The Physical Science (PS) Series offers events that showcase the current understanding of the origin of the Universe, properties of matter and energy and the relationships between them, and space exploration.
Previous PS events have covered dark matter, Switzerland’s CERN Laboratory, the Hubble Telescope, quarks and the cosmos, navigating earth and space, and the physics of baseball.
Distinguished speakers have included Astronaut John Grunsfeld; Nobel Laureate John C. Mather; and Laura Trouille, Astronomer, Northwestern University & Adler Planetarium.
Predicting the Technologies of Our Future
Star Trek is a story of exploration that has fascinated us for the last 50 years.
A crucial part of this story are unbelievable scientific and technological advances — warp drive, wormholes beaming technology, holodecks — that make the exploration of the universe possible.
Let’s Play Two! That’s right–it’s time for a C2ST Double Header.
Due to unprecedented demand, Dr. Alan Nathan will be giving an encore of his Physics of Baseball program on Friday, August 2nd.
Continue reading “The Physics of Baseball #2: “You Can Observe A Lot By Watching” – Yogi Berra”
“You Can Observe A Lot By Watching” – Yogi Berra
Following Yogi’s advice, Professor Emeritus of Physics at the University of Illinois Alan Nathan will use high-speed video clips to highlight some of the interesting physics underlying the game of baseball. The talk will focus on the subtleties of the baseball-bat collision, the intricacies of the flight of a baseball, and many other things. Continue reading “The Physics of Baseball: “You Can Observe A Lot By Watching””
Abstract: Our quest to understand the origin, evolution and make-up of the Universe has undergone dramatic and surprising advances over the last decades. Much of the progress has been driven by measurements of the cosmic microwave background radiation, the fossil light from the big bang, that provide a glimpse of the Universe as it was 14 billion years ago.
Continue reading “Exploring the Universe from the Bottom of the World”
Abstract:
Some scientists believe that the Higgs boson, a never-before-seen subatomic particle, is the fundamental building block of the universe that gives mass to matter. Recent high-energy particle experiments at CERN and Fermilab have hinted at the existence of this particle. But what exactly is the Higgs boson and why do some people call it the ‘god particle’? Continue reading “CERN: What’s it all about?”
Abstract:
Times change, literally, for human culture and the Cosmos as a whole.
According to astrophysicist Adam Frank, specific human conceptions of time don’t last forever and our “modern” version is already in the midst of a radical change. Continue reading “About Time: Cosmology and Culture at the Twilight of the Big Bang”
