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Boomerangs work on the same principles of aerodynamics as any other flying object; the key to how a boomerang works is the airfoil. An airfoil is flat on one side but curved on the other with one edge thicker than the other - this subjects the boomerang to lift, keeping it in the air. The lift is generated because the air flowing up over the curve of the wing has further to travel than the air flowing past the flat side. The air moving over the curve travels faster in order to reach the other side of the wing, creating lift. A boomerang has two airfoils, each facing in a different direction. This makes the aerodyamic forces acting on a thrown boomerang uneven. The section of the boomerang moving in the same direction as the direction of forward motion moves faster than the section moving in the opposite direction. Just like tank tracks moving at different speeds, this causes the boomerang to turn in the air and return to the thrower. Most original boomerangs don't ...

Two methods for determining the structure of matter Research teams can calculate the density and structure of matter based on the  cosmic microwave background , a radiation that was emitted shortly after the Big Bang and can still be measured today. This is the method used by the Planck Research Consortium. The Kilo-Degree Survey team, as well as several other groups, determined the density and structure of matter using the gravitational lensing effect: as high-mass objects deflect light from galaxies, these galaxies appear in a distorted form in a different location than they actually are when viewed from Earth. Based on these distortions, cosmologists can deduce the mass of the deflecting objects and thus the total mass of the universe. In order to do so, however, they need to know the distances between the light source, the deflecting object and the observer, among other things. The researchers determine these distances with the help of redshift, which means that t...

A ddressing the needs of a company that sells mango as raw material for processing as puree, nectar or juice, researchers at the University of Guanajuato (UGTO), in the center of Mexico, designed a prototype pasteurization machine and a procedures manual to keep products in excellent condition after harvest. Thanks to the Innovation Research Program of High Added Value (Innovapyme) of the National Council of Science and Technology (Conacyt),  mango  products were studied for a year to learn how to keep them in optimal condition, explains Maria Del Rosario Abraham Juarez, from the Department of Food Division of the Life Sciences Campus of the University of Guanajuato. "The  company  needed to know the quality characteristics of mango  pulp  for exportation. At the UGTO we performed two parts of the project: we delivered and trained people with a user's postharvest manual for hardling raw material of the company, which produces five varieties ...

It was the year 2006, when NASA sent its satellite called NEW HORIZON to capture close up pictures of the Pluto residing at the edge of solar system. The original goal was to demote Pluto from a planet to dwarf. But satellite captures that picture which will disclose the SNOWMAN in the Kuiper belt. If you want to read more about kuiper belt, click here Kuiper belt is the "sister" of asteroid belt.It lies behind Neptune. No real picture of objects in Kuiper belt was available. The Photograph sent by NEW HORIZON, gave a clear insight of those heavenly bodies. Although  various models  have been proposed to explain the formation of Arrokoth and its peculiar properties, these encountered major challenges, and could not well explain important features of the Snowman, in particular its slow rotation speed around itself and its large inclination angle. In their  Nature  article, the Technion researchers present nov...

When light is passed through a polarizer, it gets polarized according to the  properties of the polarizer. Considering an extremely Efficient polarizer, The light that emerges out is said to be plane polarized light. The vibration of electric and magnetic vectors is confined to one plane. When Two Such Plane Polarized Lights Waves, Having Unequal Magnitude And Moving Perpendicular To Each Other, Interfere, They Result Into An Elliptically Polarized Light.  The equation of resultant wave represents that of ellipse.                                                                                                {\displaystyle B=|\mathbf {E} |{\sqrt {\frac {1-{\sqrt {1-\sin ^{2}(2\theta )\sin ^{2}\beta }}}{2}}}} ...

Lorentz transformation and its inverse : Define an event to have spacetime coordinates  ( t , x , y , z )  in system  S  and  ( t ′, x ′, y ′, z ′)  in a reference frame moving at a velocity v with respect to that frame,  S ′. Then the Lorentz transformation specifies that these coordinates are related in the following way: {\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}t'&=\gamma \ (t-vx/c^{2})\\x'&=\gamma \ (x-vt)\\y'&=y\\z'&=z,\end{aligned}}} where {\displaystyle \gamma ={\frac {1}{\sqrt {1-{\frac {v^{2}}{c^{2}}}}}}} is the Lorentz factor and  c  is the speed of light in vacuum, and the velocity  v  of  S ′, relative to  S , is parallel to the  x -axis. For simplicity, the  y  and  z  coordinates are unaffected; only the  x  and  t  coordinates are transformed. These Lorentz transformations form a one-param...

The theory of special relativity explains how space and time are linked for objects that are moving at a consistent speed in a straight line. One of its most famous aspects concerns objects moving at the speed of light.  Simply put, as an object approaches the speed of light, its mass becomes infinite and it is unable to go any faster than light travels. This cosmic speed limit has been a subject of much discussion in physics, and even in science fiction, as people think about how to travel across vast distances. The theory of special relativity was developed by Albert Einstein in 1905, and it forms part of the basis of modern physics. After finishing his work in special relativity, Einstein spent a decade pondering what would happen if one introduced acceleration. This formed the basis of his general relativity, published in 1915. Einstein's work led to some startling results, which today still seem counterintuitive at first glance even though his...