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Web life: Planet SciCast

31 Jul 2009
Planet SciCast

So what is the site about?
Planet SciCast is an online repository for short films about science — a bit like a science-specific, moderated version of YouTube. As of July 2009, the site hosts over 150 films on topics ranging from CERN’s Large Hadron Collider to fun things to do with treacle. New content appears on the site every few weeks, and some films include links to information about related experiments, demos and activities. The site also runs an annual competition aimed at getting more people involved in making science films, with prizes in categories like “best original score” and “best presenter”.

Can you describe a typical film?
The majority of the bite-sized movies — the maximum length is two and a half minutes — come from children and young students. Accordingly, most feature experiments that are easy to do in a classroom with common lab equipment or a few inexpensive household items. Some, like a demonstration of alkali-metal reactivity, are old stand-bys of chemistry and physics lessons. Others show an amazing degree of creativity in both their choice of topic and their presentation: a film about lasers, for example, opens with its teenage cast re-enacting a scene from the James Bond film Goldfinger before moving on to explanatory diagrams and animations.

Does this mean it is just for children?
Not at all. The site encourages contributions from parents, teachers, science communicators and researchers. Indeed, anyone with a video camera and an interest in science education is welcome to send in material, although the prize competition is only open to amateur film-makers from the UK and Ireland. Despite this limitation, competition for the 2009 best film prize in the “adults” category was fierce. The winning entry came from Andrew Hanson, a senior research scientist at the UK’s National Physical Laboratory, whose animated romp through relativity beat a tutorial on levitation, a 1950s-themed explanation of baking powder, and a film on oil and water called, er, The Immiscible Love Story.

Can you give me some highlights?
One thing that the site proves is that sometimes even extremely simple ideas can make great films. A perfect example of this is The Bernoulli Waltz, which pairs table-tennis balls suspended on a column of air with Johann Strauss’ “Blue Danube” waltz in a wordless tribute to the opening sequence of the film 2001: A Space Odyssey. Other films rely on clever word play — particularly The Geiger Müller Groove (showcasing a catchy rap about alpha, beta and gamma radiation), which won “best physics film” in 2009. Be sure to check out The Formation of Crude Oil, which illustrates the required elements — dead sea creatures, lack of oxygen, pressure and heat — in a way that is simultaneously informative, amusing and rather disturbing to lovers of stuffed toys.

How can I get involved?
In some ways, you already are: the Institute of Physics (which publishes Physics World) is one of the site’s supporters, as it sponsors both a regional competition and the SciCast Physics award. The next competition deadline is not until the end of March 2010, so there is plenty of time to brainstorm ideas for your own science film. Instructions for submitting material are available on the site, but currently you cannot submit films online.

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