Posts

Aliens & Society

Image
Introduction Aliens have long been a beloved aspect of science fiction, captivating our imaginations and allowing us to wonder at the mysteries of the universe. At first, I thought my passion for these stories stemmed from a desire to escape reality. However, I've since developed a deeper connection and interest in the evolution of the portrayal of extraterrestrial beings throughout the years. From the thrilling destruction brought by the Martians in H.G. Wells's *The War of the Worlds* to the profound sense of connection found in Andy Weir's *Project Hail Mary*, it's evident that our use of aliens in stories has transformed significantly. This evolution is, in my view, a reflection of the changes in broader societal attitudes over time. In this post, I am excited to explore how the portrayal of aliens in science fiction reflects the general sentiments of different eras. I will highlight four key sources that expertly show this intriguing trend. While there are many oth...
Post a Comment
Read more

Cats In Boxes

Image
The game is called Cat in the Box and applies quantum mechanics principles to a simple card game, making it really interesting and fun to play. I heard about this game from a theoretical physics friend, and we found the theme fun and had a good time trying to figure out the hidden physics principles they included in the rules (very nerdy, I know). I will not even attempt to try and teach you the game here, there are people far better at that all over the internet. However, to aid your understanding of the parts I talk about, I will describe how a round is played. In a 5-player game, each person gets dealt 9 cards. These cards can be numbered from 1 to 9, and there are 5 cards of each number in the deck. These cards only have a number and don’t have a suit or ‘colour’. To start the ‘trick’, you will play a card and declare the ‘observed’ colour of it, “ Five of Blue ” You then place your token on that space on the board. Now, no one else can play that same blue 5. The next person has to...
Post a Comment
Read more

This Week, I Learned; About the Dark Forest theory and the Fermi paradox

 This Week, I Learned; If you have read The Three-Body Problem trilogy (sometimes called the Remembrance of Earth’s Past series), then you will be familiar with a lot of scientific theories. This is something the author, Liu Cixin, does really well. Liu makes himself familiar with current theories and twists their application to a science-fiction setting. One of the running themes of the series is the Dark Forest, which is also the title of the second book in the series. The Dark Forest is a theory that aims to answer the Fermi Paradox. While working at Los Alamos, Enrico Fermi - during a discussion with his colleagues - announced, “Where is everybody?”. This was in response to the topic of conversation, aliens and UFOs. Fermi reasoned that if there are billions of stars in the Galaxy, there is a high probability of an Earth-like planet in the habitable zone of that star. Surely, after 4.5 billion years (the age of our solar system), the Galaxy should be teaming with extraterrest...
Post a Comment
Read more