Physics Girl

Science and Nature Series / 4 Seasons

Join host Dianna Cowern as she puts her MIT physics degree to the test. With experiments, demonstrations, and cool new discoveries, Physics Girl sheds new light on the fun, adventurous side of physical science.

3m 28s

How to Make a Hurricane on a Bubble

S1 E1 / 3m 28s

How do scientists mimic the physics of a hurricane on the surface of a bubble? What other types of crazy research are bubbles used for? Learn how to create colorful vortices on a bubble in your kitchen!

How to Make a Cloud in Your Mouth

S1 E2 / 3m 47s

Learn how to make a wispy cloud come out of your mouth, even when it’s not cold out. Like any awesome trick, physics is to thank for the mouth cloud. This simple and fun demonstration can be used to explain the cloud in a bottle experiment, and real clouds in the sky.

Is this really 3D?

S1 E3 / 5m 2s

3D movies and TV are is increasing in popularity, but is any of it truly 3D? How true is the 3D in movie theaters? How do glasses-less 3D TVs work? Try catching a ball with one eye closed. If you find it easy, try having the ball thrown a couple of feet in front of you, or from further away. It becomes increasingly difficult when the throw is off.

How 3D holograms work

S1 E4 / 4m 4s

Holograms are photographic recordings of 3D scenes. Unlike a camera, which captures one view through a small viewer focused by a lens, holograms capture an entire light field which allows them to recreate the 3D scene. Shimmery 2D projections, like pre-recorded Pepper’s ghost illusion, are often confused with 3D holograms.

Epic Space Rescues

S1 E5 / 6m 19s

In The Martian, astronaut Mark Watney is stranded alone on Mars and must be rescued. It is an exciting tale of what could happen once humans start traveling to the red planet. Let’s take a look back at the most epic space rescues in history.

Avoid electric shock getting out of a car

S1 E9 / 4m 40s

As the weather gets colder and dryer, you are more likely to get shocked when getting out of a car, touching a door knob, or doing laundry. Is there a way to prevent getting shocked on the car door?

Are MRIs safe?

S1 E10 / 6m 35s

Medical imaging, specifically magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), has come so far that we can create high resolution images of the entire body. The technology utilizes a cylindrical cavity surrounded by a giant electromagnet, and the magnetic field though the cavity is used to image body tissue.

Are perpetual motion machines possible?

S1 E11 / 5m 1s

A wheel that spins forever; a bird that never quenches its thirst; a clock that never stops ticking, an endless source of free energy. These are but the dreams of inventors striving to make perpetual motion machines, machines that can work forever without any energy input. Are these machines possible without violating the laws of physics? No.

Five Physics Experiments for the Holidays

S1 E12 / 2m 51s

These five holiday-themed physics experiments will keep you and your family busy with science during the winter holidays! All experiments involve materials found around the house. Parental supervision advised.

Why do we care about gravitational waves?

S1 E17 / 4m 29s

On Feb 11, 2016 Scientists at LIGO announced that they had detected gravitational waves for the first time. Einstein predicted the existence of these waves in his 1915 theory of general relativity. But it took a long time for us to come up with the technology to detect them.

Quantum Cryptography Explained

S1 E18 / 7m 47s

With recent high-profile security decryption cases, encryption is more important than ever. Much of your browser usage and your smartphone data is encrypted. But what does that process actually entail? And when computers get smarter and faster due to advances in quantum physics, how will encryption keep up?

Is energy always conserved?

S1 E19 / 5m 16s

When light passes through the universe and is redshifted by the expansion of space itself, how is energy conserved? The stretched light has a longer wavelength and therefore a lower energy. Is energy conserved? If so, where does it go?

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