How strange! The sky is blue!Written by K.A.Cassimally
Look up! Just do it. What do you see? Stupid question, eh? You see ceiling of course. When you look upwards during a sunny day while picnicking however, you see blue sky. Ever wondered why sky is not green nor but blue?Before answering this question, let’s go back to basic physics of light. Sorry, but here I go… Light is a kind of energy, which travels in waves. In fact, light is a wave of vibrating electric and magnetic fields. Light forms only one small part of a larger range of vibrating electromagnetic fields called electromagnetic spectrum. Electromagnetic waves travel through space at an amazing 300 00km/s. Therefore this is also speed of light. When you see white light from bulb, you are actually seeing seven colours of rainbow! This is because white light consists of a combination of these seven colours. Each of these colours has a different wavelength, frequency and energy. Wavelength is distance between crests of waves. The frequency is number of waves that pass by each second. Note that longer wavelength, lower frequency and less energy it contains. ·Violet: Shortest wavelength, highest frequency and energy ·Red: Longest wavelength, lowest frequency and energy Now back to our main topic. That blue colour of sky is due to an effect known as Rayleigh scattering. As light from sun moves towards Earth’s atmosphere, not all colours are actually able to pass through that atmosphere. Most of longer wavelength colours do pass (red, orange and yellow for sure) but shorter wavelength ones however are mostly absorbed by gas molecules found in atmosphere. Absorbed blue light is then bounced back (radiated would be a better word) in all directions. This makes shy to appear blue!
| | NABGG (Nat'l Assoc. of Black Geologists & Geophysicists) 23rd Annual Conference 9/15 – 9/18, 2004 - Austin, TexasWritten by Robert Johnson
The NABGG (National Association of Black Geologists and Geophysicists) will hold it’s 23rd annual conference on Wednesday, September 15 – Saturday, September 18, 2004. HOUSTON, TX (PRWEB) August 18, 2004 -- Please plan to join us, as we convene our 23rd annual meeting that will be held in Austin, Texas with University of Texas at Austin serving as host institution. Heralding excellent research and technology, University of Texas at Austin’s Geoscience Department is a world class department that has consistently produced some of most influential experts in field of geoscience. This year’s conference theme “Partnering Our Different Worlds” conveys concept of connectivity of different aspects of geoscience in our society, including Oil & Gas, Environmental Sciences, Academia, Professional Societies, and Governmental Agencies. Some of highlights include: Keynote Speakers: -Dr. Sandra K. Johnson, Manager, IBM Linux Technology Center -Dr. Jerry Harris, Head of Geophysics Department, Stanford University -Dr. Edwin Dorn, Dean, Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin. -Dr. William L. Fisher, Director of Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas at Austin.
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