Photons Trapped in Flemish Woods
Simon isn’t fond of magic or fantasy. Plus, he is not fond of long walks in the woods. Both “not fond of” are understatements. What was I counting on when … Continue reading Photons Trapped in Flemish Woods
Category: Notes on everyday life
Impressions on Newton’s mechanics.
“Are you impressed?” – Simon asks, laughingly, and I can see it must be a pun. We are in bed, reading up on Newton’s laws of motion that talk of … Continue reading Impressions on Newton’s mechanics.
On Incompleteness
Simon is enchanted by Gödel’s incompleteness theorem (that he has learned about from Numberphile) and keeps talking about it: “There’re problems that we just can’t solve. But if we prove … Continue reading On Incompleteness
Inertial Reference Frames
Simon is greatly impressed by the fact that if the Charge-Parity-Time (CPT) Symmetry doesn’t hold, the whole special relativity theory would have to be reconsidered. Does general relativity rely on … Continue reading Inertial Reference Frames
Map of the piano chords
During his piano lessons, Simon has been working on a diagram that would map all the possible chords on the piano. I gave him a huge roll of paper to … Continue reading Map of the piano chords
Simon explaining Interstellar
Simon didn’t want to watch Interstellar (he generally dislikes fiction and often finds it too scary as well), but somehow he did get sucked into the story after his sister … Continue reading Simon explaining Interstellar
The Sky Track
Simon got a belated birthday present from his Russian grandparents, something he had dreamed about for months: the Magformers Sky Track set, sort of a monorail that allows Simon the … Continue reading The Sky Track
For the first time
During an extended family visit to the Hoge Veluwe natural reserve (where it rained the whole weekend so we barely ventured outside), Simon tried two things for the first time: … Continue reading For the first time
The way to own your knowledge
Simon went further on his research about what exactly valence is, and what determines how many other atoms an atom can bond with. “What about Helium? My question is, how … Continue reading The way to own your knowledge
The Theory of Everything: Simon’s thoughts on bringing quantum mechanics and general relativity to a common denominator
“Quantum mechanics says that space and time are different things, general relativity says they are the same thing. Quantum mechanics says it’s a 3D changing universe and the future doesn’t … Continue reading The Theory of Everything: Simon’s thoughts on bringing quantum mechanics and general relativity to a common denominator
Physics Experiments: Ball Stacking
Yet another cool experiment inspired by Physics Girl. Simon tries stacking balls to increase the bounce of the top ball (that gets extra energy from the bottom ball/balls). Simon’s second … Continue reading Physics Experiments: Ball Stacking
Physics Experiments: Vortices
Simon learned about this experiment from Physics Girl and tried several variations with a number of plastic plates and frisbees. He even got kicked out of a fashionable pool in … Continue reading Physics Experiments: Vortices
Geeks out of the box 