Session U36: Physics For Everyone

Using Superheroes to Engage the Public

Costumed superheroes seem to dominate our movie and television screens, making them an excellent delivery system to bring real physics to the general public. While the super powers these characters possess clearly violate the laws of nature, often times how the super-heroes and super-villains utilize their powers is consistent with known physical laws. One can therefore leverage the public’s interest in these characters to illustrate and explain the physics principles that underlie their fantastic adventures. A discussion of the strength of Spider-Man’s webbing can lead to the real physics of carbon nanotubes. What metal would be strong enough for Wonder Woman’s bullet deflecting bracelets? One can draw the connection between the Black Panther’s vibranium suit and conservation of energy, while the Infinity Stones (the MacGuffin of the last 22 Marvel Cinematic Universe films) can be related to Emmy Noether and her theorem explicating a deep connection between all conservation principles and symmetries in the laws of physics. People come for the superhero ice cream sundae, and stay for the real science. If superheroes can help explain physics and the benefits of research to the general public – well, it wouldn’t be the first time these heroes have saved the day!   

Physics of Star Wars

Since he was young, Patrick has loved both science and Star Wars. As an adult, he wrote a book that tries to explain different theories as to how scenes and devices in the Star Wars universe work. Have you ever wondered how the Death Star works? How shields can stop catapults, but droids can walk right through? This talk will offer possible explanations of these scenes and more. This will be an enjoyable talk for anybody who is a fan of Star Wars, physics, or both.   

Science and Cooking: Making Physics Fun (and Tasty!)

This talk will describe the experiences of physics course for non-scientists that makes physics fun. It uses the science of food and cooking to motivate students to learn physics. A feature of the class is a weekly guest lecture by a famous chef about cooking. In addition the course includes a lab, where you can eat your experiment. The lab consists of the recipe of the week, where students, cook, do physics experiments and plate and eat their eat their creations. It also includes an equation of the week to teach students how to calculate results without being afraid of equations. The class has several traditions: You have to clap when you see an equation, and you have to clap when you see a cool dessert. Remember!   

Bringing Science to the Public Using Popular Culture

In our modern age when many of the key issues have an underlying science component, it is critical that the general public become more comfortable with science. This talk describes the use of popular culture as a way to bring scientific ideas to life. The examples that will be highlighted show how physics and other science fields can be embedded into discussions about American football. This talk will also showcase how science can be stealthily encased in a historical context in stories about inventions. Using a forthcoming book called The Alchemy of Us as a model, this talk will show how concepts of physics, materials science, and electrical engineering can be displayed in an engaging way for a general readership. Overall, this presentation makes a case for scientists to instill a new habit of sharing their knowledge with the public by connecting on a human level.   

The Physics of NASCAR: How March Meeting Physicists Have Unique Opportunities to Share Physics with the Public

Ask the average person on the street about physics and you'll probably hear about black holes, astronomy, quarks, or gravitational waves. Anyone attending the March Meeting, however, knows that most of the physics presented here has significantly more impact on the average person's life than any black hole.

Most physics outreach is aimed at a smal elite group of college-degreed, already science-interested people. But there are millions more who want -- who need -- to know about science, scientists, and how science is done. Drawing on my decade of experience sharing the science of motorsport through television, books, blogs and a regular spot on SiriusXM Satellite radio, I'll share ideas for how you can not only reach this underserved audience, but also broaden the public's perception of what physics really is. I'll also share a few things I've learned along the way: why there are lots of engineers, but few physicists, in NASCAR; the NASA technology in every NASCAR racecar; the move toward electric vehicles and sustainability; safety innovations that started on the track and moved to the interstate, and the cheap polymer component used on racecars that the military now uses on their helicopters.