Physics 01
Could Ant-Man Really Shrink? The Physics Says No
A 1 cm Ant-Man who keeps his 86 kg is as dense as a white dwarf. Why you can't squeeze out the space in atoms, and the one trick that really shrinks them.
science fiction
Physics 02
Could an Iron Man Arc Reactor Work? The Fusion Numbers
Could an Iron Man arc reactor work? 3 GW in a palm-sized core is 240,000 times a fission core's power density. The fusion, neutron and heat math.
Physics 03
Is Warp Drive Possible? The Alcubierre Energy Bill
Is warp drive possible? Alcubierre's 1994 metric is valid relativity, but it needs negative energy. We compute how much and check the newer claims.
Physics 04
Could a Lightsaber Exist? The Physics, With Numbers
Could a lightsaber exist? We compute the power to cut a blast door, why laser beams pass through each other, and why no magnet can hold a plasma blade.
Physics 05
Could the Dune Ornithopter Fly? Hover Power, Calculated
Could the Dune ornithopter fly? Momentum theory says its huge wings need less hover power than a helicopter. The real problems are wing mass and flapping.
Space 06
3 Body Problem: The Real Physics of Trisolaris
We simulate a real three-body system in Python, show how chaos ends Trisolaris's stable eras, and explain why the real Alpha Centauri is calm.