Bulletin of the American Physical Society
APS March Meeting 2021
Volume 66, Number 1
Monday–Friday, March 15–19, 2021; Virtual; Time Zone: Central Daylight Time, USA
Session S62: Physics for EveryoneInvited Session Live Outreach Undergrad Friendly
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Sponsoring Units: DMP Chair: Vivien Zapf, Los Alamos Natl Lab |
Thursday, March 18, 2021 11:30AM - 12:06PM Live |
S62.00001: Physics of Star Wars Invited Speaker: Patrick Johnson 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. |
Thursday, March 18, 2021 12:06PM - 12:42PM Live |
S62.00002: Science and Cooking: Making Physics Fun (and Tasty!) Invited Speaker: David Weitz This talk will describe the experiences of a 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! |
Thursday, March 18, 2021 12:42PM - 1:18PM Live |
S62.00003: Using Superheroes to Engage the Public Invited Speaker: James Kakalios 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 superheroes and supervillains 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. I will describe examples of using superheroes in science communication, such as how the Black Panther’s vibranium suit relates to the principle of conservation of energy, while the Infinity Stones (the MacGuffin of the last 22 Marvel Cinematic Universe films) can be connected to Emmy Noether and her theory relating conservation principles and symmetries in the laws of physics. People come for the superhero ice cream sundae, and stay for the real science. Science communication is sometimes hindered by the Backfire Effect, a phenomenon in Psychology and Neuroscience where a person will resist new information that conflicts with preconceived notions. Presenting information in a non-confrontational manner, using superheroes or other examples from popular culture, can avoid triggering the Backfire Effect, making for more effective public engagement. |
Thursday, March 18, 2021 1:18PM - 1:54PM Live |
S62.00004: The Physics of NASCAR: Using Motorsports to Introduce Materials Physics and Physicists Invited Speaker: Diandra Leslie-Pelecky Ask someone on the street what physics is, and they’ll likely mention black holes, astronomy, quarks, or gravitational waves. Condensed matter and materials physics don’t get the same kind of attention, even though those fields affect the average person's daily life a lot more than any black hole. |
Thursday, March 18, 2021 1:54PM - 2:30PM Live |
S62.00005: Bringing Science to the Public Using Popular Culture Invited Speaker: Ainissa Ramirez
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