The Science of Star Wars

Question 1

What steps would have to be taken in order to "make the jump to light speed"?

Accepted Answer

Violate today's laws of physics., Protect yourself from forces involved., Create "exotic matter"., Fix the clocks so you don't arrive too old or too young.

Question 2

How much of the sky was Kepler able to observe?

Accepted Answer

1/400th

Question 3

What did NASA's Kepler Mission do?

Accepted Answer

detected and confirmed nearly 2,000 planetary systems, monitored a patch of sky for brightness variations in 150,000 stars.

Question 4

There are planets outside of our Solar System.

Accepted Answer

True

Question 5

How many billion galaxies are in our currently observable universe?

Accepted Answer

100 billion

Question 6

Newton's Third Law of Physics states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Accepted Answer

True

Question 7

What is one of the keys to making truly autonomous robots, like C3P0, R2D2 and BB8?

Accepted Answer

The robot needs to be able to learn from new situations.

Question 8

What is meant by the "Goldilocks Zone"?

Accepted Answer

Planets where liquid water could exist because it isn’t too hot or too cold

Question 9

Which of the following have become scientifically possible since the first Star Wars movie came out in 1977?

Accepted Answer

robotic arms, robots in our homes, holograms

Question 10

What does Kepler 16b have in common with Tatooine?

Accepted Answer

It is the first planet known to orbit two stars., It is the first planet found that actually has two suns.

Question 11

Astronomers have estimated that there could be as many as 40 billion planets in our galaxy.

Accepted Answer

True

Question 12

According to Newton's Third Law of physics, what would Yoda need if he were to use the force to life Luke's X-wing?

Accepted Answer

A forcefield around himself to keep from being crushed by the ship.

Question 13

According to Sonia Chernova of the College of Computing, we will have robots cleaning our houses in 20 years.

Accepted Answer

True

Question 14

How and when were the first exoplanets discovered?

Accepted Answer

1991, by measuring the Doppler shift of stellar spectral lines.

Question 15

Which of the following best describes the two types of robots found today? (pick 2)

Accepted Answer

Extensions of humans , where there is a human controlling the robot., Autonomous robots in manufacturing, kept separate from people for safety.

Question 16

The idea that you could feel a "disturbance in the force" at a distance is reminiscent of what phenomenon in physics?

Accepted Answer

a field (like an electromagnetic field or a gravitational field)

The Science of Star Wars

Questions 16

The Science of Star Wars

Questions 16