‘Science Off the Sphere’ Makes Physics Demos Out of this World

Donald Pettit is a chemical engineer, NASA astronaut, and one of the few individuals in the world with a Wikipedia page that lists his status as “Currently in space.”

Pettit is also the guy from that NASA-endorsed spot for Angry Birds Space, in which he explains trajectories and the gravitational pull bodies can have on slingshot-propelled flying vertebrates with attitudes and egg-lovin’ pigs. And now he’s the dude from an original infotaining web series from Physics Central (a website with a mission to disseminate the “excitement and importance of physics” to the masses brought to you by the American Physical Society) called Science Off the Sphere.

The “Sphere” in that title refers to the Earth and the “Off” is meant to mean “outside the boundaries of Earth’s gravitational field.” So, as the name would imply, Pettit, who is currently on board the International Space Station, explores and presents “fantastic physics that can only be demonstrated in micro-gravity.”

Subscribe to get the latest creator news

Subscribe

Don’t let the fact Pettit

has a Ph.D., that he’s comfortable talking about hardcore scientific concepts, or that a few of the program’s videos have viewcounts in the three or four-figures lead you to click away. Pettit’s demonstrations bring to life the things of which special effects in sci-fi films and David Lynch music videos are made. The episodes depict Pettit performing acts like cutting off the sleeves on his shirt to fashion a didgeridoo out of a space station vacuum cleaner (which he’s excellent at playing) to show the effects of sound waves on water droplets, fashioniong the zero-gravity equivalent of a lava lamp out of laptop speakers cornstarch (which is a non-Newtonian fluid), and many other things literally out of this world and visually appealing.

I haven’t wanted to be an astronaut since kindergarten, but Pettit’s videos may have me questioning my career choice. If you feel the same way, you can tune into the whole collection of Science Off the Sphere on Physics Central’s YouTube channel.

Share
Published by
Joshua Cohen

Recent Posts

Millionaires: Jasmin Acosta’s content is “just the steps of my life”

Welcome to Millionaires, where we profile creators who have recently crossed the one million follower…

2 days ago

Showrunner is a new streaming platform filled with AI-generated content

"Just think it, then watch it." That's one of the taglines that can currently be…

2 days ago

A report claims TikTok is separating its U.S. code. The app denies it.

As TikTok prepares for its legal battle against the United States Justice Department, its source…

2 days ago

Twitch is replacing its entire Safety Advisory Council with streamers

Twitch is getting rid of all members of the Safety Advisory Council it formed in…

2 days ago

TikTok wants its community to shop brands led by LGBTQ creators during Pride Month

TikTok is weaving its Pride Month celebration into its social shopping hub. The platform has revealed…

2 days ago

Meet one of the creators behind YouTube’s 2024 Coachella content

Since 2011, YouTube has been one of Coachella's biggest hype guys. Every time the annual…

2 days ago