In the 2015 science fiction film, The Martian, NASA astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) finds himself stranded on Mars after being struck by debris during a forced evacuation. Left for dead, the intrepid astronaut must not only survive on the barren planet, he needs to find a way home. Mark must use every resource at...
Communication is one of the messiest things we humans do on a daily basis. We translate the thoughts inside our head into words that another person (hopefully) can understand. Assuming this other person shares a common language and culture, this should be easy (most of the time). But even when we do share a common...
To create cinematic action which is both believable and interesting, film producers often spend millions, but sometimes it is the actors that pay the real price for shooting a scene. Because of this, it is not uncommon for a big-budget blockbuster to be put behind schedule because of an injured lead actor. And while the...
The world of television and film has made leaps and bounds in terms of more realistic fictional universes. Despite this, workplace safety is still seen as either a complete joke or is scarcely mentioned. Fictional employees are constantly being asked to do things, or end up doing things, that completely defy health and safety regulation....
Ghostbusters is set to hit theaters in just over a month, and while the film might be fiction, it has some basis in actual science. We've already looked at why the Ghostbusters reboot is important and the real-world physics behind the Proton Pack. This time, I am interviewing the MIT particle physicist, Lindley Winslow, whose...