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Physics (from the Greek, φύσις (phúsis), "nature" and φυσικός (phusikós), "natural"), the most fundamental physical science, is concerned with the basic principles of the Universe. Consequently, physics deals empirically with the dynamics of matter in the cosmos.
Introduction
Discoveries in physics find applications throughout the other natural sciences as they regard the fundamental constituents of the natural world. Some of the phenomena studied in physics, such as the phenomenon of conservation of energy, are common to all material systems. These are often referred to as laws of physics. Others, such as superconductivity, stem from these laws, but are not laws themselves because they only appear in some systems. Physics is often said to be the "fundamental science" (chemistry is sometimes included), because each of the other weaker sciences (biology, chemistry, geology, material science, engineering, medicine etc.) deals with particular types of material systems that obey the laws of physics. For example, chemistry is the science of matter (such as atoms and molecules) and the chemical substances that they form in the bulk. The structure, reactivity, and properties of a chemical compound are determined by the properties of the underlying molecules, which can be described by areas of physics such as quantum mechanics (called in this case quantum chemistry), thermodynamics, and electromagnetism.
Physics is closely related to mathematics, which provides the logical framework in which physical laws can be precisely formulated and their predictions quantified. Physical definitions, models and theories are invariably expressed using mathematical relations. A key difference between physics and mathematics is that because physics is ultimately concerned with descriptions of the material world, it tests its theories by observations (called experiments), whereas mathematics is concerned with abstract logical patterns not limited by those observed in the real world (because the real world is limited in the number of dimensions and in many other ways it does not have to correspond to richer mathematical structures). The distinction, however, is not always clear-cut. There is a large area of research intermediate between physics and mathematics, known as mathematical physics.
More on [ Physics ]
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Wed, 21 May 2008 00:00:00 -0500
An MIT graduate class, aimed at figuring out whether MIT could, or should, mount an entry into the $20-million Google Lunar X-Prize competition announced last fall, has arrived at the bottom line: Yes, we can (technically)!
Beaver-like robots face off in annual MIT contest
Fri, 09 May 2008 00:00:00 -0500
Robots designed to toss pool-noodle trees into a river of ping-pong balls ruled over competitors focused on rescuing fuzzy toy beavers in this year's 2.007 contest, "Da (yes) MIT, or Save the Baby Beavers," held on Thursday, May 8, at MIT.
Meet Nexi, the Media Lab's latest robot star
Wed, 09 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0500
A new experimental robot from the MIT Media Lab can slant its eyebrows in anger, or raise them in surprise, and show a wide assortment of facial expressions to communicate with people in human-centric terms.
Brains informing computers, and vice versa
Sat, 16 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500
After many years, Tomaso Poggio's two parallel lines of research--one aimed at using computers to understand how the brain works, the other at improving the abilities of computers to "think"--have begun to converge.
MIT students design graduate student development program
Sat, 16 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500
An MIT PhD candidate in electrical engineering and computer science will describe a novel professional development program for graduate students and its impact at MIT at the annual meeting of the AAAS in Boston.
MIT finishes fourth in DARPA Grand Challenge
Mon, 05 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0500
MIT's automated Land Rover, packed with computers and electronic sensors, finished fourth in the DARPA Grand Challenge. The MIT vehicle, competing for the first time, was one of only six to complete the challenging 55-mile course.
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MONET - European Network of Excellence in Model Based Systems and Qualitative Reasoning (MBS QR). Publications, resources and meetings.
Qualitative Reasoning Research at UTexas - Qualitative Reasoning Research at UTexas which has one of the premier QP research centers
