We wrapped up our 2019 RTP180 series with 5 speakers who work to improve and expand the informational world of physics.
We kicked the evening off with Aaron Quidley, the Senior Gameplay Engineer at Red Storm Entertainment. He explained how Red Storm uses physics in video games & joked, “We fake physics”. In his work, he focuses on the movement and rotation of objects and how they interact. Single items are programmed by using “physics engines,” which are stand-alone pieces of software for the individual item being manipulated. Learn more here.
Dan Stancil, executive director of the IBM Q Hub at NC State, then spoke about the importance of quantum computing. He stated that language is like quantum computing; it is most efficiently used when information is kept to a minimum. To learn more about how Dan is working to simplify large amounts of information, watch his talk.
Sara Gamble, quantum information science program manager at ARO (Army Research Office), took the building blocks from Dan’s talk and expanded on them further. She spoke to the history and future of physics in quantum information science, quantum sensing, and how to simulate experiments for real results. To learn more about how Sarah is working towards these goals, watch her talk.
To give us a creative’s perspective on the topic, Michael Griska explained the physics behind the sitar and how the building process affects how the instrument sounds. The instrument is played by using the Fibonacci sequence and sympathetic vibration, a.k.a., physics! To learn more about the tuning process and construction of the sitar, follow this link.
Mark Oldham, professor of oncology and a medical physicist at Duke University Medical Center, closed out the show. Each day he tackles medical studies understanding the biological structure of tissue and how to decrease the side effects of radiation. Mark also explained how technologies, like the x-ray, have changed the medical industry. To learn more about further advancements follow this link.
We will be back next year with new topics, same time, same place, and every month! You can go ahead and mark your calendars for January, our topic is Wellness! For tickets and more information click here.