NAME: THRICE AUSTINE VASQUEZ

YEAR & SECTION: BSA 3-A

I watched Brian Cox's lecture about how science impacts our world and got some interesting takeaways.
The lecture shed light on how humans strive to comprehend the universe. A few things caught my
attention during the talk, like the definition of science, the universe's fundamental elements, and more.

Brian Cox kicked off his lecture with a video clip featuring Nobel laureate Richard Feynman. In the clip,
Feynman humorously explained that science starts with a guess, followed by calculations,
experimentation, and comparing results with nature. If the results don't match nature, the guess is
wrong. It had a touch of satire, with people laughing, but it resonated with me as a simple yet profound
way to define and understand things. According to Brian Cox, science is essentially the application of
common sense.

Brian Cox then delved into some fundamental concepts. He talked about quantum mechanics as the
theory explaining events in the universe and briefly touched on Albert Einstein's theory of relativity,
which describes how massive objects bend time and space. He also introduced the Higgs particle,
explaining that it gives mass to objects in the universe. Another topic he covered was Hubble's law,
likening it to bread dough expanding during baking, where galaxies move away from us faster the farther
they are.

The scientific method, a systematic way to investigate the world, is at the core of science. It's all about
making guesses, testing them, and refining our understanding based on evidence. So, science essentially
boils down to using common sense and curiosity to explore the world around us. The video then zoomed
in on our nearest star, the Sun. It highlighted the importance of the Sun in our lives, providing light and
energy. The electromagnetic spectrum, a range of different types of light, is how we study the Sun and
everything else in the universe.

Our universe is constantly expanding, and scientists have evidence of this through observations of
distant galaxies moving away from us. Supernova explosions, massive star deaths, help us understand
this expansion. Hubble's Law tells us that galaxies farther away from us are receding faster, providing key
evidence for the universe's expansion. Hubble's constant is like a speed limit for this cosmic expansion.
By studying the expansion rate and working backward, scientists estimate the age of the universe to be
around 13.8 billion years. That's pretty mind-blowing!

Rutherford's experiments helped us understand atomic structure. It's incredible how something as
simple as atoms form the basis of our complex universe. The Large Hadron Collider is a massive machine
that helps us smash particles together to discover new things. Neutrinos and muons are some of the
mysterious particles we study there. Physics is full of mysteries, like the Higgs field, which gives particles
mass. Understanding these mysteries pushes our knowledge boundaries. Einstein's theory of relativity,
with its famous equation E=mc², revealed that time and space are interconnected. This theory is
essential for technologies like satellite navigation, where tiny changes in time due to gravity can make a
big difference.
In essence, this video highlighted how science is a journey of interconnected ideas. From the tiniest
particles to the vastness of the universe, it's all linked by our curiosity and the scientific method. It's
pretty amazing how these seemingly disparate topics come together to paint a clearer picture of our
universe.

After watching Brian Cox's lecture, I gained new insights into the continuous growth and expansion of
the universe. I also pondered how our ancestors documented their observations of the universe and the
tools they used for understanding it. Richard Feynman's definition of science stuck with me as a valuable
tool for making decisions and improving my understanding of the world around me.