Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about physics, science, academia, and pop culture. We're about halfway through the academic term at Union College, where I ...

Everyone needs some “go to” demos. Personally, I like this one. It’s not too difficult to build and it’s easy to use. Take a large block of wood (it needs to have a good mass). I used a left over ...

Materials Needed: a piece of flannel which is clean and dry or paper towel, stream of water, flexible plastic ruler and a party balloon. In order for the stream of water to flow out, you need to open ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about physics, science, academia, and pop culture. I spent several days in California last week (thus the lack of blogging ...

Physics is a glorious brew of diverse ingredients. No single approach is sufficient when grappling with Nature. Experiment and observation are essential, of course, but so, too, are concepts, pictures ...

When machine learning is used to suggest new potential scientific insights or directions, algorithms sometimes offer ...

WAAAAAYYY back when I was in middle school physics they had some programs on our school computer that let you build simple machines. We basically built Rube Goldberg machines in the simulator to test ...

The rapid retreat of sea ice in Antarctica can be explained by the "simple physics" of the sun's melting powers, according to a new study. Heat from the sun could explain why ice around the South Pole ...

Materials Needed: A can of root beer, a can of diet root beer, a large container of water and a deep sink or a bathtub. This experiment number four on our list of simple physics experiments with ...