Category Archives: science

Shine a Light

By | | , , , , , , , , ,
22 Comments

It is Friday, so time for a film release. So, get your popcorn, your ice-cold drink, and find your comfy chair! It has been a long time coming (see related posts listed below), but finally the first of the series of films I’ve been talking about is ready for you!

But before I run the projector, let me say a few words. As I said before, this short film is (I hope) fun, engaging, and informative. I hope lots of people take the time to watch it at least a couple of times. A basic scientific knowledge of the world is for everyone. Science is part of our culture and should be more widely circulated. Films such as this is one of the ways the National Science Foundation, who provided the support to make it, is helping to bring science to everyone. For this (and the other ones in the series) to be a success, your help is needed. It needs to be seen. Tell your family and friends, colleagues and students, local teachers, etc., about it. Forward it on to people you know. Blog it, tweet it, facebook share it, etc. Crucially, remember that it is designed to be not just for people who already know they have an interest in science, but others too, so make no assumptions about who might like it… just please send it. Thanks.

Ok, let’s dim the lights! Run the Projector! (Tip: It is a high video quality, so pause it and let it buffer […] Click to continue reading this post →

LHC Update

By | | , , ,
7 Comments

04collide_600Dennis Overbye wrote a nice summary article in the New York Times about the current status of the delays to the Large Hadron Colllider’s (LHC’s) re-opening. (Photo left by Valerio Mezzanotti for NYT) The issue is very frustrating, overall, even though one knows that delays like this can happen (and ought to be expected to happen) if you’ve built the largest and most complicated machine ever. I (and many colleagues) have in some sense waited for the LHC almost my entire professional career, and last Summer/Fall it seemed so close to finally starting to give us physics, only to have the failure happen, and set it all back. That’s life, of course. These things happen. I’ve a great deal of faith in the […] Click to continue reading this post →

Coming Soon!

By | | , , , , , ,
7 Comments

[Update: The film is here!]

Well, it is almost the big day! The first of the films I’ve been working on (see several earlier posts listed below), having had its world premiere on Sunday, is about to go on general release. It is the first of a series, and there is a second one to follow later in the Summer.

It’s a fun and educational short that I hope you’ll watch and tell all your friends about. Seriously, if you’re interested in science education (or just science as fun) do spread the word about this by blogging it, tweeting it, and sharing it on facebook and other sites.

This is very exciting! As with most film releases, however, there’s got to be a trailer. Straight out of the editing room to you, I present said trailer. Enjoy!



Check back soon!

-cvj Click to continue reading this post →

Lost Lessons

By | | , , , , , , , ,
6 Comments

lost_universityI’m sitting here recovering from last night’s event (more later), which, when you clear away the details (and the large amount of left over food, huge number of dirty dishes, glasses, pots, pans, etc.), was all about science, filmmaking and the media. There’s something else that is being discussed a lot recently that is about that too.

It seems to be all over the blogosphere (e.g., here), since apparently Lost is a very popular show, and so I’ll mention it here. You can now enroll in Lost University as part of the DVD/Blueray release of Lost’s Season 5. What you’ll be able to do (it says on their website), is enroll and take courses in Psychology, Foreign Language, Jungle Survival, Philosophy, History, and Physics. The Physics part is all about time travel. Classes are being “taught” by real professors. I mean actual people, not characters. I know this since I’m one of these professors.

Who knew I’d end up being faculty at another university teaching such a popular […] Click to continue reading this post →

Of Red Carpets, and Cooking

By | | , , , , , ,
6 Comments

premiere_prepMy films are finished! There’ll be more on them here later (including their online premiere), so check back. I might even try to find time to cut a trailer for the first one soon.

Being somewhat insane, I’ve decided on the (sort of) spur of the moment to have a (tongue in cheek) red carpet premiere of the films this weekend. I’ve a confirmed list of 20 hungry guests coming (mostly friends who are filmmakers, writers, actors, journalists, educators and other related professions), and I’ve promised to prepare them lots of food and drink. (Well, the films are very short.) It is already late in the day and I’ve been procrastinating instead of starting my prep. As usual.

Anyway, I’ve decided to plan a few long-prep centerpieces, and will improvise all the other dishes based on whim, the Farmer’s market offerings later, and how many of […] Click to continue reading this post →

Tales From The Industry XXIX – Dune

By | | , , , , , , , ,
5 Comments

death_valley_shoot_2_1There was a 24 hour period from 3:30pm Monday to 3:30pm Tuesday where I was engaged in a seemingly insane enterprise. My original plan was to document it here as one of my “24”-style blog posts, but since about 9 hours of it involved nothing but me screaming along to various songs (there’s something marvellous about singing “Roooooxx–anne!!! You don’t have to wear that dress tonight!!!….” and repeating “Put on the Red Light! Put on the Red Light!…” while whizzing along – fast!- on a road trip. I don’t know why), and five and a half hours asleep, I’ll spare you the details of each hour.

So what was the mission? To head to Death Valley. Yes, one of the hottest places on earth at this time of year! Why? To film something for The Universe (that History channel series I sometimes appear on). After my experiences of last Monday, you’d think I’d swear off hot filming situations for a while, but there you go. The physics involved is interesting, and it was an opportunity to get across some rather fun and interesting material (that you don’t usually see on TV) and so I went for it.

So since I had an afternoon meeting at 2:00pm with a Dean and some other […] Click to continue reading this post →

40 Years Ago…

By | | , , , ,
3 Comments

moon_landing_630pxWell, it can’t have escaped your attention. I imagine that whatever news sources you use are full of stories about today being the 40th anniversary of the first landing on the moon. (Well, the first by human beings, anyway. 🙂 )

I won’t be writing a long thoughtful piece reflecting on the matter. Right now, I can’t really think of much to say that has not been said. Perhaps it is just because it is too hot here. I’m not sure.

However, I will encourage you to find a quiet moment sometime today, stop, look […] Click to continue reading this post →

Your Science Tweets Here

By | | , ,
26 Comments

science_tweetsHmm… so this PhD Comics episode* (image left… click will take you to their site) is a really good idea, but I’m underwhelmed by the actual execution.

This might be because it is hard to do, and not because the person (people?) at PhD comics, whoever they are, aren’t smart and funny people, since there’s a lot of evidence that they are.

So I find myself thinking that this is an opportunity for some fun reader participation! Surely there are more science-tweets to be thought up? Perhaps even […] Click to continue reading this post →

Heat Exhaustion…

By | | , , , ,
12 Comments

Well, that was a hugely tiring day indeed. I’ve just returned from a full day of shooting for an episode of the the leffeHistory Channel’s The Universe, and all I can do is collapse on the sofa for a long while.

I’ve grabbed the essentials (a nice cold Leffe, some tasty corn chips, a cup of tea – I made it before I got the Leffe idea – , some books I’m reading, etc) to have within easy reach so that I need not get up for a while. I simply don’t want to.

It was tiring mostly because it was so terribly hot for most of it. The first half of the […] Click to continue reading this post →

Witten Interview

By | | , , ,
7 Comments

Here’s an interview that I missed when it first came out back in April. It is with Edward Witten, the single most influential person in my area of theoretical physics for quite some time now. This is for no other reason than his off-scale abilities in every key area of theoretical physics. He was my mentor back in the early ’90s, and the […] Click to continue reading this post →

Science and Space on Mayo

By | | , ,
4 Comments

On the BBC’s Daily Mayo the other day there was a science focus! Scientists Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw joined Simon to talk about their new book Why Does [tex]E=mc^2[/tex]? that looks at Einstein’s famous equation which explores the principles of physics through everyday life. Commander Lee Archambault, currently on … Click to continue reading this post →

Michael Jackson and D-Branes

By | | , , , , , , , ,
4 Comments

A D-braneWell, I bet you have not read any articles connecting Michael Jackson and research in string theory before. No, even though I spend a lot of time and effort trying to bring science into everyday conversations people have about the broader culture, I cannot claim credit for this one. I was reading an excellent article* in the Village Voice written by Greg Tate, and to my surprise, there it was. It is by far the most thoughtful and insightful of any of the articles on Michael Jackson that I’ve read, and I’d already concluded that before noticing any mention of physics. I strongly recommend it, especially if you don’t know what all the fuss is about, or if you think that the fuss is only about some pop music.

Tate examines not just the impact of Jackson on the culture, and where he sits in the pantheon of black people who have made such impact (he’s mostly focusing on America), but also the role of adversity and struggle in focusing talent in a way that produces people who create at such a high level and which such seismic effect. He […] Click to continue reading this post →