LOGAN – How will the world end? Maybe a giant asteroid will strike the Earth and send us the way of the dinosaurs. Perhaps a sizzling solar flare will knock out the world’s power and plunge millions into freezing, dark chaos. Or maybe the entire plant will simply be sucked into a mongo-sized black hole.
Utah State University’s Science Unwrapped welcomes celebrated astronomer Phil Plait, author of the 2001 book “Death from the Skies: The Science Behind the End of the World” and Discover magazine’s “Bad Astronomy” blog, to campus Friday, April 27, to explore this very question.
Plait speaks at 7 p.m. in the Emert Auditorium, Room 130, of the Eccles Science Learning Center. Hosted by USU’s College of Science, the event is free and open to all ages.
“When I started writing this book, I sat down and brainstormed every single astronomical event I could think of that could wipe out life on Earth,” says Plait, who earned a doctorate from the University of Virginia in 1994 and helped to design NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. “I have to admit, it was fun.”
Hands-on learning activities and refreshments follow Plait’s talk. Guests will have the opportunity to make comets and craters, learn about space weather and find out what happens if you fall in a black hole. Weather permitting, guests can use telescopes to view craters on the moon.
USU Bookstore will provide copies of Plait’s book for purchase at $14 each.
Plait is featured guest on Utah Public Radio’s “Science Questions” program, which airs at 9:30 a.m. Friday, April 27, on KUSU.
The April 27th event is the final presentation of Science Unwrapped’s spring 2012 series, “End of the World as We Know It: The Science Behind Apocalypses.” Science Unwrapped takes a summer break and returns with a new series in fall 2012.
For more information, call 435-797-3517, visit www.usu.edu/science/unwrapped or view the ‘Science Unwrapped at USU’ page on Facebook.