Physics | The Canadian Encyclopedia

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  • Article

    Meteors, Meteorites and Impact Craters

    The solar system contains many objects smaller than the planets (or their satellites) travelling in individual orbits about the SUN; space between the planets also contains myriad dust grains in the micron size range. Near Earth, dust concentrations are only a few hundred particles per cubic kilometre, but 35 000 to 100 000 t of extraterrestrial material enters the atmosphere annually, swept up by our planet from debris that is in its path or crosses its path.

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  • Macleans

    Life on Mars?

    It was an evening in summer upon the placid and temperate planet Mars. Up and down green wine canals, boats as delicate as bronze flowers drifted ....This article was originally published in Maclean's Magazine on August 19, 1996

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    https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 Life on Mars?
  • Article

    Lightning

    As a thunderstorm grows, or a mature storm approaches, this electric field is reversed. In general, the lower part of a cloud is negatively charged; the upper portions, positively charged. A further positive charge is induced on the Earth's surface below a thunderstorm.

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  • Article

    Magnetic Poles

    The north and south magnetic poles are the locations on Earth's surface where the planet's magnetic field points straight downwards (at the north magnetic pole) and upwards (at the south magnetic pole). Conventional compasses which move on a horizontal plane are useless near the magnetic poles.

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  • Article

    Meteorology

    Physical meteorology links meteorology and physics in studies of 3 core topics: electromagnetic radiation, meteorological thermodynamics and cloud physics. Related topics include stratospheric physics, atmospheric electricity, optics and ACOUSTICS.

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    https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 Meteorology
  • Article

    Molecules in Interstellar Space

    In 1963 the first detection of a molecule (the hydroxyl radical OH) at centimetre-wavelength radio frequencies was made by Weinreb, Barrett, Meeks and Henry of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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  • Article

    Montréal Planetarium

    ​Montréal’s Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium is part of the Space for Life complex, which includes Montréal’s Biodome, Insectarium and Botanical Gardens. Space for Life is the largest natural science museum complex in Canada.

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  • Article

    Moon

    The dark grey lunar surface reflects only 7% of the sunlight it receives (comparable to the reflectivity of black soil). The moon is dominated by thousands of craters, ranging from microscopic pits to gigantic Clavius, diameter 230 km.

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  • Macleans

    Nasa's Columbia Shuttle Disaster

    This article was originally published in Maclean’s magazine on February 10, 2003. Partner content is not updated. FOR LONG MINUTES, the crowd of family, friends, dignitaries and spectators stood at the end of the airstrip in Cape Canaveral, Fla., waiting and hoping for a familiar white speck in the distant blue sky. By the time the countdown clock reached zero, it was clear the reunion would never come.

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    https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 Nasa's Columbia Shuttle Disaster
  • Macleans

    Neutrino Project

    Most people would no doubt balk at having to stand on the roof of an elevator as it drops slowly into a dark mine shaft sunk more than a mile into the ground. Not physicist Duncan Hepburn, 53, who shrugs off the task as just another part of his job. Some job.This article was originally published in Maclean's Magazine on May 4, 1998

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    https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 Neutrino Project
  • Article

    Nobel Prizes and Canada

    The Nobel Prizes are awarded annually for achievements that have significantly benefitted humankind. The prizes are among the highest international honours and are awarded in six categories: physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, peace, and economics. They are administered by the Nobel Foundation and awarded by institutions in Sweden and Norway. Eighteen Canadians have won Nobel Prizes, excluding Canadian-born individuals who gave up their citizenship and members of organizations that have won the peace prize.

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  • Article

    Noise

    Noise denotes unwanted or unmusical sounds, especially those that are random or irregular. The attitude that noise is not conducive to the well-being of sentient creatures is as old as history.

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    https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 Noise
  • Article

    Nuclear Fusion

    Nuclear fusion is the combination of the nuclei of two light atoms to form a heavier one. The resulting atom has a smaller mass than the original ones; therefore, nuclear fusion is a method of transforming mass into energy.

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    https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 Nuclear Fusion
  • Article

    Observatory

    Of the observatories in use before the invention of the telescope, perhaps the most scientifically productive was that of Tycho Brahe, built 400 years ago on the island of Hveen in the Baltic Sea.

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  • Article

    Ozone Depletion

    Ozone depletion is a chemical thinning of the OZONE LAYER in the stratosphere or upper atmosphere. Scientists determined in the 1970s that it is caused by ozone depleting substances (ODSs), particularly by the use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).

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    https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 Ozone Depletion