Portal:Physics
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The Physics Portal
Physics (Greek: physis – φύσις meaning "nature") is a natural science that involves the study of matter, its motion through spacetime, and all allied components, such as energy and force. This has led to the discovery and understanding of the laws and principles which govern the physical universe. More broadly, Physics is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the world and universe behave. One tool which helps with this general analysis is the study of the elementary constituents of the universe and their interactions.
Physics is one of the oldest academic disciplines, perhaps the oldest through its inclusion of astronomy. Evidence exists that the earliest civilizations dating back to beyond 3000 BCE, such as the Sumerians, Ancient Egyptians, and the Indus Valley Civilization, all had a predictive knowledge and a very basic understanding of the motions of the Sun, Moon, and stars. Although originally part of other physical sciences and mathematics, Physics emerged to become a unique modern science during the Scientific Revolution of the 16th century.
Physics is both significant and influential, in part because advances in its understanding have often translated into new technologies, but also because new ideas in physics often resonate with other sciences, mathematics, and philosophy. For example, advances in the understanding of electromagnetism or nuclear physics led directly to the development of new products which have dramatically transformed modern-day society (e.g., television, computers, domestic appliances, and nuclear weapons); advances in thermodynamics led to the development of motorized transport; and advances in mechanics inspired the development of calculus.
Physics also has philosophical implications. It can be historically traced back to ancient Greek philosophy. From Thales' first attempt to characterize matter, to Democritus' deduction that matter ought to reduce to an invariant state, the Ptolemaic astronomy of a crystalline firmament, and Aristotle's book Physics, different Greek philosophers advanced their own theories of nature. Well into the 18th century, physics was known as "Natural philosophy". By the 19th century physics was realized as a positive science and a distinct discipline separate from philosophy and the other sciences. Physics, as with the rest of science, relies on philosophy of science to give an adequate description of the scientific method.
Selected article
Below are links to Featured content within WikiProject Physics. A small bronze star icon (
) on the top right corner of an article's page, symbolizes the featured content on Wikipedia.
A featured article exemplifies our very best work and is distinguished by professional standards of writing, presentation, and sourcing. Featured article status means the article is well written, comprehensive, and well researched. Besides meeting the policies regarding content for all Wikipedia articles, it meets style guidelines.
Selected picture
(Paranal Observatory) In mid-August 2010 a group of astronomers were observing the centre of the Milky Way using the laser guide star facility at Yepun, one of the four Unit Telescopes of the Very Large Telescope (VLT).
Yepun’s laser beam crosses the majestic southern sky and creates an artificial star at an altitude of 90 km high in the Earth's mesosphere. More background information can be found at "A Laser Beam Towards the Milky Way's Centre." from the European Southern Observatory web site.
Did you know...
- ...the mirage of astronomical objects is an optical phenomenon, which produces distorted or multiple images of astronomical objects such as the Sun, the Moon, the planets, bright stars and very bright comets
- ...that Aristotle's ideas of physics held that because an object could not move without an immediate source of energy, arrows created a vacuum behind them that pushed them through the air.
- ...that nuclear fusion reactions are probably occurring at or above the sun's photosphere; it is a process called solar surface fusion.
- ...that, in the Large Hadron Collider, protons move at 99.9999991% of the speed of light when accelerated to the energy of 7 TeV?
- ...that, at a speed of 299,792,458 m/s, light can travel from the Earth to the Moon in 1.2 seconds?
- ...that the submarine telescope ANTARES, intended to detect neutrinos, may also be used to observe bioluminescent plankton and fish?
- ...that lasers can be used to separate two isotopes very efficiently?
- ...that neutron stars are so dense that a teaspoonful (5 mL) would have ten times the mass of all human world population?
- ...that the Big Bang was secured as the best theory of origin of the universe by the discovery of the cosmic microwave background radiation in 1964?
- ...that if we travel at the speed of light it would take us no time at all to cross the universe according to our watches?
Physics news
- January 11. 2012. The Worldwide LHC Computing Grid processes ATLAS data by sending chunks of data to universities and labs all around the world. ATLAS experiment blog.
- January 10, 2012. Photons from a distant gamma ray burst provide insights into the possible existence of a grainy (or quantized) space-time. Nature News
- January 04, 2012. The Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey presents its initial findings after completeing half its survey pertaining to the influence of dark energy. Nature News.
- January 04, 2012. U.S. federal support for science favors prestigous basic research over science applied to the public's well being. Nature News.
- November 30, 2011. €80-billion European Commission plan for research raises the level of funding in some areas. Nature News.
- November 29, 2011. Funding problems for fusion-energy test reactor and the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) programme. Nature News.
January anniversaries
- 1 January 1876 - Harriet Brooks was born.
- 2 January 1822 - Rudolf Clausius was born.
- 4 January 1643 - Sir Isaac Newton was born.
- 8 January 1942 - Stephen Hawking was born.
- 15 January 1908 - Edward Teller was born.
Things you can do
Summary
- Edit a physics article
- Whether you are an expert or a novice, be bold, improve an article by editing it. Practice in the sandbox if you must. But hurry back to fix that glaring error that has been bothering you.
- Join WikiProject Physics.
- Watch the WikiProject Physics talk page for physics-related issues on Wikipedia.
- Improve Physics Portal
- Add to Did you know, and Upcoming anniversaries.
- Add new Selected articles and Selected pictures to the queues.
- Add to Physics news.
- Review articles
- Assign importance and quality to unassessed articles (See Physics quality control)
- Review an article for techno babble and report confusing sections in articles talk page. (Give enough detail to help the editors.)
- Advanced Editing
- Expand a physics stub.
- Fix a page needing attention: Modern physics, Classical physics, Other physics topics.
- Create a requested article.
- Add a requested image.
- Check out other physics-related WikiProjects: WikiProject Science, WikiProject Fluid dynamics, WikiProject Elements.
Check list for physics novices and experts new to wikipedia
- Edit a physics article
- Whether you are an expert or a novice, be bold, improve an article by editing it. Practice in the sandbox if you must. But hurry back to fix that glaring error that has been bothering you.
- Register with wikipedia for a user name. (See the username policy)
- Visit the help page
- Add articles to your watch list.
- Check your watchlist on regular basis
- Revert an obvious vandalism edit
- Remove unnecessary jargon.
- Edit your user page to tell wikipedia enough about you to help other editors get to know you
- Review an article and make a useful comment on the talk page
- Add your name to the WikiProject Physics members list
Activities for physics novices and experts familiar with wikipedia
- Edit a physics article
- Add your name to the WikiProject Physics members list
- Revert Vandalism
- Add or improve diagrams and figures
- Assign importance and quality to unassessed articles (See Physics quality control)
- Review article for techno babble and suggest areas that need improving on talk page (or add clean up tag.)
- Fix a page needing attention: Modern physics, Classical physics, Other physics topics.
