Television
Category archives for Television
Fringe Thoughts
Posted by Chad Orzel on August 5, 2011 Last week, I asked for advice on the show Fringe, because I need to be able to speak sensibly about it for the purpose of talking about parallel universes. I’ve been working through Janne’s list of recommended episodes, watching on my laptop while SteelyKid goes to sleep, and have got up through the Season 3…
How Much Outreach Do We Need? Depends on What You Mean by “We”
Posted by Chad Orzel on August 2, 2011 Over Twitter, somebody pointed to this article on astronomy outreach (free PDF from that link), which argues that everybody else should stop trying to be Brian Cox: I’ve known Brian for years and worked with him before his celebrity status went supernova. I would love to say “I told you so” to all the TV…
Do You Really Need an Electron Microscope for That?
Posted by Chad Orzel on August 1, 2011 As previously mentioned, I’m watching a little bit of Fringe in order to be able to talk sensibly about it later this week. I watch the Season 1 finale last night, and its treatment of parallel universes is about what I’d expect for tv, but being the obsessive dork I am, I got distracted from…
Fringe Query
Posted by Chad Orzel on July 30, 2011 I’m going to be talking to someone about treatments of parallel worlds in popular media next week, and as the only going mass media concern with a parallel-worlds plot seems to be the show Fringe, it would be helpful for me to be able to talk sensibly about it. Thus, two questions: 1) Where is…
An Incomplete List of Pop-Culture References in How to Teach Relativity to Your Dog
Posted by Chad Orzel on July 19, 2011 I’ve been going through the manuscript for the book making up a list of glossary words (a frighteningly long list), and also noting miscellaneous pop-cultural references– quotes, direct mentions, paraphrases, etc. I’m sure I’ve missed a few– many of them occur in section titles, which my eyes tend to slide right over as I read…
Dog Physics On TV: Set Your DVR
Posted by Chad Orzel on May 25, 2011 I learned today that the National Georgraphic Channel video I mentioned last week has actually already aired on the network. It was last week’s episode of the series “Naked Science,” titled Living in a Parallel Universe. I haven’t seen it, obviously, but it’s running again, tomorrow (the 26th), at 4pm (Eastern (US) time). Set your…
When Aliens Attack
Posted by Chad Orzel on May 23, 2011 As I have admitted previously, I have a fondness for tv shows about UFO’s, the loonier the better. So, when I learned that there was a show called When Aliens Attack airing last night on the National Geographic channel, I was all over that. I’m happy to report that it did not disappoint– it brought…
How to Teach Physics to Your Dog On TV
Posted by Chad Orzel on May 17, 2011 Well, on video over the web, anyway… If you look at the Featured Videos on the National Geographic Channel web page, or, hopefully, in the embedded video below: You’ll see a short video clip of a program about quantum physics, that includes me and Emmy among the experts on camera. I’m pretty psyched, though I’m…
Welcome to the Information Supercollider
Posted by Chad Orzel on May 12, 2011 The title is a .signature line that somebody– Emmet O’Brien, I think, but I’m not sure– used to use on Usenet, back in the mid-to-late 90′s, when some people referred to the Internet as the “Information Superhighway.” I’ve always thought it was pretty apt, especially as I’ve moved into blogdom, where a lot of what…
The Tale of Little Red Robin Hood
Posted by Chad Orzel on April 10, 2011 Once upon a time, there was a beautiful young girl from a family of modest means, who received a spiffy new jacket as a gift. It was bright red, and had a big warm hood that she could pull up over her head when she didn’t feel like combing her hair. She was so pleased…
