the other will display the inverse of that pattern, with particles landing on what were originally the dark bands and avoiding the places where the bright fringes were. The two groups combined fill in all the gaps, hiding the interference.

The paradox is avoided because we need data from the photon measurement to know which group each particle belongs to. Thus, we cannot observe the fringes until after we have done the photon measurements, because only then do we know how to split the particles into groups. In the home experiment, dividing particles into groups is done for you automatically because one group gets blocked by a polarizing filter, and you can therefore see the interference pattern of the group that gets through with your own eyes. In the final step you can see the interference patterns of the two groups right next to each other.

From a practical standpoint, the inability to send messages faster than the speed of light and create a paradox is perhaps disappointing, but physicists and logicians consider it to be a very good feature.

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What are some quantum mechanics experiments that can be done with household items?

I am interested in witnessing principals of quantum mechanics (Superposition, Quantum entanglement, Quantum tunneling, etc.) with simple household items.

The experiments that I have already tried are:

• The double slit experiment (by shining a laser through a double slit to make an interference pattern)
• Changing the color of fire by varying temperature and elements being burned
• Used two pairs of polarized sunglasses to alter to amount of light that passes through by rotating the lenses

Are there any other interesting ones that I could try?

• quantum-mechanics
• experimental-physics
• double-slit-experiment
• home-experiment

• 6 $\begingroup$ Since you don't have the equipment to send photons one by one, your first and third experiments do not probe QM: they are perfectly modelled by classical electromagnetism. $\endgroup$ –  user154997 Commented Sep 23, 2017 at 5:01
• $\begingroup$ Any LED or flourescent works because of QM. $\endgroup$ –  FGSUZ Commented Feb 16, 2019 at 20:15

2 Answers 2

You could measure molar heat capacity of graphite at room temperature, it is much lower than that predicted by the classical equipartition theorem (Dulong-Petit law) due to quantum effects. Graphite is cheap , measurement of heat capacity does not seem too difficult.

Most probably, you did already many tunneling experiments at home - like many other people. Mechanical electric switches have layers of sulfides, oxides and other non-conducting material at their 2 contact zones. But still the resistor is very low, i.e. the lamp is working with normal intensity if the switch is closed. Many switches are constructed to scratch a little bit in order to break through these multi-atomic layers, but often both sides of the contact do not touch directly and are still separated by non-conducting layers in state switched on. F.e. gold has an oxide layer, but this layer is limited to only a few atoms of thickness. So in order to work, mechanical switches need electrons to tunnel through non-conducting layers - and have also to tunnel at the surface barrier of the metal - nonmetal contact zones. So simply switching electric circuits is a common household tunnel experiment, that only fails if the corrosion/layers of the contact zones have become too thick.

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The 12 Most Important and Stunning Quantum Experiments of 2019

Quantum computing seems to inch closer every year.

The smallest scale events have giant consequences. And no field of science demonstrates that better than quantum physics, which explores the strange behaviors of — mostly — very small things. In 2019, quantum experiments went to new and even stranger places and practical quantum computing inched ever closer to reality, despite some controversies. These were the most important and surprising quantum events of 2019.

Google claims "quantum supremacy"

If one quantum news item from 2019 makes the history books, it will probably be a big announcement that came from Google: The tech company announced that it had achieved " quantum supremacy ." That's a fancy way of saying that Google had built a computer that could perform certain tasks faster than any classical computer could. (The category of classical computers includes any machine that relies on regular old 1s and 0s, such as the device you're using to read this article.)

Google's quantum supremacy claim, if borne out, would mark an inflection point in the history of computing. Quantum computers rely on strange small-scale physical effects like entanglement , as well as certain basic uncertainties in the nano-universe, to perform their calculations. In theory, that quality gives these machines certain advantages over classical computers. They can easily break classical encryption schemes, send perfectly encrypted messages, run some simulations faster than classical computers can and generally solve hard problems very easily. The difficulty is that no one's ever made a quantum computer fast enough to take advantage of those theoretical advantages — or at least no one had, until Google's feat this year.

Not everyone buys the tech company's supremacy claim though. Subhash Kak, a quantum skeptic and researcher at Oklahoma State University, laid out several of the reasons in this article for Live Science .

Read more about Google's achievement of quantum supremacy .

The kilogram goes quantum

Another 2019 quantum inflection point came from the world of weights and measures. The standard kilogram, the physical object that defined the unit of mass for all measurements, had long been a 130-year-old, platinum-iridium cylinder weighing 2.2 lbs. and sitting in a room in France. That changed this year.

The old kilo was pretty good, barely changing mass over the decades. But the new kilo is perfect: Based on the fundamental relationship between mass and energy, as well as a quirk in the behavior of energy at quantum scales, physicists were able to arrive at a definition of the kilogram that won't change at all between this year and the end of the universe.

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Read more about the perfect kilogram .

Reality broke a little

A team of physicists designed a quantum experiment that showed that facts actually change depending on your perspective on the situation. Physicists performed a sort of "coin toss" using photons in a tiny quantum computer, finding that the results were different at different detectors, depending on their perspectives.

"We show that, in the micro-world of atoms and particles that is governed by the strange rules of quantum mechanics, two different observers are entitled to their own facts," the experimentalists wrote in an article for Live Science . "In other words, according to our best theory of the building blocks of nature itself, facts can actually be subjective."

Read more about the lack of objective reality .

Entanglement got its glamour shot

For the first time, physicists made a photograph of the phenomenon Albert Einstein described as "spooky action at a distance," in which two particles remain physically linked despite being separated across distances. This feature of the quantum world had long been experimentally verified, but this was the first time anyone got to see it .

Read more about the unforgettable image of entanglement .

Something big went in multiple directions

In some ways the conceptual opposite of entanglement, quantum superposition is enables a single object to be in two (or more) places at once, a consequence of matter existing as both particles and waves. Typically, this is achieved with tiny particles like electrons.

But in a 2019 experiment, physicists managed to pull off superposition at the largest scale ever : using hulking, 2,000-atom molecules from the world of medical science known as "oligo-tetraphenylporphyrins enriched with fluoroalkylsulfanyl chains."

Read about the macro-scale achievement of superposition .

Heat crossed the vacuum

Under normal circumstances, heat can cross a vacuum in only one manner: in the form of radiation. (That's what you're feeling when the sun's rays cross space to beat on your face on a summer day.) Otherwise, in standard physical models, heat moves in two manners: First, energized particles can knock into other particles and transfer their energy. (Wrap your hands around a warm cup of tea to feel this effect.) Second, a warm fluid can displace a colder fluid. (That's what happens when you turn the heater on in your car, flooding the interior with warm air.) So without radiation, heat can't cross a vacuum.

But quantum physics, as usual, breaks the rules. In a 2019 experiment, physicists took advantage of the fact that at the quantum scale, vacuums aren't truly empty. Instead, they're full of tiny, random fluctuations that pop into and out of existence. At a small enough scale, the researchers found, heat can cross a vacuum by jumping from one fluctuation to the next across the apparently empty space.

Read more about heat leaping across the quantum vacuum of space .

Cause and effect might have gone backward

This next finding is far from an experimentally verified discovery, and it's even well outside the realm of traditional quantum physics. But researchers working with quantum gravity — a theoretical construct designed to unify the worlds of quantum mechanics and Einstein's general relativity — showed that under certain circumstances an event might cause an effect that occurred earlier in time.

Certain very heavy objects can influence the flow of time in their immediate vicinity due to general relativity. We know this is true. And quantum superposition dictates that objects can be in multiple places at once. Put a very heavy object (like a big planet) in a state of quantum superposition, the researchers wrote, and you can design oddball scenarios where cause and effect take place in the wrong order .

Read more about cause and effect reversing .

Quantum tunneling cracked

Physicists have long known about a strange effect known as "quantum tunneling," in which particles seem to pass through seemingly impassable barriers . It's not because they're so small that they find holes, though. In 2019, an experiment showed how this really happens.

Quantum physics says that particles are also waves, and you can think of those waves as probability projections for the location of the particle. But they're still waves. Smash a wave against a barrier in the ocean, and it will lose some energy, but a smaller wave will appear on the other side. A similar effect occurs in the quantum world, the researchers found. And as long as there's a bit of probability wave left on the far side of the barrier, the particle has a chance of making it through the obstruction, tunneling through a space where it seems it should not fit.

Read more about the amazing quantum tunneling effect .

Metallic hydrogen may have appeared on Earth

This was a big year for ultra-high-pressure physics. And one of the boldest claims came from a French laboratory, which announced that it had created a holy grail substance for materials science: metallic hydrogen . Under high enough pressures, such as those thought to exist at the core of Jupiter, single-proton hydrogen atoms are thought to act as an alkali metal. But no one had ever managed to generate pressures high enough to demonstrate the effect in a lab before. This year, the team said they'd seen it at 425 gigapascals (4.2 million times Earth's atmospheric pressure at sea level). Not everyone buys that claim , however.

Read more about metallic hydrogen .

We beheld the quantum turtle

Zap a mass of supercooled atoms with a magnetic field , and you'll see "quantum fireworks": jets of atoms firing off in apparently random directions. Researchers suspected there might be a pattern in the fireworks, but it wasn't obvious just from looking. With the aid of a computer, though, researchers discovered a shape to the fireworks effect: a quantum turtle . No one's yet sure why it takes that shape, however.

Read more about the quantum turtle .

A tiny quantum computer turned back time

Time's supposed to move in only one direction: forward. Spill some milk on the ground, and there's no way to perfectly dry out the dirt and return that same clean milk back into the cup. A spreading quantum wave function doesn't unspread.

Except in this case, it did. Using a tiny, two-qubit quantum computer, physicists were able to write an algorithm that could return every ripple of a wave to the particle that created it — unwinding the event and effectively turning back the arrow of time .

Read more about reversing time's arrow .

Another quantum computer saw 16 futures

A nice feature of quantum computers, which rely on superpositions rather than 1s and 0s, is their ability to play out multiple calculations at once. That advantage is on full display in a new quantum prediction engine developed in 2019. Simulating a series of connected events, the researchers behind the engine were able to encode 16 possible futures into a single photon in their engine . Now that's multitasking!

Read more about the 16 possible futures .

• The 10 Weirdest Science Studies of 2019
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• What's That? Your Physics Questions Answered

Originally published on Live Science .

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Possible webpage title: Can You Perform Quantum Experiments at Home?

• Thread starter feelalive
• Start date Jan 16, 2008
• Tags Experiments Home Quantum
• Jan 16, 2008
• Physicists confirm quantum entanglement persists between top quarks, the heaviest known fundamental particles
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One you could perform very easily and cheaply. Get three polarizers. Place them in sequence - one at 0 degrees, one at 45 degrees, and the third at 90 degrees. Shine a flash light through them. The light will end up very dim on the other end but visible. Now remove the middle (45 degree) polarizer and shine light through again. No light will get through! Now insert the 45 degree polarizer and remove the 90 degree polarizer. Light will get through again, and it will be more intense than when there were three polarizers! Nuts, huh! :) Now what should really rock your world is that if you'd inserted the final polarizer after the photon had already passed through the other two, the result would be the same as if the polarizer had always been there...  

peter0302 said: Now what should really rock your world is that if you'd inserted the final polarizer after the photon had already passed through the other two, the result would be the same as if the polarizer had always been there...

But there is nothing odd to "rock your world" about inserting the last filter and how it treats light that departed the 2nd filter before placing it

“quantum Erasing in the Home”.

ΔxΔp≥ћ/2 said: OMG! Sounds like fun, I will have to read that one! Don't try this one it is just trouble: Well, maybe you could do it, but I have yet to succeed convincingly.

Ok, here's another one ( but, sadly, also explicable classicly ).It's a cheap and easy two-slit job. You need an assistant to help. All you two need are two bright, sunny windows A and B on the same wall into an otherwise blacked-out room and four opaque boards e.g. pieces of wood. *1* Completely cover window A with two completely opaque boards. Mostly cover window B with two boards leaving a small vertical crack between the boards. You get single crack of light on wall. (Note that you really need two boards for each window rather than use one edge of the window, because of possible reflections from the window/wall recesses.) *2* Now close B completely and open a vertical crack on A. Again, you get single crack of light on wall. *3* Now open a crack on both A and on B. Interference! I did this by accident when I was a kid when shuttering out the sunlight from the telly but didn't know why it did that. Now we know! Note that the room wasn't blacked out very well at all but it still worked. I guess the distance between the cracks should be less ( significantly less?? ) than the distance from the windows to the opposite wall. Interestingly, I tried to duplicate this on a smaller scale with a torch shining into a shoebox with cardboard barrier with slits, but it 'didn't work'. I assume sunlight works well because it's so bright, and bonus !- you are actually standing in your own experiment!  

peter0302 said: One you could perform very easily and cheaply. Get three polarizers. Place them in sequence - one at 0 degrees, one at 45 degrees, and the third at 90 degrees. Shine a flash light through them. The light will end up very dim on the other end but visible. Now remove the middle (45 degree) polarizer and shine light through again. No light will get through! Now insert the 45 degree polarizer and remove the 90 degree polarizer. Light will get through again, and it will be more intense than when there were three polarizers! Nuts, huh! :)

This is quite cool, but I'm not really convinced that it is a proper quantum physics experiment, as it is all consistent with the classical theory of light as a wave. I suppose that you would need to detect the photons one a time to really see the quantum effects (I have no idea how you could do that)

Related to Possible webpage title: Can You Perform Quantum Experiments at Home?

1. what materials do i need for quantum home experiments.

To conduct quantum home experiments, you will need some basic materials such as a laser pointer, diffraction grating, polarizing filters, and a container of liquid nitrogen. You may also need specialized equipment such as a vacuum chamber or a particle accelerator, depending on the specific experiment you want to conduct.

2. Can I conduct quantum home experiments without any prior knowledge or experience in quantum physics?

It is not recommended to conduct quantum home experiments without any prior knowledge or experience in quantum physics. These experiments involve complex concepts and equipment, and it is important to have a strong understanding of quantum mechanics before attempting any experiments.

3. Are quantum home experiments safe to conduct at home?

Some quantum home experiments involve potentially hazardous materials such as liquid nitrogen or radioactive materials. It is important to follow safety protocols and guidelines when conducting these experiments. It is also recommended to have adult supervision and proper protective equipment when conducting these experiments.

4. How can I ensure accurate results from quantum home experiments?

To ensure accurate results from quantum home experiments, it is important to carefully follow the instructions and procedures for each experiment. It is also crucial to maintain a controlled and stable environment, free from external factors that could affect the results, such as vibrations or electromagnetic interference.

5. Can quantum home experiments be used for scientific research or only for educational purposes?

Quantum home experiments can be used for both scientific research and educational purposes. However, it is important to note that these experiments may not have the same level of accuracy and precision as those conducted in professional laboratories. They can still provide valuable insights and understanding of quantum mechanics, but should not be used as a substitute for professional research.

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The CIA’s Covert Plan to Deploy an Army of Super Spies With Psychic Powers to Uncover Enemy Secrets

Any weapon or intelligence tool developed under the “Stargate” program would be too valuable—and too dangerous—for public release.

As Harold Puthoff, a physicist with the Stanford Research Institute, witnessed the output from his magnetometer changing, he was mind-blown. There was no physical explanation for the reading changing the way it did. And as soon as Puthoff asked Swann to stop thinking about the apparatus, the unexplained changes in the magnetic field abruptly stopped.

“These phenomena are real. Psychic phenomena are real,” Dean Radin , Ph.D., chief scientist at the California-based nonprofit Institute of Noetic Sciences, tells Popular Mechanics . He’s been examining parapsychology, or the study of psychic events, for the past four decades.

And in the early 1970s—in the midst of the Cold War against the Soviet Union—the U.S. government agreed.

By the time Puthoff and his colleague Russel Targ, another physicist at the Stanford Research Institute (now known as SRI International), presented their results at an international meeting on quantum physics and parapsychology, the CIA had already begun working with SRI to perform top-secret research on paranormal phenomena—primarily “remote viewing” for intelligence collection. Remote viewing refers to a type of extra-sensorial perception that involves using the mind to “see” or manipulate distant objects, people, events, or other information that are hidden from physical view.

By the mid-1980s, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) took the program over, calling it “Stargate.” DIA had three main goals for its research:

• Determine how to apply remote viewing to intelligence gathering against foreign targets;
• Figure out how other countries could be doing the same thing and using it against the U.S.; and
• Perform laboratory experiments to find ways to improve remote viewing for use in the intelligence field

The program was about as clandestine as it gets. Radin, who served as a visiting scientist on the Stargate program, says security personnel would brief him and his colleagues about the incredible sensitivity of their highly classified work every two weeks, and ask them if they had any reason to believe that anyone outside of the project knew anything about it.

“You had to become a professional paranoid, essentially. It was very uncomfortable for me,” Radin says.

He remembers asking one of his supervisors what would happen if they had a breakthrough—say, coming up with a drug to make someone super psychic. The response was immediate. “It would disappear and you would never be able to talk about it again,” Radin recalls, “which is antithetical to the whole scientific process, but I also understood why.” Any weapon or intelligence tool developed under Stargate would have presumably been too valuable and too dangerous for public release.

The DIA continued the project until the mid-1990s, when the CIA began declassifying its documents on remote viewing research to facilitate an external review of the project, and the DIA quickly followed suit. In June 1995, the CIA asked The American Institutes for Research (AIR)—an Arlington, Virginia-based nonprofit tasked with evaluating and providing technical assistance in behavioral and social science research—to conduct an external review of the Stargate program .

To present a balanced review of the scientific credibility of the program, AIR asked two researchers with opposing perspectives on parapsychology to write the report: Jessica Utts , Ph.D., an accomplished statistician and now professor emerita at the University of California, Irvine, who views parapsychology as a promising science; and Ray Hyman , Ph.D., a renowned psychologist and now professor emeritus at the University of Oregon, who is a noted skeptic and critic of parapsychology.

.css-2l0eat{font-family:UnitedSans,UnitedSans-roboto,UnitedSans-local,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-size:1.625rem;line-height:1.2;margin:0rem;padding:0.9rem 1rem 1rem;}@media(max-width: 48rem){.css-2l0eat{font-size:1.75rem;line-height:1;}}@media(min-width: 48rem){.css-2l0eat{font-size:1.875rem;line-height:1;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-2l0eat{font-size:2.25rem;line-height:1;}}.css-2l0eat b,.css-2l0eat strong{font-family:inherit;font-weight:bold;}.css-2l0eat em,.css-2l0eat i{font-style:italic;font-family:inherit;} “THESE PHENOMENA ARE REAL. PSYCHIC PHENOMENA ARE REAL.”

“They sent us these boxes full of reports and papers and told us we had one summer to write this report,” Utts tells Popular Mechanics . She and Hyman separately reviewed dozens of Stargate experiments while also taking into account data from the broader scientific community at the time.

The reviewers’ individual conclusions were as expected. Utts found the statistics compelling, and believed the studies provided strong evidence that remote viewing is a human capability. One of the things she found most convincing was that the results seen across studies in different laboratories were all very similar. “And it was all statistically significant,” she says, “so that’s really hard to explain by chance, or cheating, or coincidence, or fluke.”

To that extent, Hyman agreed with Utts, but it wasn’t enough to convince him that remote viewing is real. He found what he considered to be potential flaws in the experimental methods, such as using the same person to judge psychic ability in each trial, and determined that the experimental results were not consistent enough with experiments outside the program. Nonetheless, he wrote in the final report: “The case for psychic functioning seems better than it ever has been. The contemporary findings along with the output of the [Stargate] program do seem to indicate that something beyond odd statistical hiccups is taking place.”

Despite what may be viewed as an optimistic review, the Stargate program no longer exists, and as far as we know, the U.S. government hasn’t continued such research. “I’m sorry it ended, because I really do think that there’s much more to be discovered there,” Utts says.

But maybe it hasn’t ended. Maybe it’s just top secret. Only a true psychic would know.

Kimberly is a freelance science writer with a degree in marine biology from Texas A&M University, a master's degree in biology from Southeastern Louisiana University and a graduate certificate in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Her work has been published by NBC, Science, Live Science, Space.com and many others. Her favorite stories are about health, animals and obscurities.  

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Flag of Elektrostal, Moscow Oblast, Russia

40 Facts About Elektrostal

Written by Lanette Mayes

Modified & Updated: 01 Jun 2024

Reviewed by Jessica Corbett

Elektrostal is a vibrant city located in the Moscow Oblast region of Russia. With a rich history, stunning architecture, and a thriving community, Elektrostal is a city that has much to offer. Whether you are a history buff, nature enthusiast, or simply curious about different cultures, Elektrostal is sure to captivate you.

This article will provide you with 40 fascinating facts about Elektrostal, giving you a better understanding of why this city is worth exploring. From its origins as an industrial hub to its modern-day charm, we will delve into the various aspects that make Elektrostal a unique and must-visit destination.

So, join us as we uncover the hidden treasures of Elektrostal and discover what makes this city a true gem in the heart of Russia.

Key Takeaways:

• Elektrostal, known as the “Motor City of Russia,” is a vibrant and growing city with a rich industrial history, offering diverse cultural experiences and a strong commitment to environmental sustainability.
• With its convenient location near Moscow, Elektrostal provides a picturesque landscape, vibrant nightlife, and a range of recreational activities, making it an ideal destination for residents and visitors alike.

Known as the “Motor City of Russia.”

Elektrostal, a city located in the Moscow Oblast region of Russia, earned the nickname “Motor City” due to its significant involvement in the automotive industry.

Home to the Elektrostal Metallurgical Plant.

Elektrostal is renowned for its metallurgical plant, which has been producing high-quality steel and alloys since its establishment in 1916.

Boasts a rich industrial heritage.

Elektrostal has a long history of industrial development, contributing to the growth and progress of the region.

Founded in 1916.

The city of Elektrostal was founded in 1916 as a result of the construction of the Elektrostal Metallurgical Plant.

Located approximately 50 kilometers east of Moscow.

Elektrostal is situated in close proximity to the Russian capital, making it easily accessible for both residents and visitors.

Known for its vibrant cultural scene.

Elektrostal is home to several cultural institutions, including museums, theaters, and art galleries that showcase the city’s rich artistic heritage.

A popular destination for nature lovers.

Surrounded by picturesque landscapes and forests, Elektrostal offers ample opportunities for outdoor activities such as hiking, camping, and birdwatching.

Hosts the annual Elektrostal City Day celebrations.

Every year, Elektrostal organizes festive events and activities to celebrate its founding, bringing together residents and visitors in a spirit of unity and joy.

Has a population of approximately 160,000 people.

Elektrostal is home to a diverse and vibrant community of around 160,000 residents, contributing to its dynamic atmosphere.

Boasts excellent education facilities.

The city is known for its well-established educational institutions, providing quality education to students of all ages.

A center for scientific research and innovation.

Elektrostal serves as an important hub for scientific research, particularly in the fields of metallurgy , materials science, and engineering.

Surrounded by picturesque lakes.

The city is blessed with numerous beautiful lakes , offering scenic views and recreational opportunities for locals and visitors alike.

Well-connected transportation system.

Elektrostal benefits from an efficient transportation network, including highways, railways, and public transportation options, ensuring convenient travel within and beyond the city.

Famous for its traditional Russian cuisine.

Food enthusiasts can indulge in authentic Russian dishes at numerous restaurants and cafes scattered throughout Elektrostal.

Home to notable architectural landmarks.

Elektrostal boasts impressive architecture, including the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord and the Elektrostal Palace of Culture.

Offers a wide range of recreational facilities.

Residents and visitors can enjoy various recreational activities, such as sports complexes, swimming pools, and fitness centers, enhancing the overall quality of life.

Provides a high standard of healthcare.

Elektrostal is equipped with modern medical facilities, ensuring residents have access to quality healthcare services.

Home to the Elektrostal History Museum.

The Elektrostal History Museum showcases the city’s fascinating past through exhibitions and displays.

A hub for sports enthusiasts.

Elektrostal is passionate about sports, with numerous stadiums, arenas, and sports clubs offering opportunities for athletes and spectators.

Celebrates diverse cultural festivals.

Throughout the year, Elektrostal hosts a variety of cultural festivals, celebrating different ethnicities, traditions, and art forms.

Electric power played a significant role in its early development.

Elektrostal owes its name and initial growth to the establishment of electric power stations and the utilization of electricity in the industrial sector.

Boasts a thriving economy.

The city’s strong industrial base, coupled with its strategic location near Moscow, has contributed to Elektrostal’s prosperous economic status.

Houses the Elektrostal Drama Theater.

The Elektrostal Drama Theater is a cultural centerpiece, attracting theater enthusiasts from far and wide.

Popular destination for winter sports.

Elektrostal’s proximity to ski resorts and winter sport facilities makes it a favorite destination for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter activities.

Promotes environmental sustainability.

Elektrostal prioritizes environmental protection and sustainability, implementing initiatives to reduce pollution and preserve natural resources.

Home to renowned educational institutions.

Elektrostal is known for its prestigious schools and universities, offering a wide range of academic programs to students.

Committed to cultural preservation.

The city values its cultural heritage and takes active steps to preserve and promote traditional customs, crafts, and arts.

Hosts an annual International Film Festival.

The Elektrostal International Film Festival attracts filmmakers and cinema enthusiasts from around the world, showcasing a diverse range of films.

Encourages entrepreneurship and innovation.

Elektrostal supports aspiring entrepreneurs and fosters a culture of innovation, providing opportunities for startups and business development .

Offers a range of housing options.

Elektrostal provides diverse housing options, including apartments, houses, and residential complexes, catering to different lifestyles and budgets.

Home to notable sports teams.

Elektrostal is proud of its sports legacy , with several successful sports teams competing at regional and national levels.

Boasts a vibrant nightlife scene.

Residents and visitors can enjoy a lively nightlife in Elektrostal, with numerous bars, clubs, and entertainment venues.

Promotes cultural exchange and international relations.

Elektrostal actively engages in international partnerships, cultural exchanges, and diplomatic collaborations to foster global connections.

Surrounded by beautiful nature reserves.

Nearby nature reserves, such as the Barybino Forest and Luchinskoye Lake, offer opportunities for nature enthusiasts to explore and appreciate the region’s biodiversity.

Commemorates historical events.

The city pays tribute to significant historical events through memorials, monuments, and exhibitions, ensuring the preservation of collective memory.

Promotes sports and youth development.

Elektrostal invests in sports infrastructure and programs to encourage youth participation, health, and physical fitness.

Hosts annual cultural and artistic festivals.

Throughout the year, Elektrostal celebrates its cultural diversity through festivals dedicated to music, dance, art, and theater.

Provides a picturesque landscape for photography enthusiasts.

The city’s scenic beauty, architectural landmarks, and natural surroundings make it a paradise for photographers.

Connects to Moscow via a direct train line.

The convenient train connection between Elektrostal and Moscow makes commuting between the two cities effortless.

A city with a bright future.

Elektrostal continues to grow and develop, aiming to become a model city in terms of infrastructure, sustainability, and quality of life for its residents.

In conclusion, Elektrostal is a fascinating city with a rich history and a vibrant present. From its origins as a center of steel production to its modern-day status as a hub for education and industry, Elektrostal has plenty to offer both residents and visitors. With its beautiful parks, cultural attractions, and proximity to Moscow, there is no shortage of things to see and do in this dynamic city. Whether you’re interested in exploring its historical landmarks, enjoying outdoor activities, or immersing yourself in the local culture, Elektrostal has something for everyone. So, next time you find yourself in the Moscow region, don’t miss the opportunity to discover the hidden gems of Elektrostal.

Q: What is the population of Elektrostal?

A: As of the latest data, the population of Elektrostal is approximately XXXX.

Q: How far is Elektrostal from Moscow?

A: Elektrostal is located approximately XX kilometers away from Moscow.

Q: Are there any famous landmarks in Elektrostal?

A: Yes, Elektrostal is home to several notable landmarks, including XXXX and XXXX.

Q: What industries are prominent in Elektrostal?

A: Elektrostal is known for its steel production industry and is also a center for engineering and manufacturing.

Q: Are there any universities or educational institutions in Elektrostal?

A: Yes, Elektrostal is home to XXXX University and several other educational institutions.

Q: What are some popular outdoor activities in Elektrostal?

A: Elektrostal offers several outdoor activities, such as hiking, cycling, and picnicking in its beautiful parks.

Q: Is Elektrostal well-connected in terms of transportation?

A: Yes, Elektrostal has good transportation links, including trains and buses, making it easily accessible from nearby cities.

Q: Are there any annual events or festivals in Elektrostal?

A: Yes, Elektrostal hosts various events and festivals throughout the year, including XXXX and XXXX.

Elektrostal's fascinating history, vibrant culture, and promising future make it a city worth exploring. For more captivating facts about cities around the world, discover the unique characteristics that define each city . Uncover the hidden gems of Moscow Oblast through our in-depth look at Kolomna. Lastly, dive into the rich industrial heritage of Teesside, a thriving industrial center with its own story to tell.

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Stingrays Are a Bigger Threat Than Sharks

But scientists have found a way to step on them without getting stung.

This article was originally published by Hakai Magazine .

Stingray 12 is surprisingly calm for an animal that’s getting squeegeed. The ray, roughly the size of a dinner plate, is submerged in the sand of a tank about the size of a chest freezer; even the golden eyes on top of her head are buried in the sediment. She stays motionless as the researcher Ben Perlman, of California State University at Long Beach (CSULB), carefully pushes the sand from her mottled-brown body—the squeegee offering the scientist a little protection from the hazardous-looking barbs poking out halfway down Stingray 12’s tail.

“Sorry to bother you,” Perlman murmurs.

Six undergraduate students peer over his shoulder, and one, Carly Brenner, steps forward holding a 3-D-printed silicone human foot glued to a PVC pipe.

“A little closer, a little closer,” Perlman coaches, as Brenner brings the foot centimeters from the stingray’s body. “Go for it,” he says, and Brenner takes aim at the stingray’s left pectoral fin, stamping down with the flexible foot.

The ray doesn’t move at all.

“No response,” Perlman says. The result will be logged into his lab’s study of what makes stingrays attack—science that Perlman hopes will eventually help people avoid painful stings from the serrated barbs, each about the length of an adult human’s big toe.

Perlman’s lab in Long Beach, California—aptly called STABB, for Stingray and Butterfly Biomechanics Lab (the butterfly project is currently paused)—explores how and why stingrays move and behave the way they do. Seal Beach, one of the area’s popular surf spots, about three miles from the lab, is colloquially known as Ray Bay. Stingrays love to congregate there in the calm, warm waters at the mouth of the San Gabriel River, and lifeguards document upwards of 500 painful stab injuries from rays each year. Studying the rays’ behavior and their stinging process can open a new window into human interactions with what the lab calls “danger pancakes,” Perlman says.

His research focuses on round rays —the most abundant ray species inhabiting California’s waters. Their behavior also makes them the most dangerous to unsuspecting passersby. Though other rays quickly flee at the hint of danger, round rays stay buried in the sand and even hold their breath as a predator, such as a juvenile great white shark—or a perceived predator, such as a human—goes by, relying on their mottled color for camouflage. It’s this protective behavior that makes them far more likely to get stepped on and explains why the majority of stingray injuries in California are attributed to round rays, rather than the bat rays or diamond stingrays that also live in the area.

Stingray barbs are a kind of dermal denticle—like a tooth—on a tail that can be whipped around. In a strike, the animal releases a toxin from glandular cells at the base of one of the barbs. The toxin travels along a mucous coating and gets envenomated—injected—into the recipient through the puncture wound. Some ray species have barbs with serrated notches, which can make the barb stick into the skin of their attacker.

Read: A tiny fish with terrifying fangs and opioid venom

Chris Lowe, a shark biologist who leads CSULB’s Shark Lab , estimates that about 10,000 people a year are injured by stingrays in Southern California. Round rays are like burger patties for juvenile white sharks, which is one of the reasons Lowe and his fellow shark scientists are keenly interested in stingray distributions and populations. The Shark Lab, established in the 1960s, has studied stingrays for years, but never their stinging mechanics.

Perlman, meanwhile, didn’t set out to research rays—he’s a fish biomechanist who studied how surfperch swim in kelp forests and how amphibious fishes in the tropics use their muscles to haul themselves out of the water. He also studied how birds’ wings can shape-shift during flight and how bullfrogs load up their tendons to increase their jumping power. In 2018, he took a job with CSULB as a teaching professor and left research for a few years.

Then he got a knock on his door in the fall of 2021. Lowe had a question. He wanted to know if Perlman could help test a new material for surf booties developed by an inventor whose kids were afraid of rays, and a collaborator with expertise in materials science. Would the booties protect against stingray strikes, as designed? After receiving funds from an anonymous, surf-loving donor, Perlman hired a student, and together they collected rays from Seal Beach to serve as their test subjects.

To figure out if the material could protect against strikes, Perlman first had to understand the dynamics of the stingray’s defensive behavior. His initial research goal was to capture strikes on camera and use the footage to measure velocity and acceleration, which he could then use to calculate force. He bought a disembodied foot from the store Spirit Halloween, filled it with sand, and epoxied it onto a piece of plastic pipe to mimic a human foot for the trials. “That was a great jumping-off point,” Perlman says.

To learn more about what makes a ray decide to strike, he designed an experiment that divides the ray’s body into four different regions—midbody, left pectoral fin, right pectoral fin, and snout. His team uses the zombie foot—which was upgraded to a 3-D-printed silicone foot in 2023 because it’s more realistic—to “step” on the different parts of the body and record the animal’s reaction.

The initial findings are stark: Rays strike only if someone steps on their midbody, where all their organs are located. That makes them strike 85 percent of the time. Stepping on their sides just makes them swim away; a bop on the snout doesn’t elicit an attack either. The findings are consistent, regardless of the ray’s size, age, or sex.

The lab has also been doing studies of the new material Lowe brought to Perlman—neoprene with a rubber-composite lining—to see if it can stand up to the forces of a stingray strike. The researchers clip off barbs—akin to cutting off a fingernail, because the keratin-based barbs regrow within a few months—and use a machine to force them into the material with increasing pressure. So far, they have found the material to resist the force of most stingrays. (Another company hoping to create a ray-proof bootie is spinning out a product using a similar material this year.)

In addition to their barbs, some stingrays have large, thorny, scale-like denticles that provide passive protection, says Chris Martinez, a fish biologist at UC Irvine who studies stingray morphology. The thorns can pierce skin and make a predator’s life unpleasant, he says, but the stinger is something extra: a targeted weapon the animal can actively control to inflict damage.

Martinez says Perlman’s work is “really great and it’s definitely very relevant to cater to Southern California beachgoers.” He is planning to collaborate with Perlman in the future to investigate the neuromuscular underpinnings of the strikes.

The ultimate hope, Perlman says, is that the research will translate into best practices for people at the beach. For decades, surfers in Southern California have used a technique called the “stingray shuffle,” where they take tiny steps along the ground instead of big steps—to warn stingrays who might be buried in the sand.

Perlman says his experiments have scientifically backed up the stingray shuffle—when someone takes tiny steps, they are not going to come into contact with the midbody section of the ray, so they won’t be struck. Vibrations through the sand can also give the animal a chance to move to safety. The rays are “just going to escape or not respond,” Perlman says.

He knows exactly what’s at stake. Last summer, he was holding down a ray’s tail with a net while using a scalpel to make small identifying notches on the animal’s body—which has to be redone every few months as the notches grow out—when his hand slipped and the fish’s tail whipped around and struck an artery on his wrist. Blood immediately squirted everywhere, and the pain was “a seven-and-a-half out of 10.” He used the only known treatment, which was to submerge his hand in hot water to denature the poison. It took nearly two hours for the pain to fade. His wrist still bears a scar.

The lab is now engaged in a flurry of research activity that could keep Perlman and his teammates busy for the rest of the decade. They are testing how the size of a foot affects the likelihood of a stingray strike, to see if someone who is lighter and smaller is less likely to get stung than someone larger. In the fall, they’ll repeat the stepping experiments in the dark and in different water temperatures. The lab is home to 18 rays, and the animals get at least two days off between experiments to make sure they don’t get conditioned.

The researchers are also in the midst of studying rays as they bury themselves in the sand to understand why and how the animals move sand particles around. Eventually, the lab will also use 3-D imaging from micro-CT scans to look at the curvature, sharpness, and angle of serrations across different round-ray barbs. That will help them understand variation within the species and even within an individual: Sometimes, after being clipped, a barb will grow back in a different shape or size.

Sharks tend to loom larger than rays in the Californian consciousness, Martinez says. “Rays don’t get as much attention, because they’re not as big, they don’t have the big teeth like some of the large sharks do,” he says. “But you’re more likely to be harmed by one of those than a big shark.” The stats prove his point: In 2022, 57 unprovoked shark attacks occurred around the globe, and stingray injuries were likely in the thousands.

Read: Can AI stop shark attacks?

After her encounter with the silicone foot, Stingray 12 gets a 10-minute break before her other pectoral fin is stepped on. Perlman watches as she buries herself back in the sand. It feels good to take a figurative step toward helping fellow Californians avoid stabs and stings, he says. Ultimately, if surfers and swimmers can use his research to avoid danger pancakes, everyone’s time at the beach—rays’ included—will be more harmonious.

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Elektrostal

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Elektrostal , city, Moscow oblast (province), western Russia . It lies 36 miles (58 km) east of Moscow city. The name, meaning “electric steel,” derives from the high-quality-steel industry established there soon after the October Revolution in 1917. During World War II , parts of the heavy-machine-building industry were relocated there from Ukraine, and Elektrostal is now a centre for the production of metallurgical equipment. Pop. (2006 est.) 146,189.

Numerical and laboratory experiments on the toppling behavior of a massive single block: a case study of the Furnas Reservoir, Brazil

• Original Paper
• Published: 10 June 2024

Cite this article

• Shu-wei Sun   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-0326-8531 1 ,
• Qiang Wen 1 ,
• Maria do Carmo Reis Cavalcanti 2 ,
• Xiao-rui Yang 1 &
• Jia-qi Wang 1  

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A massive toppling failure occurred at the edge of the Furnas Reservoir at 12:30 (UTC-03) on 8 January 2022, in Brazil. The toppling belongs to single-block toppling with a volume of about 3.32 × 10 2 m 3 and caused 10 deaths and 32 injuries. Field investigation, numerical analysis, and base friction tests were performed to explore the failure characteristics and mechanism of the toppling. A conceptual model of the toppling mechanism was constructed and the toppling process was divided into four stages: foundation erosion and weakening stage, crack propagation and dislocation stage, opening up and rotation stage, and disintegration and collapse stage. A series of real three-dimensional numerical simulations was performed to clarify the toppling evolution and related triggering mechanism using the finite difference program FLAC 3D . Two different alternatives of triggering mechanism for the toppling were comparatively analyzed, the first with a reduction in the shear strength of the weak foundation layer believed to represent the foundation weakening mechanism, and the second with removal of the weak layer believed to represent the foundation erosion mechanism. We found that the foundation weakening of the weak layer resulted in a sliding mechanism of the block, while the foundation erosion resulted in a clear toppling mechanism of the block. The base friction test was conducted to investigate the toppling process and to verify the numerical results over a limited time span. The experimental evidence demonstrated a good agreement with the numerical results as well as those observations in the field. We concluded that the slope was in a critical state due to the foundation erosion of the weak layer, while the heavy rainfall triggered the toppling. It is emphasized that the undermining of the slope foundation and/or existed cavities induced by the foundation erosion played a vital role in the formation of the toppling. Moreover, a produced vertical crack or the propagation of an existed crack in the rear part of the slope may be signs of movements and thought of precursors of the single-block toppling. Dealing with the eroded cavities was suggested to be an effective way to prevent the toppling in the Furnas Reservoir, such as backfilling the eroded cavities with masonry rubble and/or grouting. The understanding of the toppling characteristics and mechanism may offer a reference for single-block toppling issues, such as its movement characteristics and failure mechanism, and may be used for stability analysis and disaster identification of potential failures.

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Evolution mechanism and deformation stability analysis of rock slope block toppling for early warnings

A discrete element method-based simulation of block-flexural toppling failure

Investigation and modeling of direct toppling using a three-dimensional distinct element approach with incorporation of point cloud geometry

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Acknowledgements

We would like to express our gratitude to the editors and reviewers for their constructive and helpful comments.

Shu-wei Sun was supported by the National Key Research and Development Plan (No. 2017YFC1503103) and the National Natural Science Fund of China (No. 51574245) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2021YJSNY16).

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All authors contributed to this study. Shu-wei Sun designed the research study. Shu-wei Sun and Qiang Wen analyzed the field data. Maria do Carmo Reis Cavalcanti supported some field data. Shu-wei Sun and Qiang Wen wrote this paper. Xiao-rui Yang conducted the base friction model test. Jia-qi Wang reviewed the manuscript. All authors gave final approval for publication.

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Sun, Sw., Wen, Q., do Carmo Reis Cavalcanti, M. et al. Numerical and laboratory experiments on the toppling behavior of a massive single block: a case study of the Furnas Reservoir, Brazil. Landslides (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10346-024-02288-8

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s10346-024-02288-8

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