How to spark your curiosity, scientifically

Curious how stuff works? Do a hands-on experiment at home, says physicist Nadya Mason. She shows how you can demystify the world around you by tapping into your scientific curiosity -- and performs a few onstage experiments of her own using magnets, dollar bills, dry ice and more.

A friend called me a few weeks ago

with bad news.

She dropped her cell phone
into the toilet.

Anyone here done that before?

(Laughter)

So it was a bad situation.

You know, without getting into the details
of exactly how that happened

or how she got it out,

let's just say it was a bad situation.

And she panicked because,
like for many of us,

her phone is one of the most used
and essential tools in her life.

But, on the other hand,
she had no idea how to fix it,

because it's a completely
mysterious black box.

So think about it: what would you do?

What do you really understand
about how your phone works?

What are you willing to test or fix?

For most people, the answer is, nothing.

In fact, one survey found

that almost 80 percent
of smartphone users in this country

have never even replaced
their phone batteries,

and 25 percent didn't even know
this was possible.

Now, I'm an experimental physicist,

hence the toys.

I specialize in making new types
of nanoscale electronic devices

to study their fundamental
quantum mechanical properties.

But even I wouldn't know where to start
in terms of testing elements on my phone

if it broke.

And phones are just one example
of the many devices that we depend upon

but can't test, take apart,
or even fully understand.

Cars, electronics, even toys
are now so complicated and advanced

that we're scared to open and fix them.

So here's the problem:

there's a disconnect between us
and the technology that we use.

We're completely alienated
from the devices that we most depend upon,

which can make us feel helpless and empty.

In fact, it's not surprising then
that one study found

that we are now more afraid of technology

than we are of death.

(Laughter)

But I think that we can
reconnect to our devices,

rehumanize them in a sense,

by doing more hands-on experiments.

Why? Well, because an experiment
is a procedure to test a hypothesis,

demonstrate a fact.

It's the way that we use our senses,

our hands,

to connect the world

and figure out how it works.

And that's the connection
that we're missing.

So let me give you an example.

Here's an experiment that I did recently

to think about how a touchscreen works.

It's just two metal plates,

and I can put charge
on one of the plates from a battery.

OK.

And I can measure the charge separation
with this voltmeter here.

Now -- let's make sure it's working.

So when I wave my hand near the plates,

you can see that the voltage changes

just like the touchscreen
responds to my hand.

But what is it about my hand?
Now I need to do more experiments.

So I can, say, take a piece of wood

and touch one of the plates
and see that not much happens,

but if I take a piece of metal
and touch the plate,

then the voltage changes dramatically.

So now I can do further experiments
to see what the difference is

between the wood and the metal,

and I should find out
that the wood is not conducting

but the metal is conducting like my hand.

And, you see, I build up my understanding.

Like, now I can see why I can't use
a touchscreen with gloves,

because gloves aren't conducting.

But I've also broken down
some of the mystery behind the technology

and built up my agency,

my personal input and interactions
with the basis of my devices.

But experimenting is a step
beyond just taking things apart.

It's testing and doing
hands-on critical thinking.

And it doesn't really matter whether
I'm testing how a touchscreen works

or if I'm measuring how conducting
different types of materials are,

or even if I'm just using my hands
to see how hard it is to break

different thicknesses of materials.

In all cases, I'm gaining control
and understanding

of the basis of the things that I use.

And there's research behind this.

For one, I'm using my hands,

which seem to promote well-being.

I'm also engaging in hands-on learning,

which has been shown
to improve understanding and retention,

and even activate
more parts of your brain.

So hands-on thinking through experiments

connects our understanding,

even our sense of vitality,

to the physical world
and the things that we use.

Looking things up on the internet

does not have the same effect.

Now, for me this focus on experiments

is also personal.

I didn't grow up doing experiments.

I didn't know what a physicist did.

I remember my sister had a chemistry set
that I always wanted to use

but she never let me touch.

I felt mentally disconnected
from the world

and didn't know why.

In fact, when I was nine years old,

my grandmother called me a solipsist,

which is something I had to look up.

It means that you think
that yourself is all that exists.

And at the time I was pretty offended,

because whose grandmother calls them that?

(Laughter)

But I think that it was true.

And it wasn't until years later,

when I was in college
and studying basic physics,

that I had a revelation

that the world,

at least the physical world,

could be tested and understood,

that I started to gain
a completely different sense

of how the world worked

and what my place was in it.

And then later,
when I was able my own testing

and understanding through research,

a big part of my connection
to the world was complete.

Now, I know that not everyone is
an experimental physicist by profession,

but I think that everyone could
be doing more hands-on experiments.

And actually I think we sort of --

I'll give you another example.

I was recently working
with some middle school students,

helping them learn about magnetism,

and I gave them
a Magna Doodle to take apart.

Remember one of these things?

So at first, none of them
wanted to touch it.

They'd been told for so long
not to break things

that they're accustomed
to just passive using.

But then I started asking them questions.

You know, how does it work?
What parts are magnetic?

Can you make a hypothesis and test it?

But they still didn't want
to break it open.

They wanted to take it
home with them, really.

Until, one kid finally sliced it through
and found really cool stuff inside.

And so this is something
we can do here together.

They're pretty easy to take apart.

See, there's a magnet inside,
and I can just cut this open.

Cut it open again, you can split it.

OK, so when I do that --
I don't know if you can see this,

but there is sort of -- there it is,
this oozy white stuff in here.

Now you can see it on my finger.

And when I drag the pen on it,

you can see that these filaments
are attached to it.

So the kids saw this,

and at this point they're like,
this is really cool.

They got excited.

They all started ripping them open
and taking them apart

and yelling out the things
that they discovered,

how these magnetic filaments
connected to the magnetic pen

and that's how it wrote.

Or, how the oozy white stuff
kept things dispersed so it could write.

And as they were leaving the room,

two of them turned to me and said,

"We loved that.

Me and her are going home this weekend
to do more experiments."

(Laughter)

Yeah, I know, the parents
in there are worried about it,

but it's a good thing!

Experimenting is good, and actually
I found it extremely gratifying,

and I think hopefully it was
very life-enriching for them.

Because, even a basic magnet

is something that we
can experiment with at home.

They're both simple and complex
at the same time.

For example, you can ask yourself,

how can the same material
both attract and repel?

If I take a magnet,
is it useful if I can get one of them

to rotate the other, for example?

Or, you can take
this dollar bill over here,

and I can take a set of magnets,

and you can see that the dollar bill
gets lifted by the magnets.

There's magnetic ink hidden in here
that prevents counterfeiting.

Or, here I have some
crushed-up bran cereal. OK?

And that's also magnetic. Right?

That has iron in it.

(Laughter)

And that can be good for you, right?

OK, here's something else.

This thing over here is not magnetic.

I can't lift it up with the magnet.

But now I'm going to make it cold.

The same thing in here, cold,

and when I make it cold,

and put it on top of the magnet,

so --

(Applause)

It's amazing.

That's not magnetic,

but somehow it's interacting
with a magnet.

So clearly understanding this
is going to take many more experiments.

In fact, this is something that I've spent
much of my career studying.

It's called a superconductor.

Now, superconductors can be complex,

but even simple experiments
can connect us better to the world.

So now if I tell you that flash memory
works by rotating small magnets,

then you can imagine it. You've seen it.

Or, if I say that MRI machines

use magnetism to rotate
magnetic particles in your body,

you've seen it done.

You've interacted with the technology
and understood the basis of these devices.

Now, I know that it's hard
to add more things to our lives,

especially experiments.

But I think that
the challenge is worth it.

Think about how something works,
then take it apart to test it.

Manipulate something and prove
some physical principle to yourself.

Put the human back in the technology.

You'll be surprised at
the connections that you make.

Thank you.

(Applause)