WEBVTT 00:00:02.734 --> 00:00:06.592 Hello, I'm Maria D'Chrisina, editor-in-chief at Scientific American 00:00:06.613 --> 00:00:08.663 and we're live here from the show floor 00:00:09.031 --> 00:00:12.371 of the USA Science and Engineering festival and expo, 00:00:12.371 --> 00:00:16.368 which is going on Saturday April 26th and Sunday, April 27th, 00:00:16.368 --> 00:00:18.946 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center 00:00:18.946 --> 00:00:21.002 here in Washington, D.C. 00:00:21.002 --> 00:00:24.260 In the next half hour we're going to chat with some exciting guests. 00:00:24.260 --> 00:00:26.072 We'll meet the two founders of the festival, 00:00:26.072 --> 00:00:28.308 Larry Bock and Ray O. Johnson. 00:00:28.308 --> 00:00:33.098 We'll learn about the awesome booth at Lockheed Martin, 00:00:33.098 --> 00:00:35.522 the festival's founding and presenting host, 00:00:35.522 --> 00:00:38.415 and we'll visit with the Society of American Magicians. 00:00:38.415 --> 00:00:40.461 Last, we'll talk about some cool stuff 00:00:40.461 --> 00:00:44.521 here at the Scientific American, which is also a festival sponsor. 00:00:44.521 --> 00:00:45.674 At Scientific American's booth, 00:00:45.674 --> 00:00:48.692 you can try our easy-to-do brain science home activities, 00:00:48.692 --> 00:00:51.701 the paleontologist with the shark finding program, 00:00:51.701 --> 00:00:53.916 Paleo Quest scientist and Zeiss microscopes. 00:00:53.916 --> 00:00:55.608 Check out some exciting new offerings 00:00:55.608 --> 00:00:58.383 in STEM education from Macmillan science and education, 00:00:58.383 --> 00:01:00.395 And take part in actually editing 00:01:00.395 --> 00:01:03.527 a scientific journal for kids called "Frontiers for Young Minds." 00:01:03.527 --> 00:01:07.771 So now let's meet Larry Bach and Ray O Johnson, 00:01:07.771 --> 00:01:08.936 the awesome co-founders 00:01:08.936 --> 00:01:11.389 of the USA Science and Engineering Festival. 00:01:11.389 --> 00:01:14.078 Ray is also Lockheed Martin's senior vice president 00:01:14.078 --> 00:01:16.041 and chief technology officer. 00:01:16.041 --> 00:01:17.330 Thank you very much for joining me. 00:01:17.330 --> 00:01:18.892 Our pleasure, Thank you. 00:01:18.892 --> 00:01:19.939 It's really my pleasure. 00:01:19.939 --> 00:01:22.031 So tell us, why did you create the festival? 00:01:22.031 --> 00:01:24.027 and what is going on here this weekend? 00:01:24.027 --> 00:01:27.427 You know our premise is society gets what it celebrates 00:01:27.427 --> 00:01:29.668 so we celebrate athletes, pop stars, 00:01:29.668 --> 00:01:31.659 Hollywood actors and actresses. 00:01:31.659 --> 00:01:33.248 And we generate a lot of wanna-be's 00:01:33.248 --> 00:01:35.290 but we don't celebrate science and engineering. 00:01:35.290 --> 00:01:36.313 So our goal was to put on 00:01:36.313 --> 00:01:39.762 the world's largest celebration of science and engineering. 00:01:39.762 --> 00:01:43.323 That's awesome, awesome goal. 00:01:43.323 --> 00:01:44.666 What are some (audio glitch) here 00:01:44.666 --> 00:01:47.641 and how many people are you expecting this weekend? 00:01:47.641 --> 00:01:52.161 We have literally a thousand organizations here 00:01:52.161 --> 00:01:55.864 doing over 3,000 hands-on interactive exhibits 00:01:55.864 --> 00:01:58.713 and 150 stage shows. 00:01:58.713 --> 00:02:00.522 So you will see everything here 00:02:00.522 --> 00:02:03.902 from the Orion Space Capsule, the Surgical Robot, 00:02:03.902 --> 00:02:06.563 the virtual reality environment at one end of the extreme, 00:02:06.563 --> 00:02:08.827 making structures with marshmallows and toothpicks 00:02:08.827 --> 00:02:10.889 at the other end of the extreme. 00:02:10.889 --> 00:02:13.065 I especially want to try the marshmallows and toothpicks. 00:02:13.065 --> 00:02:15.370 I have to say, I'm a little bit hungry this morning. 00:02:15.370 --> 00:02:17.062 So, thank you. 00:02:17.062 --> 00:02:19.680 So Ray, we're here at the Lockheed Martin booth. 00:02:19.680 --> 00:02:22.188 I got to tell you guys, it's awesome; it's huge. 00:02:22.188 --> 00:02:24.048 There's a lot of amazing activities. 00:02:24.048 --> 00:02:26.816 I think I counted more than 350. 00:02:26.816 --> 00:02:30.660 And kids can take a trip to (inaudible) 00:02:30.660 --> 00:02:32.420 (inaudible) robot which I was checking out yesterday 00:02:32.420 --> 00:02:34.247 (Audio glitch) 00:02:34.247 --> 00:02:36.123 Tell me about. These are just a few of them. 00:02:36.123 --> 00:02:37.641 Tell me a little bit more about those. What are some of the things? 00:02:37.641 --> 00:02:39.448 We do have over 40 exhibits here, 00:02:39.448 --> 00:02:43.546 but we're part of hundreds of exhibits and thousands of demonstrations 00:02:43.546 --> 00:02:45.639 that are taking place over the next two days here. 00:02:45.639 --> 00:02:49.540 We're allowing the visitors to explore some of the new areas. 00:02:49.540 --> 00:02:53.946 [?] working robotics, some of the flight simulators, 00:02:53.946 --> 00:02:59.430 which we're well known for and they love, [?] how to fly the [?] and the F-35 00:02:59.430 --> 00:03:02.473 and also renewable energy, and some of the problems in the future. 00:03:02.473 --> 00:03:06.013 I think that's what we will be focusing on here. 00:03:08.305 --> 00:03:11.067 When kids think about going into STEM careers, 00:03:11.067 --> 00:03:12.996 That's science, technology, engineering and math, 00:03:12.996 --> 00:03:15.302 they think of difficult subjects. 00:03:15.302 --> 00:03:17.579 I have to take Calculus, I need to understand Physics, 00:03:17.579 --> 00:03:19.663 so it seems very difficult and very hard. 00:03:19.663 --> 00:03:24.751 Therefore, a lot of kids are not going into STEM fields and those areas [?] 00:03:24.751 --> 00:03:27.662 What we're doing in this festival, as you've said, the largest festival 00:03:27.662 --> 00:03:29.759 of its kind in the world, what we're doing is, 00:03:29.759 --> 00:03:33.311 through the hands-on experience, getting kids excited. 00:03:33.311 --> 00:03:35.744 And letting them understand that they can have 00:03:35.744 --> 00:03:39.217 that same thrill of victory that you get in sports 00:03:39.217 --> 00:03:44.303 by engaging in problem solving in engineering [?]. 00:03:44.303 --> 00:03:46.306 In fact, we're gonna have some science cheerleaders here 00:03:46.306 --> 00:03:48.058 a little bit later on today. 00:03:48.058 --> 00:03:51.097 We have basketball players here, and what the cheerleaders 00:03:51.097 --> 00:03:53.851 and the basketball players and sports figures help us do 00:03:53.851 --> 00:03:57.712 is prove that STEM is cool. 00:03:57.712 --> 00:03:59.086 Yeah, I think that's awesome. 00:03:59.086 --> 00:04:01.677 - It's more fuel for curious minds. - Exactly. 00:04:01.677 --> 00:04:04.557 And, as Lockheed and others have shown us, 00:04:04.557 --> 00:04:07.422 if you put that effort it will push you far. 00:04:11.159 --> 00:04:13.507 I really appreciate it, it was so super to speak with you 00:04:13.507 --> 00:04:15.893 Larry and Ray, thank you so much. 00:04:15.893 --> 00:04:19.573 Is there anything you want to leave with the folks while we are waiting for [?] to come up? 00:04:19.573 --> 00:04:22.843 - I would say, get here early. - Yeah! -Number one. 00:04:22.843 --> 00:04:26.063 And this event will take more than two days to do 00:04:26.063 --> 00:04:29.003 so plan on both Saturday and Sunday. 00:04:29.003 --> 00:04:32.413 Yeah, I think we're gonna have hundreds of thousands of visitors 00:04:32.413 --> 00:04:35.743 here today, and the nice thing about doing this in Washington 00:04:35.743 --> 00:04:39.743 is we have a diverse crowd. What this does is it [?] STEM down 00:04:39.743 --> 00:04:44.973 [audio glitch] underrepresented today in science [?] 00:04:44.973 --> 00:04:49.383 and we need those people to enter the engineering and STEM fields. 00:04:49.383 --> 00:04:52.293 So that's why Washington is such a great place to have this. 00:04:52.293 --> 00:04:55.243 Yeah. I couldn't agree with you more. I really think science is an engine 00:04:55.243 --> 00:04:59.243 of human prosperity and wellbeing so I'm psyched that you guys are here. 00:04:59.243 --> 00:05:01.303 - Thank you. - Thanks so much. 00:05:01.303 --> 00:05:02.343 - Thank you. 00:05:02.343 --> 00:05:05.183 Great having you, I know you're really busy today, thanks for joining us. 00:05:05.183 --> 00:05:08.073 - Thank you. - My pleasure. 00:05:08.073 --> 00:05:10.083 Thank you. 00:05:10.083 --> 00:05:13.213 So now we're gonna be joined by Christopher Bodges, 00:05:13.218 --> 00:05:17.218 of the Society of American Magicians 00:05:17.218 --> 00:05:21.218 and he's going to talk a little bit about cool science [?] and such you can see 00:05:21.218 --> 00:05:24.948 at his [?] - Thank you. - Tell us what's going on today, Chris. 00:05:24.948 --> 00:05:27.748 I am going to start by telling you why we're here 00:05:27.748 --> 00:05:31.055 because a lot of people might be interested in why the magicians are 00:05:31.055 --> 00:05:33.005 at a Science and Engineering festival. 00:05:33.005 --> 00:05:37.005 And the answer is that magic is really just science mixed with creativity. 00:05:37.996 --> 00:05:41.996 The illusions that we create are based on principals of science, 00:05:41.996 --> 00:05:45.496 engineering technology and math 00:05:45.496 --> 00:05:49.496 and we give them creative presentations to make them entertaining 00:05:50.486 --> 00:05:54.956 but a lot of scientists and engineers are hobby magicians 00:05:54.956 --> 00:06:00.956 because of the creative aspect and the background magic has in those disciples. 00:06:00.956 --> 00:06:07.906 I actually attended a whole conference once about studies [?] illusions [?] 00:06:07.908 --> 00:06:11.908 It's fascinating stuff and we love to do it. We love to share. 00:06:11.908 --> 00:06:15.908 At our booth we have lots of hands-on activities 00:06:15.908 --> 00:06:19.908 Some magical illusions, some optical illusions 00:06:19.908 --> 00:06:23.548 that kids can try and adults, for that matter, can try hands-on 00:06:23.548 --> 00:06:25.788 and see what's going on 00:06:25.788 --> 00:06:28.598 One of those is this. - O yeah good, I'm glad you brought some. 00:06:28.598 --> 00:06:29.978 Let's put our hands on it 00:06:29.978 --> 00:06:32.758 It's just a two liter bottle filled with water 00:06:32.758 --> 00:06:37.348 There's a ketchup packet floating inside, as ketchup packets tend to do 00:06:37.348 --> 00:06:39.288 But with a little bit of magic 00:06:39.288 --> 00:06:42.628 That ketchup packet - (laughing) 00:06:42.628 --> 00:06:43.458 sinks! 00:06:43.458 --> 00:06:45.768 See it went all the way down, that's cool. 00:06:45.768 --> 00:06:49.828 A little more magic it will come right back. 00:06:49.828 --> 00:06:53.788 Now, I know magicians are notoriously uh, careful I would say 00:06:53.788 --> 00:06:56.298 about sharing some of their secrets - This is true - but if people come to your booth 00:06:56.298 --> 00:06:58.928 maybe they'll learn a little bit about the science [?] 00:06:58.928 --> 00:07:02.388 They can learn a little bit about that what we do, we never share our secrets 00:07:02.388 --> 00:07:04.618 with anyone who is not a magician. 00:07:04.618 --> 00:07:08.888 But if you demonstrate the fact that you are interested in learning magic 00:07:08.888 --> 00:07:10.978 We will share some secrets with you. 00:07:10.978 --> 00:07:15.928 And to that end we have a book available to anyone who's interested. 00:07:15.928 --> 00:07:19.628 It's an ebook, but I printed one so you could see it. 00:07:19.628 --> 00:07:21.548 It says "STEM Magic" 00:07:21.548 --> 00:07:25.378 This is filled with magic tricks that are based on principals of 00:07:25.378 --> 00:07:30.608 science, technology engineering and math. They're all things that you can do at home. 00:07:30.608 --> 00:07:34.328 Some of them are things that you can print out, there are a couple optical illusions 00:07:34.328 --> 00:07:38.608 in here that you can print out and cut out and otherwise... 00:07:39.696 --> 00:07:41.046 That's super [?] 00:07:41.046 --> 00:07:43.966 Otherwise you can read the instructions and learn to do magic. 00:07:43.966 --> 00:07:45.806 And so you can make it on your own 00:07:45.806 --> 00:07:49.426 We also have at our booth a full-size illusion that you can get into 00:07:49.426 --> 00:07:52.616 We can remove your head from your body 00:07:52.616 --> 00:07:56.046 Not actually. But it sure looks like it. And it makes for a really great [?] 00:07:56.046 --> 00:07:58.256 I'm trying it out! It's not like that actually. 00:07:58.256 --> 00:08:01.076 But we don't see the body, we just see the head. 00:08:01.076 --> 00:08:05.076 And you can take a picture where you have your head on a sword. 00:08:05.926 --> 00:08:10.076 So you are welcome to come and get your head removed. 00:08:10.076 --> 00:08:14.186 The reattachment process is slightly painful and involves some duct tape. 00:08:14.186 --> 00:08:18.186 But it's a lot of fun and it's a great picture to share with your friends. 00:08:18.186 --> 00:08:22.796 And we have some magicians there who are showing some magic for fun. 00:08:22.796 --> 00:08:25.306 Awesome. 00:08:25.306 --> 00:08:28.636 Thanks very much. Did you have something else for showing us now? 00:08:28.636 --> 00:08:31.236 I'll show you one more thing. - One more surprise 00:08:31.236 --> 00:08:35.016 Magicians don't [audio glitch] couple of people, I found that out recently. 00:08:35.016 --> 00:08:38.876 A guy came to me and asked me if I could change a dollar. 00:08:38.876 --> 00:08:41.796 I said of course I can, I'm a magician. 00:08:41.796 --> 00:08:45.316 He said he wanted four quarters, so I took his dollar 00:08:45.316 --> 00:08:50.526 and I folded it, one, two, three, four times [?] and squeeze. 00:08:50.526 --> 00:08:52.946 It's getting very teeny 00:08:54.277 --> 00:08:57.427 And I opened it back up and I showed him 00:08:58.079 --> 00:09:02.529 how I ... change ... a dollar. - Oh man! 00:09:02.529 --> 00:09:05.859 I've been staring right at it and I do not know how he did that. 00:09:05.859 --> 00:09:08.199 See, it's one dollar, it's four quarters. Get it? 00:09:08.199 --> 00:09:10.669 Yeah, it's four quarters, I get it. Awesome! 00:09:10.669 --> 00:09:13.059 He didn't like the joke. Or the trick. 00:09:13.059 --> 00:09:15.849 Was he [?] ? - Yeah. - That's probably why. 00:09:15.849 --> 00:09:19.259 So the best thing I could do was to fold it back up. 00:09:19.259 --> 00:09:21.449 Give it another squeeze. 00:09:22.348 --> 00:09:30.648 And return it the way he found it so he could get his change somewhere else. 00:09:30.648 --> 00:09:34.228 (laughing) Chris that was awesome, thanks a million for joining us 00:09:34.228 --> 00:09:38.398 here at the USA Science and Engineering Festival and I hope people will come by and 00:09:38.398 --> 00:09:41.248 learn more about the science behind the illusion. 00:09:41.248 --> 00:09:43.958 I hope so, too. We're happy to see ya. Thanks. - Thanks a lot. 00:09:43.958 --> 00:09:48.208 So now, let's meet Jason Osbourne and Aaron Alfred of Helioquest. 00:09:48.208 --> 00:09:53.288 Jason and Aaron, you're joining us actually- don't be scared, I won't bite you. 00:09:54.368 --> 00:09:58.228 You're joining us at the Scientific American booth, which is at 13:11 00:09:58.228 --> 00:10:00.348 And tell us what you're doing with the kids 00:10:00.348 --> 00:10:04.198 You've already been [?] that you're doing awesome things, so let's see. 00:10:04.198 --> 00:10:08.488 Awesome. We have a lot of hands-on for kids in the Scientific American booth. 00:10:08.488 --> 00:10:12.488 We have 'Shark Finder', which is a hands-on science project, 00:10:12.488 --> 00:10:18.768 where kids can actually find and discover new occurrences or even possibly 00:10:18.768 --> 00:10:21.608 new species of sharks. 00:10:22.648 --> 00:10:28.268 Absolutely. We're really excited about that. We also have about a quarter of a ton 00:10:28.268 --> 00:10:32.268 of fossils that we give away to folks that come by and ask really good questions. 00:10:32.268 --> 00:10:35.808 And these fossils are just like this. - Can I have a hold on to one of these? 00:10:35.808 --> 00:10:38.438 Oh, absolutely. - Look at this. It's a little heavy. 00:10:38.438 --> 00:10:39.808 What is this [?] 00:10:39.808 --> 00:10:43.498 So this is a vertebral whale. A small whale. And we're giving 00:10:43.498 --> 00:10:47.568 hundreds and hundreds of pounds of fossils away to kids. 00:10:47.568 --> 00:10:49.738 You mean I could get a whale? - Absolutely. 00:10:49.738 --> 00:10:53.738 Actually you could just keep that one for yourself. 00:10:53.738 --> 00:10:56.068 (laughing) That's cool. 00:10:56.068 --> 00:11:00.378 And then we have hands-on for kids as well. - What is that?