SPS SLU Chapter

Hanging out at LIGO.

We had so much fun seeing the One-Man Star Wars Trilogy last week at the Columbia! If you're still craving more Star Wars fun, then this is the event for you - lecture by STEM Radio host Dr. Rhett Allain!

Event Description:
The Science of Star Wars
Lecture by Dr. Rhett Allain: Science advisor for Mythbusters and MaGuyver
November 13, 6:00pm Room 211 of Pursley Hall
Event is FREE

Of course we all know that Star Wars isn’t real. However, that doesn’t stop us from using the fundamental ideas in physics to explore and model different situations we see in the Star Wars movies. Consider the way R2-D2 flies by pointing his thrusters backwards in order to move with a constant velocity. The only way for this motion to agree with Newtonian mechanics is to include an air resistance force. Using the thrust angle and estimations for the speed, the mass of R2-D2 can be determined.

There are many other estimations from the Star Wars movies. How fast are blaster bolts? What do the scaling laws say about very large spacecraft? How much power would a lightsaber need to melt a metal door? This talk will focus on the analysis of questions such as these.

http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/2013/03/19/advice-to-my-young-self-on-my-one-year-con-niversary/

Advice to my young self on my one-year-Con-niversary “A lot of mothers will do anything for their children, except let them be themselves.” -Banksy One of the great joys I got to experience came last year, when for the very first time, I was invited to be a guest of honor at a most fabulous convention: MidSouthCon 30! I went into it not…

Volunteers needed for IR camera demo:
We are planning to do an IR camera demo next week possibly on Monday or Thursday. If you are interested in helping please send us a message.

http://youtu.be/EYPapE-3FRw

Feynman on Scientific Method. Physicist Richard Feynman explains the scientific and unscientific methods of understanding nature.

Demo Day