How Michio Kaku, Alex Filippenko, Laura Danly, et al. earn their pay

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SUMMARY

The forum discussion centers on the communication strategies of popular physicists like Michio Kaku, Alex Filippenko, and Laura Danly, particularly focusing on Kaku's technique of delivering impactful "6 second scare soundbytes" (6SSS) to engage audiences. Participants share examples of dramatic statements made by these physicists, highlighting how they simplify complex scientific concepts for mass appeal. The conversation critiques the balance between entertainment and scientific integrity in popular science media, with some contributors expressing concern over the potential trivialization of physics.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of basic physics concepts, including forces and energy.
  • Familiarity with popular science communication techniques.
  • Knowledge of notable physicists and their contributions, particularly Michio Kaku.
  • Awareness of the impact of media on public perception of science.
NEXT STEPS
  • Research the concept of "soundbytes" in science communication.
  • Explore the role of popular physicists in media and their influence on public understanding of science.
  • Investigate the balance between entertainment and education in science programming.
  • Learn about the criticisms of popular science figures and their impact on scientific discourse.
USEFUL FOR

This discussion is beneficial for science communicators, educators, and anyone interested in the intersection of physics and media, particularly those analyzing how popular figures shape public understanding of complex scientific ideas.

DiracPool
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Answer? They do it by scaring the hell out of us with what Michio Kaku has perfected as the 6 second scare soundbyte (6SSS). How's that for an alliteration? If you really pay attention to these shows, you can see how the producers coach our friends to "really bring it home to the lay viewer how physics affects them." The result is the 6SSS.

I thought it might be fun for everyone to post their favorite soundbytes from our friends the popular physicists, or hell, just make one up! That's what they do. Here's a few to get the ball rolling:

1) "If it weren't for the electromagnetic force, the Sun and the Earth would simply BLOW apart!"

2) "If we could convert all the mass in this bowling bowl to pure energy, it would be the end of life on this planet as we know it."

3) "Thank god for the Pauli exclusion principle, without it, you would fall right through your chair and become spagattified as you reached the center of the earth."

Get the idea?
 
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"The fine structure constant is so finely tuned, that if were simply 1/138 instead of 1/137, your hand would blow up in your face when you went to scratch your nose!"
 


"A black hole sucks in everything around it into the event horizon"
 


It's called television. Its purpose is to hold your attention so you can be served advertisements.
 


Ben Niehoff said:
It's called television. Its purpose is to hold your attention so you can be served advertisements.

C'mon, don't you guys have any imagination? I mean, "if it weren't for the strong force governing the behavior of ion exchange in axonal conduction, you would not even be able to comprehend this sentence!"
 


DiracPool said:
"The fine structure constant is so finely tuned, that if were simply 1/138 instead of 1/137, your hand would blow up in your face when you went to scratch your nose!"

"If the Universe were any different, it wouldn't be the same!"
 


Number Nine said:
"If the Universe were any different, it wouldn't be the same!"

If the universe were any different, we wouldn't be here.
 


If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.

Carl Sagan
 


Number Nine said:
"If the Universe were any different, it wouldn't be the same!"

That was so deep man!
Dude guy
 
  • #10


"Once confined to fantasy and science fiction, time travel is now simply an engineering problem" - Michio Kaku...the public: physicists:..face palm...
 
  • #11


bp_psy said:
That was so deep man!
Dude guy

I know, right. But where's my show on the History channel?
 
  • #12


"The concept of Pi is essential to our way of life. If Pi didn't exist, there would be no merry-go-round, no Ferris wheel, and no automobiles!"
 
  • #13


FeynmanIsCool said:
"Once confined to fantasy and science fiction, time travel is now simply an engineering problem" - Michio Kaku...the public: physicists:..face palm...

This is EXACTLY the kind of statement from that jerk that makes me think it is unfair of you to lump the others in with him. They DO make bone-headed statements from time to time, but Kaku is clearly in a class all by himself.
 
  • #14


Number Nine said:
I know, right. But where's my show on the History channel?

Well, they made a movie about you didn't they?
 
  • #15


"If you ate 50 million bananas, you would die from radiation poisoning"
 
  • #16


"If time didn't exist, everything would happen at once. If empty space were really empty, everything would be stuck together."

The Celestial Mechanic.
 
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  • #17


SW VandeCarr said:
"If time didn't exist, everything would happen at once. If empty space were really empty, everything would be stuck together."

The Celestial Mechanic.


I think we are actually getting somewhere here, some profound insights. Why go to school and study math and physics when you can reach omniscience through the collection of "knowledge nuggets" provided us by our popular physics programming?
 
  • #18


I don't think that being an intellectual or a deeply thinking person requires you to have a diploma always.I think it's not either popular science shows or high schools that make one intellectual and from that comes also knowledge , I think it is the talent or what your born with + a lot of work and self sacrifice a little bit of luck too.Schools are good they give you knowledge but not to everyone.I know people who have high skills with no diploma at all and I know people who can't even build a simple amplifier after finishing an electrical engineering diploma.
Richard Feynman learned his math even before he went on to school (collage) for example.
Ok excuse me for the offtopic a little.
Now my two cents of this thread I have wondered what it would be like if the universe started off with much much less matter in it but with all the current laws of physics as we know them.
Let's say just our solar system and a few other galaxies and that's all but the laws stay the same would it change something in our everyday life , if not for the fact that we would see much less or almoust no stars at night sky.
Also it would have to do with whether the universe is finite or infinite as now we really don't know for sure but then it would surely have to be finite.Well I guess that poses a scientific and philosophical question.
 
  • #19


Our solar system (and in particular, rock planets) could not exist without nuclei produced and released in supernovae of earlier stars.
 
  • #20


leroyjenkens said:
"If you ate 50 million bananas, you would die from radiation poisoning"

Is that actually a quote from one of these types of shows?
 
  • #21


DiracPool said:
I think we are actually getting somewhere here, some profound insights. Why go to school and study math and physics when you can reach omniscience through the collection of "knowledge nuggets" provided us by our popular physics programming?

or physics forums...that is a slippery slope.

"knowledge nuggets" is way too much of an over statement, but certainly are "nuggets" of some sort.
 
  • #22


I remember from B.Greene's books & tv show the story about the "H-Bar".

So any QM comment that extrapolates an imagined reality from mathematics, as in all non-zero probability comments...like apple pies appearing out of thin air, or walking through a concrete wall.
 
  • #23
Here's a new one from our friend Sean Carroll, part of Kaku's "posse" I'm told:

Without the Higgs boson to explain why electrons and matter have mass, Carroll said, "there would be no atoms, there would be no chemistry, there would be no life, so that's kind of important."

http://news.yahoo.com/god-particle-confirmation-achingly-close-013616436.html

Yeah, right Sean...
 
  • #24
Hmm, how about:

"if we could prove that 1=0, then there would have been no universe, since one universe is zero universes."

But it certainly illustrates one of H.L. Menckens main quotes:

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.
 
  • #25
DiracPool said:
Here's a new one from our friend Sean Carroll, part of Kaku's "posse" I'm told:

...

Carroll DOES say some boneheaded things in pop TV shows but he's still not it Kaku's league as a nut case and is still taken seriously as a physicist. Kaku is just a popularizing gadfly.
 
  • #26
DiracPool said:
Here's a new one from our friend Sean Carroll, part of Kaku's "posse" I'm told:
NO! Stop ruining my image of the author of one of my most favorite GR texts :frown:
 
  • #27
FeynmanIsCool said:
"Once confined to fantasy and science fiction, time travel is now simply an engineering problem" - Michio Kaku...the public: physicists:..face palm...

But, at least to travel forward in time, this is absolutely true...
 
  • #28
People want to be famous so what of it if you spout a few misconceptions here or there? Who is it going to hurt?

The support for science among the general public is rising (imo based on what I read). I think they are doing some good by doing what they're doing. If people want to know more they will pick up a book or something.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=in-science-we-trust-poll
 
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  • #29
Mentalist said:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=in-science-we-trust-poll
Scientific American said:
More than 21,000 people responded via the Web sites of Nature and of Scientific American and its international editions. As expected, it was a supportive and science-literate crowd—19 percent identified themselves as Ph.Ds.
That is not really representative.

Mentalist said:
The support for science among the general public is rising
I get the same impression, but it is a very slow process. It is horrible what some US politicians think (and say!) about science - and still get votes.
 

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