NEWS RELEASE

"The Challenge of Quantum Reality" offers you the chance to be a high school student again at the Quantum to Cosmos Festival

Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, October 10, 2009 –Two high school students get more than they bargained for when a pair of mysterious guides takes them on an adventure in quantum physics in an exciting new classroom video from Canada’s Perimeter Institute. The Challenge of Quantum Reality is the second in PI’s Perimeter Explorations series of educational resources and will be screened, with a live presentation and Q&A session, at the Quantum to Cosmos Festival, running October 15-25 in Waterloo.

 

Although targeted specifically at high school physics students, the 30-minute video offers audiences of all ages an entertaining and informative look at the world inside the atom—the quantum world. It is a wondrously strange place, and the theory governing its behaviour is so counterintuitive that even Einstein had a hard time accepting it. Yet quantum theory is is arguably the single most important theory in all of physics, and the basis of a dizzying array of technologies, including lasers, MRIs and integrated circuits in computers.

 

The Challenge of Quantum Reality focuses on wave-particle duality: the mind-bending notion that electrons can be two completely different things – waves and particles – at the same time. It is one of the core, defining ideas of quantum physics that separates it from all the physics that came before. The DVD includes explanations by some of the world’s leading scientists, including Prof. Stephen Hawking.

 

You can preview the DVD online, or see it for the first time on the big screen and then ask ‘the teacher’ your questions at PI Presents… The Challenge of Quantum Reality at the Quantum to Cosmos Festival. This session in the PI Presents... series will run Saturdays and Sundays from October 15-25 from 2:00-3:00pm at the Princess Twin Cinema. Click here for ticket information.

 

Q2C Festival Ticket and Location Details

Limited seating for PI Presents… The Challenge of Quantum Reality is still available and tickets are free. Additionally, free timed entry tickets for the Physica Phantastica Exhibit are available on weekday evenings, with limited availability on weekends. Click here for ticket information.

The free tickets for the amazing lineup of lectures, panel discussions and “The Agenda with Steve Paikin” live broadcasts that are also part of the Quantum to Cosmos Festival are sold out, but you can still join in online from anywhere at anytime, with full access to all panels and talks as they happen at www.q2cfestival.com. All "The Agenda with Steve Paikin" live broadcasts can also be watched on TVO during the program’s usual time slot.

 

Perimeter Institute makes every effort to ensure the scheduled programming, however, there may be occasions when content is subject to change without notice. The appearance of specific guests, artists, or attractions is not guaranteed. Perimeter Institute reserves the right to make substitutions and reschedule events if necessary.

 

Media contact: Angela Robinson, arobinson[at]perimeterinstitute[dot]ca, 519-569-7600 ext. 5051

About the Quantum to Cosmos Festival

Perimeter Institute celebrates its 10th anniversary and contributes to Canada’s National Science & Technology week this October. Quantum to Cosmos: Ideas for the Future (Q2C) will take a global audience from the strange world of subatomic particles to the outer frontiers of the universe. Q2C will transcend traditional festivals by streaming events live and on demand, offering additional multimedia content online, and providing special opportunities for students and teachers. TVO, Ontario’s public educational media organization, is the Presenting Media Partner for the Q2C Festival. The Q2C Festival is produced for Perimeter Institute by Title Entertainment Inc.

 

About Perimeter Institute

Canada's Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics is an independent, non-profit, scientific research and educational outreach organization where international scientists cluster to push the limits of our understanding of physical laws and develop new ideas about the very essence of space, time, matter and information. The centre provides a multi-disciplinary environment to foster scientific collaboration in research areas of cosmology, particle physics, quantum foundations, quantum gravity, quantum information, superstring theory, and related disciplines. PI also provides a wide array of award winning outreach resources and public lectures for students, teachers and the general public to share the joy of research, discovery and innovation. In partnership with the Governments of Ontario and Canada, PI continues to be a successful example of private and public collaboration in science research and education.