The science of Avatar

Here are a few posts that describe the physics of the movie Avatar. In your lifetime, scientists have already discovered hundreds of extrasolar planets orbiting stars throughout the Milky Way (the first extrasolar planet was discovered in 1992).

The science of Avatar

Pandora could be a reality

More science of Avatar

Curious about how we discover extrasolar planets? Here's how.

You can even play a game to discover them on your own.

Will the world end in 2012?

Answer: No.

Read for a thorough debunking of this pseudoscientific meme that is percolating through popular culture.

The physics of free throw shooting

Now that basketball season is here, it's a good thing that physicists have worked out the best way to shoot a free throw.

See here: The physics of free throw shooting

Some tips from the article:

First, the engineers say that shooters should launch the shot with about three hertz of back spin. That translates to the ball making three complete backspinning revolutions before reaching the hoop. Back spin deadens the ball when it bounces off the rim or backboard, the engineers assert, giving the ball a better chance of settling through the net.
Where to aim? Tran and Silverberg say you should aim for the back of the rim, leaving close to 5 centimeters - about 2 inches - between the ball and the back of the rim. According to the simulations, aiming for the center of the basket decreases the probabilities of a successful shot by almost 3 percent.

The engineers say that the ball should be launched at 52 degrees to the horizontal. If you don’t have a protractor in your jersey, that means that the shot should, at the highest point in its arc to the basket, be less than 2 inches below the top of the backboard.
Free-throw shooters should also release the ball as high above the ground as possible, without adversely affecting the consistency of the shot; release the ball so it follows the imaginary line joining the player and the basket; and release the ball with a smooth body motion to get a consistent release speed.

“Our recommendations might make even the worst free-throw shooters - you know who you are, Shaquille O’Neal and Ben Wallace - break 60 percent from the free-throw line,” Silverberg says with tongue firmly in cheek. “A little bit of physics and a lot of practice can make everyone a better shooter from the free-throw line.”

A great bio in the NYT, and some AWESOME pics

The NYT has a wonderful feature on Carolyn Porco, head of camera team of
the Cassini space probe which was launched to study Saturn.



You've got to see some of the images (click on the image to see at full resolution):

Great new album from they might be giants

Hi All,
As I mentioned in class, They Might be Giants released a great new album filled with fun songs about science this week. They've also put up a video of the first song from the album, "Science is Real." Check it out...

A physicist writes an opera!

The connections between science and art are too numerous to list, but this has to be one of the coolest and most unique I've seen. Lisa Randall, a physicist at Harvard who is researching extra dimensions and how gravity might be 'leaking' into hidden extra dimensions was asked to write a libretto (musical text) for a completely new opera. The video below features Professor Randall talking about her work. It's definitely worth watching.




You can read more about the opera here.