Blockbuster Science

by David Siegel Bernstein

  10. Dan Simmons, Ilium (New York: HarperTorch, 2005); Dan Simmons, Olympos (New York: Harper Voyager, 2006).

  11. Gerald P. Jackson and Steven D. Howe, “Antimatter Driven Sail for Deep Space Missions,” (Proceedings of the Particle Accelerator Conference, Portland, OR, May 12–16, 2003).

  12. New World Encyclopedia, s.v. “Antimatter,” http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Antimatter (accessed June 23, 2017).

  13. Natalie Wolchover, “Will Antimatter Destroy the World?” Live Science, June 16, 2011, https://www.livescience.com/33348-antimatter-destroy-world.html (accessed June 24, 2017).

  14. Matt Williams, “What Is the Alcubierre ‘Warp’ Drive,” Universe Today, Jan. 22, 2017, https://www.universetoday.com/89074/what-is-the-alcubierre-warp-drive (accessed June 24, 2017).

  15. “Eugene Podkletnov's Gravity Impulse Generator,” American Antigravity, September 21, 2012, http://www.americanantigravity.com/news/space/eugene-podkletnovs-gravity-impulse-generator.html (accessed June 23, 2017).

  16. Breakthrough Initiatives, “Internet Investor and Science Philanthropist Yuri Milner & Physicist Stephen Hawking Announce Breakthrough Starshot Project to Develop 100 Million Mile per Hour Mission to the Stars within a Generation,” https://breakthroughinitiatives.org/News/4 (accessed June 23, 2017).

  THIRD INTERLUDE: A MATTER OF SUBSTANCE

  1. Brian Greene, “How the Higgs Boson Was Found,” Smithsonian Magazine, July 2013, http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how-the-higgs-boson-was-found-4723520/ (accessed June 23, 2017).

  2. Clara Moskowitz, “What's 96 Percent of the Universe Made Of? Astronomers Don't Know,” Space.com, May 12, 2011, https://www.space.com/11642-dark-matter-dark-energy-4-percent-universe-panek.html (accessed June 23, 2017).

  3. William J. Cromie, “Physicists Slow Speed of Light,” Harvard Gazette, February 18, 1999, http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/1999/02/physicists-slow-speed-of-light/ (accessed April 29, 2017).

  4. Julian Léonard et al., “Supersolid Formation in a Quantum Gas Breaking a Continuous Translational Symmetry,” Nature 543 (March 2, 2017): 87–90.

  5. Jun-Ru Li et al., “A Stripe Phase with Supersolid Properties in Spin–Orbit-Coupled Bose–Einstein Condensates,” Nature 543 (March 2, 2017): 91–94.

  CHAPTER 18: WHY ARE WE SO MATERIALISTIC?

  1. Richard Gray, “No More Smashed Phones! Super-Hard Metallic Glass Is 600 Times Stronger than Steel and Will BOUNCE If It's Dropped,” Daily Mail, April 5, 2016, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3524128/No-smashed-phones-Super-hard-metallic-glass-500-times-stronger-steel-BOUNCE-dropped.html (accessed June 23, 2017).

  2. “Digital Contact Lenses Can Transform Diabetes Care,” Medical Futurist, http://medicalfuturist.com/googles-amazing-digital-contact-lens-can-transform-diabetes-care/ (accessed June 23, 2017).

  3. Melissa Healy, “Hot? You Can Cool Down by Suiting Up in This High-Tech Fabric,” Los Angeles Times, September 1, 2016, http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-cool-shirt-20160901-snap-story.html (accessed April 29, 2017).

  4. Jennifer Chu, “Beaver-Inspired Wetsuits in the Works,” MIT News, October 5, 2016, http://news.mit.edu/2016/beaver-inspired-wetsuits-surfers-1005 (accessed April 29, 2017).

  5. Jyllian Kemsley, “Names for Elements 113, 115, 117, and 118 Finalized by IUPAC,” Chemical & Engineering News, December 5, 2016, http://cen.acs.org/articles/94/i48/Names-elements-113-115-117.html (accessed 6/24/ 2017).

  6. Bob Yirka, “Linking Superatoms to Make Molecules to Use as Building Blocks for New Materials,” Phys.org, July 27, 2016, https://phys.org/news/2016-07-linking-superatoms-molecules-blocks-materials.html (accessed June 23, 2017).

  7. Sarah Zielinski, “Absolute Zero: Why Is A Negative Number Called Absolute Zero?” Smithsonian Magazine, January 1, 2008, http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/absolute-zero-13930448 (accessed June 24, 2017).

  8. Emily Conover, “The Pressure Is on to Make Metallic Hydrogen,” Science News 190, no. 4 (August 20, 2016): 18, https://www.sciencenews.org/article/pressure-make-metallic-hydrogen (accessed April 29, 2017).

  9. Colin Barras, “Warmest Ever Superconductor Works at Antarctic Temperatures,” New Scientist, August 17, 2015, https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn28058-warmest-ever-superconductor-works-at-antarctic-temperatures/ (accessed June 23, 2017).

  10. “The Nobel Prize in Physics 2010,” Nobelprize.org, https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2010/ (accessed June 23, 2017).

  11. Prachi Patel, “Silkworms Spin Super-Silk after Eating Carbon Nanotubes and Graphene,” Scientific American, October 9, 2016, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/silkworms-spin-super-silk-after-eating-carbon-nanotubes-and-graphene/ (accessed April 29, 2017).

  12. Lynda Delacey, “Q-Carbon: A New Phase of Carbon So Hard It Forms Diamonds When Melted,” New Atlas, December 6, 2015, http://newatlas.com/q-carbon-new-phase-of-carbon/40668/ (accessed June 23, 2017).

  13. Alexandra Goho, “Infrared Vision: New Material Might Enhance Plastic Solar Cells,” Science News, January 22, 2005.

  14. Stefan Lovgren, “Spray-On Solar-Power Cells Are True Breakthrough,” National Geographic News, January 14, 2005, http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/01/0114_050114_solarplastic.html (accessed June 23, 2017).

  15. Goho, “Infrared Vision.”

  16. Seth Borenstein, “Now You See It, Now You Don't: Time Cloak Created,” US News, January 4, 2012, https://www.usnews.com/science/articles/2012/01/04/now-you-see-it-now-you-dont-time-cloak-created (accessed April 29, 2017).

  CHAPTER 19: TECHNOLOGY (COOL TOYS)

  1. Anh-Vu Do et al., “3D Printing of Scaffolds for Tissue Regeneration Applications,” Advanced Healthcare Materials 4, no. 12 (2015): 1742–62.

  2. William Herkewitz, “Incredible 3D Printer Can Make Bone, Cartilage, and Muscle. Hello, Future,” Popular Mechanics, February 15, 2016, http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/health/a19443/3d-printer-bone-cartilidge-and-muscle/ (accessed April 29, 2017).

  3. Steven Leckart, “How 3-D Printing Body Parts Will Revolutionize Medicine,” Popular Science, August 6, 2013, http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-07/how-3-d-printing-body-parts-will-revolutionize-medicine (accessed June 23, 2017).

  4. Marissa Fessenden, “3-D Printed Windpipe Gives Infant Breath of Life: A Flexible, Absorbable Tube Helps a Baby Boy Breathe, and Heralds a Future of Body Parts Printed on Command,” Scientific American, May 24, 2013, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/3-d-printed-windpipe/ (accessed April 29, 2017).

  5. Alexandria Le Tellier, “Does the Bluetooth Dress Signal the Future of Fashion?” All the Rage, June 18, 2009, http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/alltherage/2009/06/does-the-bluetooth-dress-signal-the-future-of-fashion.html (accessed June 23, 2017).

  6. Richard Gray for MailOnline, “The Electronic Skin Fitted with ‘Disco Lights’: Sticky Film Could Lead to Wearable Screens That Track Your Health and Even Show FILMS,” DailyMail, April 15, 2016, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3542072/The-electronic-skin-fitted-disco-lights-Sticky-film-lead-wearable-screens-track-health-FILMS.html (accessed April 29, 2017).

  7. Meghan Rosen, “Tracking Health Is No Sweat with New Device: Wearable Electronic Analyzes Chemicals in Perspiration,” Science News, January 27, 2016, https://www.sciencenews.org/article/tracking-health-no-sweat-new-device?mode=magazine&context=543 (accessed April 29, 2017).

  8. Jacob Aron, “Laser Camera Can Track Hidden Moving Objects around Corners,” New Scientist, December 7, 2015, https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn28628-laser-camera-can-track-hidden-moving-objects-around-corners/ (accessed April 29, 2017).

  9. Emily Conover, “Wi-Fi Can Help House Distinguish between Members: Smart Homes Will Cater to Individuals’ Needs,” Science News, September 27, 2016, https://www.sciencenews.org/article/wi-fi-can-help-house-distinguish-between-members?mode=topic&context=96 (accessed April 29, 2017).

  10. Dr. Elizabeth Strychalski, “Neural Engineering System Design (NESD),” DARPRA, htt
p://www.darpa.mil/program/neural-engineering-system-design (accessed April 29, 2017).

  CHAPTER 20: WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO EXIST?

  1. Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow, The Grand Design (New York: Bantam Books, 2010).

  2. Doctor Who, “Under the Lake,” season 9, episode 3, first broadcast October 3, 2015, directed by Daniel O'Hara and written by Toby Whithouse.

  3. “The First Flight Simulator (1929),” HistoryofInformation.com, http://www.historyofinformation.com/expanded.php?id=2520 (accessed June 23, 2017).

  4. “History of Virtual Reality,” Virtual Reality Society, https://www.vrs.org.uk/virtual-reality/history.html (accessed June 23, 2017).

  5. Ibid.

  6. R. Gonçalves et al., “Efficacy of Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy in the Treatment of PTSD: A Systematic Review,” PLoS ONE 7, no. 12 (2012).

  7. Repstein, “Perspective; Chapter 1: The Party,” Expanded Theater, September 29, 2015, https://courses.ideate.cmu.edu/54-498/f2015/perspective-chapter-1-the-party-by-morris-may-and-rose-troche-2015/ (accessed June 23, 2017); Angela Watercutter, “VR Films Are Going to Be All over Sundance in 2015,” Wired, December 4, 2014, https://www.wired.com/2014/12/oculus-rift-sundance-film-festival/ (accessed June 23, 2017).

  8. Kathryn Y. Segovia and Jeremy N. Bailenson, “Virtually True: Children's Acquisition of False Memories in Virtual Reality,” Media Psychology 12 (2009): 371–393.

  9. Jerry Adler, “Erasing Painful Memories,” Scientific American, May 2012.

  10. “Holographic Universe,” Science Daily, https://www.sciencedaily.com/terms/holographic_principle.htm (accessed June 23, 2017).

  11. Star Trek: The Next Generation, “Relics,” first broadcast October 12, 1992, directed by Alexander Singer and written by Ronald D. Moore.

  CHAPTER 21: THE END OF EVERYTHING

  1. Peter Holley, “Stephen Hawking Just Gave Humanity a Due Date for Finding another Planet,” Washington Post, November 17, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2016/11/17/stephen-hawking-just-gave-humanity-a-due-date-for-finding-another-planet/?utm_term=.9258c8943376 (accessed June 23, 2017).

  2. Martin Rees, Our Final Hour: A Scientist's Warning—How Terror, Error, and Environmental Disaster Threaten Humankind's Future in This Century—On Earth and Beyond (New York: Basic Books, 2003).

  3. “Roundtable: A Modern Mass Extinction?” Evolution, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/extinction/massext/statement_03.html (accessed June 23, 2017).

  4. Wikipedia, s.v. “Extinction Event,” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extinction_event (accessed June 24, 2017).

  5. Gerardo Ceballos et al., “Accelerated Modern Human-Induced Species Losses: Entering the Sixth Mass Extinction,” Science Advances 1 (June 19, 2015).

  6. Adrienne Lafrance, “The Chilling Regularity of Mass Extinctions: Scientists Say New Evidence Supports a 26-Million-Year Cycle Linking Comet Showers and Global Die-Offs,” Atlantic, November 3, 2015, https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2015/11/the-next-mass-extinction/413884/ (accessed April 29, 2017).

  7. Konstantin Batygin and Michael E. Brown, “Evidence for a Distant Giant Planet in the Solar System,” Astronomical Journal 20 (2016).

  8. Leslie Mullen, “Getting Wise about Nemesis,” Astrobiology, March 11, 2010, http://www.astrobio.net/news-exclusive/getting-wise-about-nemesis/ (accessed April 29, 2017).

  9. Sarah Scoles, “Target Earth: The Next Extinction from Space,” Discover, July 28, 2016, http://discovermagazine.com/2016/sept/9-death-from-above (accessed April 29, 2017).

  10. D. C. Agle et al., “Catalog of Known Near-Earth Asteroids Tops 15,000,” (announcement by Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, October 27, 2016), https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=6664 (accessed April 29, 2017).

  11. “What Killed the Dinosaurs?” Evolution, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/extinction/dinosaurs/asteroid.html (accessed June 23, 2017).

  12. Andrey Kuzmin, “Meteorite Explodes over Russia, More Than 1,000 Injured,” Reuters, February 15, 2013, http://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-meteorite-idUSBRE91E05Z20130215 (accessed June 23, 2017).

  13. Deborah Byrd, “Night Sky as Milky Way and Andromeda Galaxies Merge,” EarthSky, March 24, 2014, http://earthsky.org/space/video-of-earths-night-sky-between-now-and-7-billion-years (accessed June 23, 2017).

  14. “The Three Laws of Thermodynamics,” Boundless.com https://www.boundless.com/chemistry/textbooks/boundless-chemistry-textbook/thermodynamics-17/the-laws-of-thermodynamics-123/the-three-laws-of-thermodynamics-496-3601/ (accessed June 26, 2017); Jim Lucus, “What Is Thermodynamics,” Live Science, May 7, 2015, https://www.livescience.com/50776-thermodynamics.html (accessed June 26, 2017).

  15. Hannah Devlin, “This is the Way the World Ends: Not with a Bang, but with a Big Rip,” Guardian, July 3, 2015, https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/jul/02/not-with-a-bang-but-with-a-big-rip-how-the-world-will-end (accessed July 1,2017).

  16. Arthur C. Clarke, Profiles of the Future: An Inquiry into the Limits of the Possible (New York: Popular Library, 1973).

  abiogenesis: The evolution of life from nonliving substances.

  absolute zero: The theoretical lowest temperature where the motion of particles is at their minimum. Superconductors love this temperature.

  adaptation: The short-run process of change by which an organism becomes better suited to the environment.

  albedo: The proportion of light and heat reflected by a surface.

  anthropic principle (more philosophical than scientific): Our universe is hospitable to life because we are here to observe it.

  artificial gravity: I'm guessing gravity not created by stellar objects. It seems to me that, human-made or not, gravity is still gravity. What's artificial about it?

  artificial intelligence: A computer system able to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence.

  augmented reality: Computer-generated images superimposed over a user's view of the real world.

  bacteriophages: A virus that infects and multiplies within a bacterium.

  beta decay: Decay kicked off by the presence of too many protons or neutrons in an atom's nucleus. One of the excess particles will transform into the other (electrons and neutrinos are players in the process).

  big bang: The leading cosmological theory on how our universe began.

  carbon dioxide (CO2): A molecule that absorbs and emits solar radiation. It is a greenhouse gas that is vital to life, but too much of anything can be bad.

  carbon sequestering: It's a process that removes CO2 from the atmosphere and stores it.

  Casimir effect: The attractive force between two close plates caused by vacuum pressure. Experimentally, this provides evidence of virtual particles.

  Cepheid stars: A star that pulsates at regular intervals. Mix in a little math, and it helps determine stellar distances.

  Chandrasekhar limit: Calculated at 1.4 times the sun. If the mass of a star is less than this, it will end up as a white dwarf at the end of its life. If the mass is greater, things really heat up to supernova level. If a star's mass is way above this limit, it is destined to become a black hole.

  chemical rocket: Uses chemical fuel and an oxidizer for combustion.

  cloning: Asexual reproduction.

  cognition: The acquisition of knowledge through thought.

  consciousness: Awareness of your surroundings.

  cosmic microwave background (CMB): The universe's first light. It is the electromagnetic radiation left over from the big bang. Think of it as a baby picture.

  cosmology: The science of the whole universe, including its origin and ending.

  cyberspace: A computer network environment over which users can communicate.

  cyborg: A being composed of both biological and mechanical body parts.

  decoherence: The transition from a quantum state into a classical state; a collapse of the probability wave into a single state (outcome).

  DNA (deoxyribonucl
eic acid): The genetic blueprint for self-replication.

  Drake equation: An equation used to calculate the odds of finding an extraterrestrial intelligent communicating civilization.

  element: A substance that can't be broken down into simpler substances (they are composed of quarks and electrons).

  emergent properties: A system where the whole has a property none of its individual parts have.

  energy and mass equivalency (E=mc2): Mass is very concentrated energy.

  entropy: The amount of thermal energy unavailable for mechanical work. Also a measure of disorder in a system.

  event horizon: A boundary surrounding a black hole. Once past it, there is no return, even for light.

  evolution: The long-run process of inheritable changes (random mutations) of a population over time.

  exoplanet: A planet outside our solar system.

  Fermi Paradox: The contradiction between the high probability of alien life and the lack of evidence for that life.

  general relativity: Mix gravity with special relativity, and you will discover that gravity and acceleration are equivalent.

  genetic engineering: Modifying an organism through gene manipulation.

  geoengineering: Human manipulation of a planet's environment.

  Goldilocks zone: The just right distance from a star for a planet to possibly have liquid water.

  gravitational waves: Ripples in spacetime caused by some wicked cosmic events like black holes colliding.

  gravitons: Theorized quantized gravity (a particle) that mediates the gravitational field.

  gravity-acceleration equivalence: A conclusion of general relativity that states gravity comes from acceleration.

  gravity as geometry: Einstein's idea that gravity is not a force but a property of spacetime's curves. Accelerate down a curve, and boom! Gravity (see previous term).

  gravity tractor: A theoretical object that can deflect another object using its gravitational field.

  greenhouse effect: A metaphor used to explain the correlation of global warming and solar heat trapped in the atmosphere.