DART of Physics and Outreach

I’ve spent much of the last couple months working on this project called DART of Physics, which has put ads with provocative statements about physics up on the DART, the light rail line here in Dublin. Each of the statements has a page on the DART of Physics website explaining it in more detail, and they are all worth checking out:

• Most of the light around you is invisible
• We are all made of stardust
• Is the person next to you standing too close? They’re mainly empty space
• The spire is shorter when the weather is cool
• The moon is escaping the Earth
• Everyone on the DART is attracted to you… gravitationally.
• A trip on the DART keeps you young
• Everyone on the DART is hot
• Why does the metal pole on the DART feel colder than the seat?
• The DART rolls off, and the world rolls back
• Your Leap card is 3 million times thicker than Graphene
• How many leaves fall in Dublin every autumn?

In addition, there’s a DART of Physics blog that has some posts from me, guest posts, and in general just a ton of things about physics. The campaign has been running for 6 weeks and has another 2 to go, so it’s worth checking out all the posts we’ve got up so far. And we’re on twitter and facebook if you want to ask questions or suggest blog topics or anything. We have some amazing creative partners at Language and iQ Content, in addition to our core team from the Schools of Physics, Chemistry, and Education here at Trinity College Dublin:

And, while I’m talking about outreach and linking things, I wrote an article recently about the overlap and tension between science and improvised comedy, two things I love. I’m very proud of it! I really enjoy writing about science, both scientific concepts and the culture of science, and was very honored this week to win the Institute of Physics Early Career Physics Communicator Award. I feel strongly about the importance of science communication, that science is a fascinating lens through which we can view the world around us, and one that should be accessible to anyone whether they are a scientist or not. And the best thing about the IOP event was talking to other people who felt the same way!

Dance your PhD

Every year Science challenges PhD students to explain their thesis through the medium of interpretive dance. The grand prize winner this year, University of Oxford biologist Cedric Tan, uses a mix of styles to explain sperm competition between sibling fowl and female choice:

While interpretive dance may not be anybody’s first choice when it comes to explaining academic research there’s no doubt that it is a good medium for science communication – it’s creative, visual, and can involve catchy songs or music.

You can view the winners of all the categories here.