The last time I slammed into a wall, it hurt. I'm not too fond of falling off three-story buildings, either. The laws of physics can be so unforgiving. But two weeks ago I went to choreographer Elizabeth Streb 's latest work, "Run Up Walls," in which dancers slammed into panes of glass without uttering a single expletive and dove from a truss 30 feet high as though they were flopping onto a bed. Rather than bemoan the laws of physics, Streb celebrates them. Knowing how the human body responds to impact, her dancers have figured out how to do things that seem superhuman.[break] [More]

The last time I slammed into a wall, it hurt. I'm not too fond of falling off three-story buildings, either. The laws of physics can be so unforgiving. But two weeks ago I went to choreographer Elizabeth Streb 's latest work, "Run Up Walls," in which dancers slammed into panes of glass without uttering a single expletive and dove from a truss 30 feet high as though they were flopping onto a bed. Rather than bemoan the laws of physics, Streb celebrates them. Knowing how the human body responds to impact, her dancers have figured out how to do things that seem superhuman.[break] [More]

The last time I slammed into a wall, it hurt. I'm not too fond of falling off three-story buildings, either. The laws of physics can be so unforgiving. But two weeks ago I went to choreographer Elizabeth Streb 's latest work, "Run Up Walls," in which dancers slammed into panes of glass without uttering a single expletive and dove from a truss 30 feet high as though they were flopping onto a bed. Rather than bemoan the laws of physics, Streb celebrates them. Knowing how the human body responds to impact, her dancers have figured out how to do things that seem superhuman.[break] [More]

The last time I slammed into a wall, it hurt. I'm not too fond of falling off three-story buildings, either. The laws of physics can be so unforgiving. But two weeks ago I went to choreographer Elizabeth Streb 's latest work, "Run Up Walls," in which dancers slammed into panes of glass without uttering a single expletive and dove from a truss 30 feet high as though they were flopping onto a bed. Rather than bemoan the laws of physics, Streb celebrates them. Knowing how the human body responds to impact, her dancers have figured out how to do things that seem superhuman.[break] [More]

Editor's Note: Journalist and crew member Kathryn Eident and scientist Jeremy Jacquot are traveling on board the RV Atlantis on a monthlong voyage to sample and study nitrogen fixation in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean, among other research projects. This is the fifth blog post detailing this ongoing voyage of discovery for ScientificAmerican.com .

RV ATLANTIS, OFF THE COAST OF CHILE--Like many people around the world Saturday, the crew and science party aboard the RV Atlantis woke to the news of the earthquake in Chile and the tsunami threat in the Pacific. Throughout the morning news slowly trickled in-- first from a deckhand who’d been perusing the news online, then from loved ones as the emails of concern began pouring in. Mates standing watch on the bridge even answered a few phone calls from worried parents--a rather unusual occurrence considering calls to the ship must be made via satellite and cost upwards of a $1 a minute.

Editor's Note: Journalist and crew member Kathryn Eident and scientist Jeremy Jacquot are traveling on board the RV Atlantis on a monthlong voyage to sample and study nitrogen fixation in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean, among other research projects. This is the fifth blog post detailing this ongoing voyage of discovery for ScientificAmerican.com .

RV ATLANTIS, OFF THE COAST OF CHILE--Like many people around the world Saturday, the crew and science party aboard the RV Atlantis woke to the news of the earthquake in Chile and the tsunami threat in the Pacific. Throughout the morning news slowly trickled in--first from a deckhand who’d been perusing the news online, then from loved ones as the e-mails of concern began pouring in. Mates standing watch on the bridge even answered a few phone calls from worried parents--a rather unusual occurrence considering calls to the ship must be made via satellite and cost upwards of a $1 a minute.

Perhaps you--like me--are disappointed by the amateur calculations done every December that purport to show how Santa couldn't possibly deliver presents to all the good boys and girls in the world. Okay, fine: if Santa were just a dude in a sleigh (even one powered by some very fast reindeer), his task would be very hard, perhaps even impossible. And yet! These are the holidays; I do not want to be burdened with what is impossible. I want to know how it can be done. I want to know how--without resort to magic, that lazy storytelling crutch--the good Saint Nick runs his global one-night present-delivery operation. [More]

During an early screening of Roland Emmerich's latest disaster flick 2012, which opens today, laughter erupted in the audience near the end of the film thanks to corny dialogue and maudlin scenes (among the biggest guffaw getters: a father tries to reconnect with his estranged son on the telephone, only to have the son's house destroyed just before he could say anything). Nobody wants to take anything seriously in a movie like this, in which digital mayhem is the draw. But if it were an audience of physicists, the laughter probably would have started in the first five minutes. You can't take any of the science seriously, although I give the filmmakers credit for creativity.

If you haven't heard, December 21, 2012 is supposed to be the day that the Mayan calendar ends (it doesn't really) and therefore somehow marks the end of civilization as we know it--notwithstanding the fact that the Mayan civilization ended centuries ago. (NASA has a good Q&A site that debunks the 2012 apocalypse nonsense .)

During an early screening of Roland Emmerich's latest disaster flick 2012, which opens today, laughter erupted in the audience near the end of the film thanks to corny dialogue and maudlin scenes (among the biggest guffaw getters: a father tries to reconnect with his estranged son on the telephone, only to have the son's house destroyed just before he could say anything). Nobody wants to take anything seriously in a movie like this, in which digital mayhem is the draw. But if it were an audience of physicists, the laughter probably would have started in the first five minutes. You can't take any of the science seriously, although I give the filmmakers credit for creativity.

If you haven't heard, December 21, 2012, is supposed to be the day that the Mayan calendar ends (it doesn't really) and therefore somehow marks the end of civilization as we know it--notwithstanding the fact that the Mayan civilization ended centuries ago. (NASA has a good Q&A site that debunks the 2012 apocalypse nonsense .)