Roles:

Jordan will research the issues relating to black holes that arise in “The Impossible Planet.” Tory will look into the concept of parallel worlds and the idea of jumping between them. We will work together on the validity of laser weapons as legitimate technology.

Science/ Technology Involved:

–       “The Impossible Planet”

• General information on black holes
• General relativity and distorted space-time
• Event horizon
• Scientific validity of the “impossible planet” described

–       Parallel worlds

• Quantum theory
  • Many worlds interpretation
• Any scientific basis for jumping between realities

–       Laser weapons

• Power of lasers (using color as a jumping-off point)
• Scientific validity of their use in the show

Activity plan:

We plan to work individually on a daily basis and meet every other day. Our project is research-based, so we will gather sources from the library and from Scopus. Books we have already consulted include Black Holes and Warped Spacetime (Kaufmann), An Introduction to Relativistic Gravitation (Hakim), Science and Ultimate Reality (Barrow, Davies, and Harper), and Science and Technology of Directed-Energy Weapons (American Physical Society).

Expected Outcome:

At this point in our research, we are unable to accurately predict the results of our venture. We hypothesize that the concepts we are studying have some basis in real science, but have been greatly exaggerated for television. However, we will be pleasantly surprised (until the Daleks show up, obviously) if our hypothesis turns out to be incorrect.