Tag: Star Wars

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The Science of Star Wars: Part 5, the Death Star

Star Wars continues to be the most successful movie franchise in history. The movies are great fun, the story telling is excellent, thoroughly based on the Hero’s Journey and the characters are some of the most beloved in cinema history. Whether your favorite scene is the from jump into hyperspace, the climactic lightsaber duel between Obi Wan Kenobi and Darth Vadar, Vadar intoning “I am your father”, or the destruction of the Death Star they all still resonate today. But what of the science of Star Wars. Are these great scenes and effects even possible? Do they violate the laws of physics and nature as we understand them today? Join Tom Fox and Dr. Ben Locwin, a healthcare executive, who in addition to his medical expertise is a degreed astrophysicist, as the look behind some of the most exciting scenes in Star Wars to look at the portrayal of science in Star Wars. In this concluding Episode 5, they discuss the Death Star. Some of the topics covered are:

1. How is it constructed? Can you build a small planet in space?

2. How would you generate the energy to fully arm the weapon?

3. Why is there no kinetic free lunch in space ?

4. How does the James Webb Telescope apply to the Death Star?

5. What are LaGrange Points and how do they apply to the Death Star?

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The Science of Star Wars: Part 4, Robots v. Cyborgs in the Star Wars Universe

Star Wars continues to be the most successful movie franchise in history. The movies are great fun, the story telling is excellent, thoroughly based on the Hero’s Journey and the characters are some of the most beloved in cinema history. Whether your favorite scene is the from jump into hyperspace, the climactic lightsaber duel between Obi Wan Kenobi and Darth Vadar, Vadar intoning “I am your father”, or the destruction of the Death Star they all still resonate today. But what of the science of Star Wars. Are these great scenes and effects even possible? Do they violate the laws of physics and nature as we understand them today? Join Tom Fox and Dr. Ben Locwin, a healthcare executive, who in addition to his medical expertise is a degreed astrophysicist, as the look behind some of the most exciting scenes in Star Wars to look at the portrayal of science in Star Wars. In Episode 4, they discuss the Robots and Cyborgs. Some of the topics covered are:

1. Where did the term ‘robot’ derive from?

2. Is Darth Vadar a cyborg?

3. Are these stories simply Pinocchio brought forward?

4. What is the difference in strong v. weak AI?

5. How does the Turing Test apply?

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Greetings and Felicitations

The Science of Star Wars: Part 3, Mechanical Prosthetics

Star Wars continues to be the most successful movie franchise in history. The movies are great fun, the story telling is excellent, thoroughly based on the Hero’s Journey and the characters are some of the most beloved in cinema history. Whether your favorite scene is the from jump into hyperspace, the climactic lightsaber duel between Obi Wan Kenobi and Darth Vadar, Vadar intoning “I am your father”, or the destruction of the Death Star they all still resonate today. But what of the science of Star Wars. Are these great scenes and effects even possible? Do they violate the laws of physics and nature as we understand them today? Join Tom Fox and Dr. Ben Locwin, a healthcare executive, who in addition to his medical expertise is a degreed astrophysicist, as the look behind some of the most exciting scenes in Star Wars to look at the portrayal of science in Star Wars. In Episode 3, they discuss the mechanical prosthetics as used on Luke after his forearm is severed by Darth Vadar. Some of the topics covered are:

1. Sequential current must be deployed to detract muscles to create motion.

2.The role of artificial intelligence and machine learning in mechanical prosthetics.

3. Regenerative cell therapy for skin covering?

4. How are chambers powered?

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Greetings and Felicitations

The Science of Star Wars: Part 2, Fighting with Lightsabers


Star Wars continues to be the most successful movie franchise in history. The movies are great fun, the story telling is excellent, thoroughly based on the Hero’s Journey and the characters are some of the most beloved in cinema history. Whether your favorite scene is the from jump into hyperspace, the climactic lightsaber duel between Obi Wan Kenobi and Darth Vadar, Vadar intoning “I am your father”, or the destruction of the Death Star they all still resonate today. But what of the science of Star Wars. Are these great scenes and effects even possible? Do they violate the laws of physics and nature as we understand them today? Join Tom Fox and Dr. Ben Locwin, a healthcare executive, who in addition to his medical expertise is a degreed astrophysicist, as the look behind some of the most exciting scenes in Star Wars to look at the portrayal of science in Star Wars. In Episode 2, they discuss dueling with lightsabers. Some of the topics covered are:

  1. As cool now as it was in 1977.
  2. How to generate the photon beam of light?
  3. Could the beam be similar to lightening?
  4. Would the ‘blades’ pass through each other?
  5. Blaster photons would pass through them.
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Greetings and Felicitations

The Science of Star Wars: Part 1, Traveling in Hyperspace

Star Wars continues to be the most successful movie franchise in history. The movies are great fun, the storytelling is excellent, thoroughly based on the Hero’s Journey, and the characters are some of the most beloved in cinema history. Whether your favorite scene is the from jump into hyperspace, the climactic lightsaber duel between Obi Wan Kenobi and Darth Vadar, Vadar intoning “I am your father,” or the destruction of the Death Star, they all still resonate today. But what of the science of Star Wars. Are these great scenes and effects even possible? Do they violate the laws of physics and nature as we understand them today? Join Tom Fox and Dr. Ben Locwin, a healthcare executive. In addition to his medical expertise, he is a degreed astrophysicist, as they look behind some of the most exciting scenes in Star Wars to look at the portrayal of science in Star Wars. In Episode 1, they consider traveling in hyperspace. Some of the topics covered are:

1. The visual effect of light bending.

2. Does traveling in hyperspace violate Einstein’s Law of Special Relativity.

3. What would be traveling in hyperspace do to the human body?

4. How does one navigate in hyperspace.