Tag: physics
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Skin Pigmentation Bias in Pulse Oximetry Measurements
Pulse oximeters have revolutionized modern medicine, enabling continuous, accurate, and non-invasive monitoring of functional oxygen saturation of hemoglobin (SpO₂) (Chan et al. 2013). Taken as a fifth vital sign, the device’s use is routine in emergency care, general ward, intermediate/intensive care unit, the operating room, and in general practices (Bosch et al. 2024). However, with…
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Unveiling Cosmic Secrets: Dark Energy
In the grandness of space, a recent study with the eROSITA X-ray telescope has revealed new insights into how our universe functions by exploring the fabric of space and time. The extended Roentgen Survey with an Imaging Telescope Array (eROSITA) X-ray, is essentially a space-based observatory designed to survey the sky in X-rays (Eppinga, 2023).…
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How Special is Relativity?
On a warm, sunny evening in the spring of 1905, the notorious Albert Einstein embarked on a fateful ride home. As his tramcar sped away from a turret clock in the distance, the theory of special relativity was born. Einstein imagined that if the tram was to travel away from the clock near the speed…
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The Underwater Symphony
The best musicians also happen to be the largest. Growing from 13 to 16 meters in length and weighing in at 36 metric tons (Clapham, 2000), humpback whales are notorious for their large size, but despite their appearance, these mammals produce wavelengths that are responsible for the ocean’s most alluring and intricate sounds. Situated at…
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Frankly, Fridges
Fridges are appliances with a range of utility, from personal use in homes to commercial use in laboratories. The key component within these machines is refrigerant, a fluid which uses properties of the ideal gas law to allow heat to dissipate away from stored contents (McLinden and Huber, 2020). Despite contributing immensely towards efficient storage,…
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The physics of teaching physics
Education has certainly evolved into the 21st-century, and the way in which physics is taught is not shy to this phenomenon. How is physics taught? What are some problems associated with these teaching methods? How can we fix them? Students in physics classrooms are often sorted into two groups: those who believe that physics consists…
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Champagne Problems: The Challenge of Effervescence
Whether it is the sweet taste of ripe grapes or the dry flavour of crisp apples, often the first thought that comes to mind when considering champagne are the bubbles, that sparkling signature of facetiousness. What you might not think about is where champagne comes from and its production. What is really in a bottle…
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Like Eating Jell-O With Chop-Sticks: Analysis of Knuckleball Pitchers
“Not only can pitchers not control it, hitters can’t hit it, catchers can’t catch it, coaches can’t coach it and most pitchers can’t learn it” –American League umpire Ron Luciano (Freier, 2012) Baseball may be boring to some, but it is a romantic game to those who play it. None would agree more than knuckleball…
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C’mon Baby Light My Fire (In Space)
Why would anyone want to light a fire in space? For starters, sometimes gravity isn’t all that helpful. For example, when studying the process of combustion, gravity actually introduces a number of complications. Most numerical and analytical models used in combustion research rely upon the simplifying assumption that buoyancy forces acting on fuel droplets are negligible (Space…