Start: 2012-02-14 19:30:00 > End: 2012-02-14 21:00:00
Location: Berrill Lecture Theatre, The Open University
Contact: Professor Ray Mackintosh
Contact link: Professor Ray Mackintosh
When: Tuesday 14 February 2012 at 7.30pm
Where: Berrill Lecture Theatre
Speaker: Professor Alan Davies (University of Hertfordshire)
The physics of superheroes
Abstract:
Everyone is familiar with at least one superhero. In this talk we shall discuss a wide variety of different superheroes and we shall show how their ‘unbelievable’ powers have a basis supported by the laws of physics. The only concession that we shall make is that we shall assume that they have these powers, we shall not try to explain where they come from. So, we’ll answer questions such as “how strong is the gravity on Krypton?”, “where does Magneto get his levitation from?”, “what is the secret of Wonder Woman’s amazonium?” etc. To answer these questions we shall consider Newton’s law of gravitation, diamagnetism and some materials science. These are only three examples; most of your favourites will be there covering all areas of physics.
All Welcome!
Refreshments available