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Physics and Improv Collide

Scientists on particle accelerator project learn communication from comedy

By Jim O'Neill, Newser User

Posted Sep 4, 2008 2:43 PM CDT

(Newser) – Physicists trying to explain the nature of the universe using the largest particle accelerator ever built are also trying to learn something else: communication skills to help them explain what they’ve learned to the rest of world. And they’re going about it in a unique way, the Wall Street Journal reports—through improv comedy.

The European Organization for Nuclear Research hired improvisational comedy coaches to teach scientists working on the Large Hadron Collider—built in a 17-mile-long tunnel, 330 feet underground along the Franco-Swiss border—to think on their feet. "Improv has got to be more difficult than doing physics. You have to think in milliseconds," one particle physicist says.

[Images (4)]

[Videos (1)]

"You don't just go to the Higgs physics meeting and ask a stupid question. We're trained to be critical," said one of the scientists being tutored by an improv-comedy coach. (AP Photo)

A superconducting solenoid magnet is a key part of the Large Hadron Collider, a $9 billion European physics project that some fear could create black holes that could swallow the Earth. (AP Photo)

The last element of the ATLAS experiment is lowered into the cave at the European Organization for Nuclear Research . (AP Photo/Keystone, Martial Trezzini, FILE)

Emeritus professor at the University of Edinburgh, British Peter Higgs. (AP Photo/Keystone, Fabrice Coffrini)

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Large Hadron Rap:Rappin' about CERN's Large Hadron Collider!This version doesn't have the sine wave effect and is adjusted for better reproduction in YouTube. Links to different audio versions below...Will Barras (sine): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3iryBLZCOQAlpinekat (original): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j50ZssEojtMImages came from:http://particlephysics.ac.uk , http://space.com , the Institute of Physics, NASA, Symmetry, and MarvelThe talented dancers doubled as camera people, with some work by Neil... (Drysh)

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Physics and Improv Collide