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?

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).