All About the Science
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The internet is buzzing over the trailer for War Horse, Steven Spielberg’s upcoming film about a horse sold to the cavalry during World War I. Here at The Exchange, we’re excited Spielberg is (once again) filming a movie with science. No, we aren’t talking about engineering weapons, the physics of…
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The Catastrophic Potential of Severe Space Weather
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Tornadoes, earthquakes, climate change, tsunamis and comets… For screenwriters who want to tackle the disaster film genre, the hardest part might be choosing how to destroy the Earth. Look at all the options! Plus, if you aren’t satisfied with the standard disasters above, there are limitless options in epidemics, aliens,…
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Fantasy into Science, or Realizing the Impossible: Invisibility
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Fantasy fiction is about magic, science fiction is about … well, science. People who believe in one do not always buy into the other, yet the two can merge. As Arthur C. Clarke wrote, a sufficiently advanced technology cannot be distinguished from magic. Besides, some magical visions represent such deep…
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The Nose Knows: An Electronic Nose
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Readers of this blog already know how fiction can inspire real science and we’ve got another example to show you today: the electronic nose. Ray Bradbury’s science fiction classic Fahrenheit 451 features the concept, as does the 1994 children’s film Richie Rich. In Richie Rich, Professor Keenbeam (who heads the…
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Villain Science: The Magnetizing Magneto
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Something strange seems to be happening in Eastern Europe as of late. Something very, very strange. Something … magnetic. Recently circulated videos showcase the so-called magnetic children of Croatia and Serbia. One video shows 6-year-old Ivan Stoiljkovic’s bare chest covered in spoons and forks. In another video, 10-year-old Jelena Momcilov…
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What You Need to Know to Survive a Zombie Disease
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If you stay up late at night worrying about the impending zombie apocalypse, you will be happy to hear the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a blog post outlining exactly what you need to do to keep yourself (and your family) safe from the undead. But while…
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The Kiss
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Eyes meet as both characters move in. After an hour of longing, flirting, fighting, and reconciliation—of which you’ve spent the last 20 minutes on the edge of your seat—it happens…. That out-of-the-ballpark, incredibly satisfying, perfect first kiss. Fireworks ensue. It’s the stuff of movie magic, the moment we’re always waiting…
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Science at Sundance
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The Sundance Film Festival has launched the careers of myriad household names in the film industry – Steven Soderbergh, Kevin Smith, Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson, and Darren Arronofsky – to name a few. Established in 1978, the festival, shepherded by film legend Robert Redford, has meant many…
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Girls Just Want to Have Sums: Mathematically-Gifted Women in Television/Film
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Girls just want to have sums. Or is it fun? Actually, why can’t it be both? Stereotypes plague math – difficult, boring – and girls who love math – they don’t exist. But several female television and film characters are defying both stereotypes. One of the most recognizable characters is…
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Tony Stark's Science
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If you’re one of the millions of people who flocked to the cinema this weekend to see Iron Man 2, you’re no doubt wondering how much of the plot is based in fact, and how much is pure science fiction. Discover’s 80 Beats blogand Popular Mechanics both offer nice analyses…
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