Dr. Becky takes a look at the astronomy scenes in the controversial dark satire film, Don’t Look Up, and teases out the space science from the Hollywood razzle-dazzle.
It’s funny that one (of the many things) I thought was pure Hollywood was the astronomical display that the character Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence) uses to discover the extinction-level comet (spoiler alert!). Turns out, according to Dr. Becky, minus the fancy touch-screen animation part, the GUI is pretty close to real astronomical software.
Obviously, the plot hole the size of the Dibiasky comet is the fact that you couldn’t keep such a discovery to yourself. Lots of other observatories, professional astronomers, and amateur skywatchers are looking up, too, and would quickly see the comet and share their findings.
The most endearing part of the video is when Becky reacts to the “Don’t Look Up” comet-denying movement depicted in the film. She shares her frustration with current science denial and her enthusiasm for how looking up into the night sky is inspirational and revelatory in numerous ways (both personal and scientific) and how the quest to understand the heavens has led to so many essential sci-tech innovations down here on Earth.
Adafruit publishes a wide range of writing and video content, including interviews and reporting on the maker market and the wider technology world. Our standards page is intended as a guide to best practices that Adafruit uses, as well as an outline of the ethical standards Adafruit aspires to. While Adafruit is not an independent journalistic institution, Adafruit strives to be a fair, informative, and positive voice within the community – check it out here: adafruit.com/editorialstandards
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat and our Discord!