100th Anniversary Of Einstein’s Theory Of Relativity

100th Anniversary of Einstein’s Theory of Relativity

One hundred years ago this month, Albert Einstein published his theory of general relativity (GR), one of the most important scientific achievements in the last century.

A key result of Einstein’s theory is that matter warps space-time, and thus a massive object can cause an observable bending of light from a background object. The first success of the theory was the observation, during a solar eclipse, that light from a distant background star was deflected by the predicted amount as it passed near the sun.

When Einstein developed the general theory of relativity, he was trying to improve our understanding of how the universe works. At the time, Newtonian gravity was more than sufficient for any practical gravity calculations. However, as often happens in physics, general relativity has applications that would not have been foreseen by Einstein or his contemporaries.

How many of us have used a smartphone to get directions? Or to tag our location on social media? Or to find a recommendation for a nearby restaurant? These activities depend on GPS. GPS uses radio signals from a network of satellites orbiting Earth at an altitude of 20,000 km to pinpoint the location of a GPS receiver. The accuracy of GPS positioning depends on precision in time measurements of billionths of a second. To achieve such timing precision, however, relativity must be taken into account.

Our Gravity Probe B (GP-B) mission has confirmed two key predictions derived from Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity, which the spacecraft was designed to test. The experiment, launched in 2004, and measured the warping of space and time around a gravitational body, and frame-dragging, the amount a spinning object pulls space and time with it as it rotates.

Scientists continue to look for cracks in the theory, testing general relativity predictions using laboratory experiments and astronomical observations. For the past century, Einstein’s theory of gravity has passed every hurdle.

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You've heard of sweet summer child, now get ready for

salty winter adult

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slytherin-grin-blog

9 years ago

Honestly, I always feel some type of way when I see people drawing fanart/describing Draco in fic as being particularly handsome. Like, he's supposed to be rat-faced. That's how he's described. All pointy and sneering. It's not a very attractive look. Do you personally prefer him as rat-faced/average or do you not care about the rich pretty boy Draco In Leather Pants trends?

Rat-faced, omg, haha. My poor baby. So Harry often does describe Draco as “pointy,” but Harry is a rather unreliable narrator; his judgment is clouded by his dislike of Slytherins (and Draco in particular). And to me, pointy is a less generous term for angular. I picture Draco as having sharp features, such as high cheekbones and a pointed chin. Beauty is subjective, so there may be some that find this look less appealing. However, it’s very attractive to me. Combined with his other traits (very blonde hair, grey eyes, a tall, lithe frame), to me, Draco’s hot

These are my top 3 face claims for Draco, so this is kind of how I see him:

Nariman Malanov as a wild and sexy “I couldn’t give less of a fuck” Draco

Conor McLain as icy and haughty “you’d be lucky to breathe the same air as me” Draco

Max Krieger as charming punk “I know you wank to me” Draco

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slytherin-grin-blog

9 years ago

Draco/Luna Fic Rec

I’ve recently become a fan of the pairing: Draco/Luna. My main/fav het Draco pairing has always been Draco/Hermione and will always be Draco/Hermione; however, after reading a story that had past Draco/Luna in it, I really thought about the pairing and decided it made sense.

Please don’t hate me fellow Dramione shippers, but the more I think about it, if any Draco pairing were actually going to be cannon, it would be this one. Luna is most likely a pureblood and since she spent all that time locked in the Malfoy dungeon, it’s possible that her and Draco had a chance to interact and get to know each other. As much as I love Hermione and Draco together, I just don’t see that pairing being compatible with cannon unless the two of them were to reconnect and start a relationship after Hogwarts.

The story I’m going to rec below is one of the first Draco/Luna fics I’ve read and it’s brilliant. The writer does a wonderful job of keeping Draco very much in character, and Luna is her bizarre but endearing self. To me, this story feels as it very much could be cannon and could be the lost scenes in DH that took place between Draco and Luna, which we never got to read. I hope you enjoy it.

Title: These Accidents of Faith

Author: Kihin Ranno

Rating: Teen or PG-13

Word Count: ~ 23K

Summary: While home for Christmas break, Draco gets charged with overseeing the prisoners, including the new addition of Luna Lovegood.

Link 1: These Accidents of Faith

Link 2: FF.net Link

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slytherin-grin-blog

9 years ago