I would never have thought that so recently after starting this site that I’d be invited to do something as cool as be a guest on SETI radio. But I was, and it was awesome. This week they’re doing a fascinating show about the science of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Tom Rogers of Insultingly Stupid Movie Physics (a favorite site of mine long before I started writing here) and I discuss the physics of the film, where it goes wrong, and the couple of places it goes right. Ian Freestone of the University of Wales talks about the actual crystal skulls which are known to archaeology (they’re human shaped, and almost certainly fake). Phil Plait of Bad Astronomy talks about Mayan archaeology and the infamous 2012 deadline for the doom of the earth. Finally, Jim Underdown of Center for Inquiry West in Los Angeles discusses how critical thinking might have been put to some good use in the film.
It’s a really fun show, and I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed doing the interview!
2 responses so far ↓
1 Nick // Jun 23, 2008 at 6:57 pm
Heh, that was a fun episode. Hopefully you’ll have more chances to participate in these types of things!
2 Carl Brannen // Jun 23, 2008 at 11:22 pm
I also saw the movie. I was unprepared for the nuke scene and wept.
When I was about your age I got a BS in math and interviewed for the nuclear navy (as an alternative to grad school). Along the line I got to tour a fleet ballistic missle sub, the USS Grant. If I recall, it had 24 MIRV warheaded missiles.
They show you a pair of chairs, separated by about 6 or 8 feet. On the bench in front, each has what looks to be a pistol grip video game controller. These have the buttons that two of you will simultaneously press in order to launch the weapons that will kill millions.
About the time I was in physics grad school, the cold war ended. It’s difficult for me to express the relief I felt. Sometimes I wonder about what the younger generation thinks of this ancient history, which seems so recent to me.
Your co-physicist was a bit off in places:
Re: “showers of lead that don’t hit anyone”, actual modern combat involves something around a thousand rounds per casualty. I think the real complaint is that certain important characters never get hit.
Re: bone versus quartz strengths.
Perhaps the aliens are made from fused quartz. This decreases the density from 2.65 to around 2.2, and increases the tensile strength to about 4x bone, which has a density of around 1.6. Certainly life does a pretty good job of optimizing materials for this sort of thing.
Leave a Comment