Culture

New project aims to unite science and Hollywood

by JeffHuang | November 20, 2008 at 09:45 am

141 views | 1 Recommendation | 2 comments

I'll always remember in Friends when Rachel keeps bugging Ross about the possibility of Jurrasic Park. Being a scientists, Ross flips out at the idea knowing it not being scientifically plausible. Anyways, scenarios like that will be harder to come by as Scientists and Hollywood are teaming up to bring the viewers productions that are more scientifically accurate which helps scientists communicate more effectively with the general public. This cooperation is called the Science and Entertainment Exchange, a project by the US National Academy of Sciences.

Scientists may have less to cringe about when they go to the movies, if a new initiative designed to foster cooperation between scientists and the entertainment industry is successful.

The new effort, called the Science and Entertainment Exchange, is a project of the US National Academy of Sciences, and will be run by science writer Jennifer Ouellette, author of The Physics of the Buffyverse.

Here is a list of the top scientifically inaccurate movies created by the geniuses in Hollywood according to this blogger.

If movies were completely scientifically accurate, they'd probably be as interesting as a Physics 101 lecture. In real life, there are no explosions in space, gas usually doesn't explode from a lit cigarette, and Bruce Willis/Jackie Chan/Will Smith would most likely be in a coma after getting kicked in the head. Some movies, though, put science front and center in the story and more often than not the science proves to be head-slappingly bad. Here are some of the worst offenders.

1. Armageddon
2. Independence Day
3. Starship Troopers
4. The Core
5. The Matrix
6. Jurassic Park
7. Total Recall
8. Outbreak
9. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull