Paige Copenhaver – Athens Science Observer https://athensscienceobserver.com A Closer Look at the Science Around Us Tue, 17 Nov 2020 22:00:57 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://i1.wp.com/athensscienceobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/cropped-eye512.jpg?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1 Paige Copenhaver – Athens Science Observer https://athensscienceobserver.com 32 32 94425623 The EDGES Story: How Scientists Detected Effects of Light from the First Stars https://athensscienceobserver.com/2018/04/22/the-edges-story-how-scientists-detected-effects-of-light-from-the-first-stars/ Mon, 23 Apr 2018 01:50:18 +0000 http://athensscienceobserver.com/?p=8466 In March 2018, a team of scientists led by Judd Bowman from Arizona State’s School of Earth and Space Exploration and Alan Rogers from MIT’s Haystack Observatory has done what many thought to be an impossible task. With a small radio antenna called EDGES (Experiment to Detect the Global Epoch of Recombination Signature) placed in […]

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]]> 8466 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics https://athensscienceobserver.com/2017/10/07/2017-nobel-prize-in-physics/ Sat, 07 Oct 2017 15:36:46 +0000 http://athensscienceobserver.com/?p=7660 On Tuesday, October 3rd the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Rainer Weiss, Barry Barish, and Kip Thorne for their contributions to the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO). On February 11th, 2016, LIGO announced the first detection of gravitational waves, a monumental moment in science. Gravitational waves were predicted by Albert Einstein in 1916, […]

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]]> 7660 Saving the Earth’s Sunscreen: The Ozone Layer https://athensscienceobserver.com/2017/10/03/saving-the-earths-sunscreen-the-ozone-layer/ Tue, 03 Oct 2017 19:29:22 +0000 http://athensscienceobserver.com/?p=7628 In honor of September 16th, otherwise known as World Ozone Day, let’s spend some time talking about ozone in Earth’s atmosphere! You may be wondering why ozone is significant enough to have its own designated day of acknowledgement. To answer this question we need to dive into a little bit of history involving early measurements […]

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]]> 7628 Quantum Mechanics and You https://athensscienceobserver.com/2017/06/23/quantum-mechanics-and-you/ Fri, 23 Jun 2017 14:50:32 +0000 http://athensscienceobserver.com/?p=6981 This blog post is part III in a three-part series about quantum mechanics. In case you missed them, check out part I here and part II here. The more we learn about the world around us through the lenses of science, philosophy, and our own personal experiences, the more we question the world around us. […]

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]]> 6981 What is Quantum Mechanics? https://athensscienceobserver.com/2016/11/09/what-is-quantum-mechanics/ Wed, 09 Nov 2016 16:56:06 +0000 http://athensscienceobserver.com/?p=5232 What comes to mind when you think about the word “physics?” You probably see yourself sitting in your high school or college Intro Physics course trying to memorize what seemed to be pointless equations and relationships between variables. For example, the good ole’ F=ma. Many of us know these basic physical principles referred to as […]

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]]> 5232 Combating Climate Change with Photosynthesis https://athensscienceobserver.com/2016/08/31/combating-climate-change-with-photosynthesis/ Wed, 31 Aug 2016 14:36:32 +0000 http://athensscienceobserver.com/?p=4263 Fossil fuels are ingrained in American history. If you have ever driven a car, flown in an airplane, or heated your home, you have used fossil fuels. These fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) account for 85% of fuel use in the United States, and our dependence on them has become an increasingly important issue. […]

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]]> 4263 Wait a Hot Minute! https://athensscienceobserver.com/2016/05/25/wait-a-hot-minute/ Wed, 25 May 2016 14:22:16 +0000 https://athensscienceobserver.com/?p=3530 What if I told you that the flow of time is an illusion due to our limited consciousness and that the only true distinction between the past and the future is the presence of heat? You might call me crazy. However, it turns out that while the flow of time is obviously an essential part […]

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]]> 3530 What’s the Point of the International Space Station(ISS)? https://athensscienceobserver.com/2016/03/16/whats-the-point-of-the-international-space-stationiss/ Wed, 16 Mar 2016 12:59:08 +0000 https://athensscienceobserver.com/?p=2685 On March 1st, astronaut Scott Kelly returned to Earth after 340 days aboard the International Space Station (ISS). But why was he even up there for so long in the first place? What is the ISS? According to NASA, the ISS is a “convergence of science, technology, and human innovation that demonstrates new technologies and […]

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]]> 2685 First Detection of Gravitational Waves https://athensscienceobserver.com/2016/02/19/first-detection-of-gravitational-waves/ Fri, 19 Feb 2016 12:00:00 +0000 https://athensscienceobserver.com/?p=2500 By Paige Copenhaver On February 11th, scientists from the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) announced the first ever detection of gravitational waves. Analogous to ripples caused by throwing a rock into a pond, gravitational waves are ripples in the fabric of spacetime caused by the acceleration of massive objects in space. The collision of […]

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]]> 2500 Death, Dinosaurs, and Dark Matter, Oh My! https://athensscienceobserver.com/2015/12/10/death-dinosaurs-and-dark-matter-oh-my/ Thu, 10 Dec 2015 16:05:36 +0000 https://athensscienceobserver.com/?p=2151 Everyone knows about the extinction of the dinosaurs some 66 million years ago, the result of a mountain-sized space object colliding with Earth and wreaking havoc all over the planet. However, what most people don’t know is that this extinction was not the most devastating in Earth’s history. The dinosaur extinction is one of the […]

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]]> 2151 The Death of Silicon https://athensscienceobserver.com/2015/09/24/the-death-of-silicon/ Thu, 24 Sep 2015 14:00:42 +0000 https://athensscienceobserver.com/?p=1566 As you read this, your computer or phone is processing tons of information at very high speeds, and this process is simpler than you may think. Consider this: the human brain makes simple comparisons that usually come in the form of “yes” and “no.” Similarly, computers “think” in these basic terms. Inside your computer, microscopic […]

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]]> 1566 Dark Matter and Dark Energy https://athensscienceobserver.com/2015/05/18/dark-matter-and-dark-energy/ Mon, 18 May 2015 14:56:25 +0000 https://athenssciencecafe.wordpress.com/?p=662 By: Paige Copenhaver, Athens Science Café Most people have heard of dark matter and dark energy in the news or in the media. For example, in Star Trek: The Next Generation, the Enterprise encounters a dark matter cloud. In Futurama, dark matter is used to fuel starships. Though many people are familiar with the terms, […]

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]]> 662 Microwaves in Space! https://athensscienceobserver.com/2015/02/23/microwaves-in-space/ Mon, 23 Feb 2015 11:57:30 +0000 https://athenssciencecafe.wordpress.com/?p=485 How old is the universe? The deeper you look into space, the further you are looking back in time. This is because the further light is away from us, the longer it takes for it to reach us. Looking back in time to about 378,000 years after the birth of the universe, and thus viewing […]

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