Talk Like A Physicist

This is the age of precision cosmology

This is the age of so-called precision cosmology

In an interesting article in NY Times about the struggle to measure cosmic expansion , the quip that I found the most pithy was about how the precision cosmology has become so important.

I know, it is an old statement; in July 1999, Wendy Freedoman announced that “after all these years, we are finally entering an era of precision cosmology”; and one could argue that the one of the first proof of relativity with perihelion of mercury can also be called “precision cosmology”; but every time I hear the statement, it sounds truer.

You know that the cosmology is gotten very precise, when a top forty band sings a love song, and in passing mentions that the universe is 12 billion yrs old; and she is challenged on it and asked to correct her lyrics to accurately reflect that the universe is really 13.7 billion yrs old!

Katie Melua’s bad science

There is so much physics yet to be explored and extracted from the precise measurements of the cosmic microwave background. The precision power decay and and the spectra measurements of various supernova bursts will tell us so much about the internal structure of these objects. Precision cosmology with weak gravitational lensing has helped us figure out the distribution of dark matter.

Like in any other precision experiments, there are systematic errors that one needs to be mindful of, but in the next decade we will learn so much from the precisely measured cosmic dance moves.

Tuesday Physics Tattoos : Solar System Tattoos

Solar System:

Source. Interestingly, this is an old tattoo where they left out Pluto because clear pictures weren’t available. And by cosmic coincidence, Pluto is no longer a planet!

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From Chris.
THE ORIGINAL SUN AND MOON WAS JUST REDONE WITH THE ADDED PLANETS MORE IS ON THE WAY

Ira Klotzko, a computer programmer in Jersey City, has finally decided to get a tattoo, after waiting until he was 38. Now, here’s the interesting part. Because of his life-long love of astronomy, he’s decided to have the entire solar system tattooed on his stomach. He says he thought of the idea while lying in bed one night, then gave himself a year to decide if he still wanted to do it. He jokes to New York Post that “it’s really accurate because the universe is also expanding.”

Solar System
The Sun/Earth/Moon in the middle, surrounded by the other 8 planets (YES, Pluto is included). An asteroid running down the side of it, with “…And it makes me wonder” a quote from Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven”.

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Just FYI: American Academy of Dermatology says that about 25% of Americans 18 - 50 have received tattoos.