Star Wars
- Could Han Solo get through the StarKiller shields?
- Why does the Death Star look so big in this poster?
- Video analysis of the Star Destroyer crashing into the Death Star
- Video analysis of the assembly of the Death Star
- Star Wars physics isn’t always correct – and that’s ok.
- The mass of a blaster bolt.
- BB-8 bouncing inside of the Falcon
- 3 ways the StarKiller Base could work.
- Analysis of this Tie Fighter formation
- Video analysis of the speed of a Tie Fighter
- R2-D2 flying at a constant speed.
- Analysis of rolling BB-8 toy.
- Calculating the negative mass of Yoda (or Luke uses the Force).
- How would a force field work?
- Video analysis of an exploding storm trooper.
- Video analysis of Rey’s speeder.
- G-forces for the Millennium Falcon in Empire Strikes Back.
- G-forces for the Millennium Falcon in The Force Awakens
- Video analysis of Tie Fighter speed (another clip).
- Video analysis of BB-8 rolling speed.
- Analysis of blaster bolt speeds in Star Wars.
- Video Analysis of exploding Death Star.
- How would a Tie Fighter work?
- How long would it take an AT-AT to fall over?
- How many people work in the Death Star?
- Star Wars physics homework.
- How much does Darth Vader weigh?
- How much power does a light saber need?
- R2-D2 flies wrong.
- Big spaceships need even bigger thrusters.
- How should R2-D2 fly?
- How big is C3-PO’s battery?
- Could you build a scale LEGO model of the Death Star?
- Could Han have shot second?
- Star Wars Education.
- The StarKiller base would fling everyone into space.
- Rate My Jedi Master.
- How much power does Darth Vader use when throwing a rebel in Rogue One?
- Could you use the ATV to build the Death Star? Post from ESA blog.
- Modeling the Hammerhead pushing a Star Destroyer in Rogue One – video analysis and python included.
- Sideways forces on a turning speeder in Solo trailer.
- Could you see a Star Destroyer from the surface of a planet?
- How much force did Leia use to pull herself in space?
- Turbolaser shots from The First Order ship Supremacy have an arc to their trajectory. How can this be modeled? What’s the acceleration?
- Analysis of bombs from a TIE bomber in Empire Strikes Back and the bombs from The Last Jedi. Video analysis and python included.
- Would Chewbacca fall out of a banked and turning train? No. Here is the physics of that train scene from Solo: A Star Wars Story.
- What about that scene in Star Wars with the escape pod leaving the blockade runner? It was created by taking a model and dropping with a camera above it. Here is my video analysis.
- Video analysis of Rey’s backflip over a TIE fighter in Star Wars IX trailer.
- A huge analysis of Jedi jumps in Episodes I-VIII.
- Video analysis to estimate the acceleration of the Millennium Falcon as it makes the jump to hyperspace. Hint—the acceleration is HUGE.
- How could parts of the Death Star end up on the surface of a planet? Is it possible they “fell” there? How fast would they impact the surface?
- What does the orbital motion of the Death Star tell us about the moon of Endor (from Return of the Jedi)?
- The Mandalorian shoots a guy at short range—what does this say about momentum and forces?
- Could the Mandalorian use infrared to see through walls? Nope. What other options does he have?
- Video analysis of the Mandalorian’s move to grab onto a TIE fighter. What was his acceleration?
- How much energy and power would it take for a Star Destroyer to blow up a planet in The Rise of Skywalker? Video Analysis included.
- Video Analysis of R2-D2 has he rolls backwards in an accelerating Millennium Falcon (from Empire Strikes Back).
- Could anyone do Luke’s plank jump back flip in Return of the Jedi?
- Video Analysis: How deep are the Living Waters in the mines of Mandalore?
- The power of Ashoka using the force (from the Ashoka trailer).
- An analysis of Mandalorian jetpacks (but they are probably rocket packs).
- Video Analysis of Ahsoka’s space jump (from Ahsoka Part 3).
- How difficult would it be to hyperspace to another galaxy? (from Ahsoka part 4).
- Video Analysis of the Ezra-Sabine Force Jump from Ahsoka Episode 8.
- Was Ewan McGregor too fast for lightsaber fights? Video Analysis.
- What kind of battery would you need to power a lightsaber?
- Estimating the force and power of Darth Smiley from The Acolyte
Science Fiction
- Knocking an asteroid into the Sun – from The Expanse.
- Launching a starship off a cliff – Star Trek.
- How massive would a spaceship need to be to pull stuff off the Earth? Independence Day 2.
- This asteroid travels at half the speed of light – The Good Dinosaur
- Science doesn’t have to be perfect in Science Fiction – The Martian
- Artificial gravity in spinning spacecraft – The Martian
- Flying pterosaurs in Jurassic World.
- Artificial gravity in Interstellar.
- How big is Godzilla’s femur?
- Could Godzilla ice skate?
- An alternative energy source in Monsters Inc.
- How do you get 1.23 Gigawatts? Back to the Future.
- How would you carry a Jaeger? Pacific Rim.
- Artificial gravity in Discovery One.
- Artificial gravity in the Elysium space station.
- How much does the Enterprise weigh? Star Trek
- Incorrect gravity and weightlessness in The 100
- Why humans get crushed by an accelerating spacecraft (from The Expanse)
- Video analysis of the accelerating spacecraft in The Expanse – hint: the acceleration isn’t even close to constant.
- Analysis of artificial gravity in the rotating Navoo from The Expanse.
- Physics of running on the moon from Artemis – using my bouncing ball model for running.
- Gravitational weight as seen in Jules Verne’s “From the Earth to the Moon”.
- Jim uses conservation of momentum to save himself and Naomi in The Expanse.
- How could you change physics in The Matrix to make a jump from one building to another?
- Calculating the amount of salt to make Eleven float in a pool—Stranger Things
- Conservation of momentum in a car crash from Stranger Things Season 3
- How do demagnetize a magnet in Stranger Things Season 3
- Modeling the Octonary (8 Star) system in Star Trek: Picard.
- Orbital Physics in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
- Could Bobbie hold two spaceships together in The Expanse?
- Interview with The Expanse show runner, Naren Shankar.
- How much does King Kong weigh and how strong is he? (from Godzilla vs. Kong)
- How does science fiction handle science? A look at different physics ideas and how they are used in movies and shows.
- Could you make the moon crash into the Earth? A look at the Moonfall trailer.
- Why does Buzz Lightyear’s rocket fly with a constant velocity during launch? The answer: because it looks better that way.
- What is a space elevator and what would happen if one broke (from Foundation – the series).
- Climbing in a spinning spacecraft. Analysis from Netflix Stowaway.
- Star Trek Lower Decks. Does Boimler Understand Ohm’s Law?
- My two favorite physics scenes from 2001 A Space Odyssey. The airlock scene and running in a circle.
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