Protons (the uud quark configuration of the lightest of all baryons) are the most stable of all the hadrons. Experiments show that the proton’s lifetime must be greater than 10 ^34 years, far exceeding the age of the universe. So, if protons do decay, it happens so rarely that it is effectively invisible to us. So, how come they are so stable when hadrons in general, are not: even the neutron (ddu quark composition) is unstable when on its own outside a nucleus. There is no b

Black holes are not actual holograms but can be mathematically described as if they were! The Holographic Principle And it’s not just black holes either - some physicists believe that the entire universe could be so described! The idea is known as the holographic principle, first proposed in the 1990s by Gerard ’t Hooft and Leonard Susskind, building on earlier work on black hole physics. Black holes as holograms, was described in A Journey into Modern Physics Part 2 and also

FULL SERIES & LIGHT ADAPTATIONS As from 20th October 2025, all KINDLE and KOBO E-book prices for A Journey into Modern Physics have been reduced! The Main Series E-books have been slashed by 25% and the Adaptations by 33%. (The actual percentage reduction may vary slightly from these figures depending on which currency is used to make the purchase). If you are signed up with KOBO PLUS, then all our E-book down-loads are free! Now that we have the full complement of our E-book

Hydrogen (1 electron) Helium (2 electrons) If you think of an electron as a tiny snooker ball, then of course it spins, right? An electron creates a tiny magnetic field and this can be measured for real. So, if its magnetic field is real - it must spin to create the field, just like spinning neutron stars, only on a much smaller scale! Of course electrons spin! Oh No They Don't! The experiment that proved that an electron has a tiny magnetic field is the Stern-Gerlach experim

The physicist and inventor Robert Van de Graaff created an electrostatic generator in the early 1930s that became a wonderful science-lesson demonstration of the effects of very high voltages. By "going-large", it also became a work-horse for the development of nuclear physics, right up until the 1980s and is still in use today both in the classroom and in smaller nuclear physics labs. What's it all about? Most Van de Graaff generators consist of a tower, on top of which is a

Tachyons are hypothetical particles that, if they exist, can only move faster than the speed of light. In theory, a tachyon can never slow down to the speed of light — just as a normal particle with real mass can never be accelerated up to, or beyond, light speed. Fundamental Differences from Normal Particles The differences between real particles and hypothetical tachyons are profound: a) Rest mass Normal particles have a real, invariant rest mass: the same in all inertial f

UPDATE MAY 2026 Unfortunately, we have had to remove the series A Journey into Modern Physics from the Rakuten Kobo on-line stores. The series is now exclusively available from Amazon on-line stores.

A plasma ball is a spectacular light display created by ionised gas atoms that produce glowing filaments of coloured light. The front covers of a Journey into Modern Physics (Parts 1, 2, and 3) all feature plasma balls. If you’ve never seen one in action, just search “plasma ball” on Google; there are plenty of videos showing these fascinating devices in all their glory. There’s a lot of physics behind them, so let’s dive in. What is Plasma? When energy is added to a gas, its

In part 1 of a Journey into Modern Physics, it was stated; The mediators of the electroweak force have never been seen in accelerators due to the fact that to allow the electroweak force to come into existence, with its mediators, would require an energy of many times more than the LHC can produce in its proton-proton collisions. The LHC is currently the world's most powerful accelerator. This statement needs some clarification. The LHC cannot produce B, W1, W2 and W3 bosons

This is a very common question. Physics tells us that the speed of light in a vacuum is the fastest speed that anything can travel and is reserved for electromagnetic waves or photons. And yet, far-away galaxies appear to be doing a runner away from us at speeds that are faster the further away they are! So, some really far-off galaxies must be moving away at close to light speed and even beyond it! This is scientific fact and was first discovered by Edwin Hubble back in the

The LIGHT edition of the series is now complete with the publication of Part 3 - LIGHT. So, what's the point of a LIGHT version of the...

STEM Preparing for a rapidly evolving world A Journey into Modern Physics-LIGHT edition has been adapted from the main series with STEM in mind to provide a wide range of topics in physics to help young students adapt from classroom science to higher levels of learning, including university. The ethos behind STEM is to prepare school leavers to face a rapidly changing world, particularly in S cience, T echnology, E ngineering and M athematics. There can be quite a jump

A Journey into Modern Physics Part 2 - LIGHT is now available! This is a condensed version of Part 2 from the main series. The same...

Sample from Part 3 paperback The paperback editions of Part 1 and Part 2 of a Journey into Modern Physics, were originally produced in a...

March was a busy month! We released the first part of an adaptation of part 1 of the series titled; ' A Journey into Modern Physics Part...

Part 1 of the series: 'From atoms to quarks, electrons and the Higgs field' was published in the summer of 2023. Part 2 of the series:...

This post commemorates the launch of a blog for the book series; ' A Journey into Modern Physics' by Kieron Conway. The website and Blog...