Articles by

Rhett Allain

In Orbit You Have to Slow Down to Speed Up

If you watch sci-fi movies, you’d think that flying a spaceship is just like driving a slightly...

How to Get Your Kids Into STEM Even When Its Future Is Uncertain

Blame the lightsabers. That’s what led me to become a professor. As a high school student, one...

5 More Physics Equations Everyone Should Know

In January I wrote a piece titled “5 Physics Equations Everyone Should Know.” Lots of you weighed...

How Energy-Generating Sidewalks Work

We walk here, we walk there, we walk everywhere. Maybe you’re headed to work or to lunch...

What Is the Magnetic Constant and Why Does It Matter?

In physics, we have a bunch of constants that are used in models to explain how the...

What Is the Electric Constant and Why Should You Care?

It's fun to think about the fundamental physical constants. These are special values used in our models...

AC or DC: Which Is Better?

As the story goes, the rock band AC/DC took its name from a label on an old...

Einstein Showed That Time Is Relative. But … Why Is It?

So, you’re driving a car at half the speed of light. (Both hands on the wheel, please.)...