Thursday, August 27, 2015

Dr Derek Muller and the fanboy

As part of the Science Festival and Science Week Scitech hosted the Presenter of Uranium Twisting the Dragon's Tail and  Veritasium 'Youtuber' Dr Derek Muller. Who just happens to be one of Will's favourite people. In fact when we booked the tickets he described himself as "actually shaking with excitement" at the prospect of meeting Dr Muller. And meet him we did.....


Will thinking 'Holy cow is this really happening!?'

He talked about making the film Uranium which Will and I have recently watched.



There was some cool behind the scenes information and stories.

Including one about leaving his Geiger Counter on when he took a flight- and alarming everyone with it's alarm! Will thought that would be pretty embarrassing. 

After his presentation he was interviewed by James Lush and then they had a question time for the audience. Will waited patiently with his hand up for a long time until the lady with the mic came and he got his turn. He asked about the likelihood of scientists being able to use the power from nuclear fission to power the Mars Rocket. Something he's been thinking about a lot since we watched the film.


This is Dr Muller speaking directly to Will. He was saying that the problem they are faced with is having the energy released slowly and not all at once as it is in a Uranium bomb. He thought there was a 50/50 chance that it may happen in Will's lifetime. 

By the time the presentation was finished we were at least an hour past Will's usual bedtime so it was something of a surprise to me that he stayed awake for a good 15 minutes in the car reflecting on the talk. I wish I had a tape recorder on him! 

I asked what the highlight was for him and he said he couldn't pick just one. So I asked for some of the standout moments- he said the whole thing was a standout. He went on to say that he is "eager to learn more about radioactive substances". He is thinking of changing his plan to be a chemist to being a Geophysicist or a Nuclear Physicist. He said that the kids at the presentation asked better questions because they were more 'sciencey'. And that the adults asked questions that were more political. (He was very on point there!) He stated that "When the science goes wrong is when the politics comes in." And he summed up with "Radiation is a force to be reckoned with. Especially the dragon."

Um, so I was just a bit proud!!
 ♥

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