Saturday, December 06, 2014

~ Interstellar ~

Watched the movie Interstellar last Friday and was spellbound. Such movies definitely triggers one's imagination of life outside our planet and inspires people to explore Space.

Though the movie is quite complex for an average human, Christopher Nolan has tried his best to keep the movie scientific and entertaining throughout. Few of my friends who had watched the movie, did share links to brush upon concepts like Wormhole, Blackhole, Space-Time-Gravity, so that the movie can be understood. I didn't read much of; the climax is complex to assimilate the 
5-Dimensional world where communication happens through gravity. 

Post the movie, I did Google to find out more about what inspired Nolan brothers to write a movie on Space. Most of us know Christopher Nolan as the director of Inception and Batman Trilogy. It is interesting to know that both the brothers were fascinated with Space from an earlier young age.  To keep the movie narrative scientific, they did sign Caltech Physicist Kip Thorne as technical advisor. He challenged the artistic process of movie making to keep it more real.

You can watch Time's interview of Christopher Nolan and Kip Thorne here


The effort put by the Nolans into the making of Interstellar has definitely set the bar higher for other directors who wish to make movies on Space. For those who wish to read the concepts in details, Kip Thorne has written a book 'The Science of Interstellar'. Here is the description of the book:


Interstellar, from acclaimed filmmaker Christopher Nolan, takes us on a fantastic voyage far beyond our solar system. Yet in The Science of Interstellar, Kip Thorne, the physicist who assisted Nolan on the scientific aspects of Interstellar, shows us that the movie’s jaw-dropping events and stunning, never-before-attempted visuals are grounded in real science. Thorne shares his experiences working as the science adviser on the film and then moves on to the science itself. In chapters on wormholes, black holes, interstellar travel, and much more, Thorne’s scientific insights—many of them triggered during the actual scripting and shooting of Interstellar—describe the physical laws that govern our universe and the truly astounding phenomena that those laws make possible.

For those who of us who do not have time to read that book, Discovery has an episode on the same subject 'The Science of Interstellar' with narration from Mathew McConaughey explaining all the concepts to a layman. I suggest you watch it. 47 mins well spent!


I love what Marsha Ivins, former NASA astronaut, states "Every astronaut who has been to space, has come back and said the same thing. As you circle the earth from space, you do not see natural borders and boundaries  that separate the countries. All of the wars & angst that are tearing up the world feel insignificant from there".

Ain't that statement true? Just look at two countries that gained  Independence in 1947. One is trying to grow, explore & get better every year. While the other is just caught up in religion and bring down other countries. 

I wish and hope Space Travel become a reality in my lifetime.

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