illuminating science

Hope everyone has a happy Christmas, and enjoys a bit of R&R over the break!

Given this festive time of year, I thought we should think about a problem close to the heart of many children - how does Santa get around and deliver all those presents in one night? I think the best explanation is through special relativity. Note only does that article solve many of the mysteries of Prof. Claus, but it also has some really interesting physics in it! (My one gripe is a little technical: Santa doesn’t gain mass as he speeds up, no matter what E=mc² might appear to say. I’ll have to explain that in another post, but trust me - our Santa doesn’t add any more kilos to his cheerful figure!)

Other fun discussions include working out how much energy Santa must use during his trip (strongly suggesting new physics might be involved…) and an argument against the existence of Santa - but of course we know that there must be a flaw somewhere!

I’m having some time off between now and New Years, so posting may be a little sporadic. Again, have a great Christmas and I hope that Santa Claus does manage to solve his equations and bring you something nice!