As with all episodes of this podcast there are spoilers ahead!
Earlier this year I approached a brilliant theoretical physicist about whether she would like to come on the podcast to speak about her favourite science fiction film but instead she wanted to speak to me about the science of the film Interstellar (2014).
I apologise in advance for my own level of understanding of physics which is a mix of decades old lessons in school, a tiny handful of pop science books and a number of science fiction films.
Interstellar was released ten years ago in November 2014.
Theoretical physicist Kip Thorne was the main consultant to director Christopher Nolan on the science of the film which is packed with scientifically accurate scenarios (and a few scientifically fantastical ones too).
The Guest Claudia de Rham is a theoretical physicist at Imperial College, London. Her expertise lies at the interface between Quantum Field Theory, Gravity, Gravitational Waves, Cosmology, Particle Physics, Numerical Simulations and Theoretical Mathematical Physics.
Chapters 00:00 Introduction to the show and guest 01:20 Claudia’s first viewing: Science, emotion and the world you leave behind. 03:25 A quick overview of the premise 04:37 Wormholes: folding paper and spacetime 17:17 Kip Thorne and gravitational anomalies 11:14 Time dilation and black holes 15:14 Time is relative, gravity is multi-dimensional and the transition to science fiction 16:49 Going beyond Einstein’s theory of general relativity to the holy grail of science 19:34 Differences in singularities and being pulled apart by black holes 21:47 The tesseract and extra dimensions 24:50 Gravity as communicator 29:38 Gravity vs light 33:20 Direct detection of gravitational waves, interferometers and LISA* in space 35:06 Observation of the shadows of black holes 36:50 Claudia’s love of gravity
Next Episode: The next film we will be looking at is Creature from the Black Lagoon from 1954!
You can check JustWatch for where you can find the film in your region. It is available to rent or buy in various places including Apple TV. Sequels Revenge of the Creature and The Creature Walks Among Us are trickier to track down though there are some online streaming services. The Shape of Water (2017) which is heavily inspired by the original film is available to rent or buy in various places and is also available for those who have a Disney+ subscription.
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