Physics for Presidents (And Citizens, Too)

I recently found an interesting video called Physics 101: What Our Next President Needs to Know. It’s a lecture at UC Berkley given by Robert Muller. It’s a good primer for the science behind some of the most important issues of our time: nuclear terrorism, global warming, etc. The guy is a good lecturer, it’s not too technical, I don’t think, and it also addresses some of the misinformation regarding this stuff. You’ll learn things like:

- Radiological terrorism – a “dirty nuke” – is extremely hard to do and the fear is overblown. The most likely impact of a radiological bomb is to slightly increase the rate of cancer death rather than massive death at the scene.

- A straightforward explanation of why the World Trade Center fell.

- Spy satellites are increasingly useless at spying.

- The global warming that has occurred over the past 200 years until 1957 is actually not attributable to humans. It is only since 1957 that human activity has contributed to global warming.

- NYC does not have to worry about flooding due to rising sea levels. (Phew!)

- No matter how green our economy becomes, it will never be enough to solve global warming. The only way to really fix the problem is to pay developing countries to use green technology.

The professor starts talking at 7:20 and the video lasts about an hour. I know it’s a lot, but if you have some time I recommend it.