Drake University Program of Physics and Astronomy

01/21/2026

ANNOUNCEMENT

This page will be deactivated on January 24 2026.

Thank you all for your patronage for so many years of physics and astronomy!

11/09/2025

Happy birthday to Carl Sagan, born on this day in 1934 in Brooklyn, New York. Sagan was an astronomer, astrophysicist, and author (among other things) who helped explain space to the general public through hundreds of articles, dozens of books, and his popular public television series “Cosmos"—watched by more than 500 million people in 60 countries. He also researched extraterrestrial life and assembled the first physical message sent into space. Sagan helped solve mysteries of the universe, including the greenhouse effect on Venus that explains the planet’s high temperatures. In 1980 he wrote, "Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere.”

Image: NASA/Cosmos Studies

11/07/2025

🎈Three legendary physicists were born on November 7 👇🏻

Marie Curie: A Polish-born and naturalized French physicist renowned for her groundbreaking work on radioactivity. She was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903 and the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1911, becoming the first person ever to win two Nobel Prizes.

Sir C.V. Raman: An Indian physicist celebrated for his discovery of the Raman Effect, which describes the change in the wavelength of light when it is scattered by molecules. He won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930 and remains the only Indian physicist to have received the Nobel in this field.

Lise Meitner: Often remembered as the physicist “who never lost her humanity,” Lise Meitner was an Austrian-Swedish scientist who co-discovered nuclear fission. She also identified the radioactive isotope protactinium-231, and the element meitnerium (element 109) was later named in her honor.

10/29/2025

⚛️🎂 It's the birthday of Niels Bohr, the architect of quantum mechanics!

🇩🇰 Born in 1895 in Copenhagen, Niels Bohr was a Danish physicist whose journey into the quantum domain began with his revolutionary model of the atom in 1913.

🧠 💡 At a time when classical physics faltered to explain atomic behaviors, Bohr introduced a quantum model where electrons existed in distinct energy levels around the nucleus, leaping between these orbits without traversing the space in between.
This bold postulation not only explained why atoms have stable structures but also shed light on the spectral lines of hydrogen, a phenomenon classical physics found perplexing.

⚡️ 😳 But Bohr didn't stop there. He played an integral part in the development of quantum mechanics, a theory that provides a comprehensive description of nature at the smallest scales. His principle of complementarity, which asserts that different experimental setups reveal different aspects of quantum systems, became a cornerstone of quantum mechanics and continues to influence our understanding of the quantum world.

📕 🤯 Bohr's appreciation for the mysterious nature of quantum mechanics can be encapsulated in his often-quoted words: "If quantum mechanics hasn't profoundly shocked you, you haven't understood it yet."

What's the most mind-bending concept from quantum mechanics you've ever heard? Does Bohr's famous quote resonate with you?

Note: The information presented here is for general knowledge and discussion.

10/20/2025

Today (October 20) is the 41st DEATH Anniversary to Paul Dirac who is the founder of Dirac Equation.

09/29/2025

Laplace Transformation 🥰❤️🌹♥️

08/22/2025

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/gG9XyJfm3ac

Carl Sagan "A Pale Blue Dot" (The Challenging Solar System lecture at the Royal Institution in 1994) ...

08/21/2025

✨ The Giant Magellan Telescope will transform our view of the universe .✨

Now 40% complete in Chile’s Atacama Desert, the GMT is on its way to becoming one of the world’s most powerful observatories. And we're a partner in making it happen.

The 65-meter-tall enclosure will house seven of the world’s largest mirrors
with massive shutter doors opening for unobstructed views of the southern sky.

Our Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory here at the CfA is developing the GMT-Consortium Large Earth Finder (G-CLEF) spectrograph, which will detect tiny stellar “wobbles” caused by orbiting planets, measure the masses of Earth-class worlds, and search their atmospheres for molecules, including those associated with life on Earth.

The GMT will also explore supernovas, the earliest galaxies, and the origins of planetary systems, using one of the most advanced astronomical instruments ever built.

Credit: IDOM / Giant Magellan Telescope – Giant Magellan Telescope – GMTO Corp.

✨

08/15/2025

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yPy3DeMUyI

Today I have a few words about some well-known and maybe not-so well known problems with scientific research and what others have said about this. 💌 Support...