On May 15, 2009, Sony Pictures Entertainment released Angels & Demons, a major motion picture based on Dan Brown’s best-selling novel. Starring Tom Hanks and directed by Ron Howard, the film focuses on an apparent plot to destroy the Vatican using antimatter made at the Large Hadron Collider and stolen from the European particle physics laboratory CERN.
The high energy physics community is using the interest generated by the blockbuster movie to take a walk down the red carpet and invites everyone to join in. Across the United States and Canada, scientists from more than 40 colleges, universities and national laboratories are hosting public lectures as part of the “Angels & Demons Lecture Nights: The Science Revealed” event. More information about the series, including a list of lectures and local contacts, is available.
Through these public lectures, scientists are using this opportunity to tell the world about the real science of antimatter, the Large Hadron Collider, and the excitement of high energy physics research.
Locally, University of Illinois Professors Mark Neubauer and Kevin Pitts will give a free public lecture at 141 Loomis Laboratory on the University of Illinois campus at 7 p.m. on Friday, May 29, 2009.
Neubauer, Pitts and their colleagues at Illinois carry out research at high energy particle accelerators in the U.S. and Europe, including the Large Hadron Collider depicted in the movie. “We are very excited about this opportunity to separate fact from fiction,” said Neubauer, “and what’s really cool is that the facts are just as exciting as the fiction.”
The lecture, which is free and open to the public, will focus on the real story behind the science in the movie. “If you enjoyed the movie, you’ll enjoy the lecture,” said Pitts, “we are going to keep it light and fun and we promise not to get too technical.”
View the poster for the lecture.
View Neubauer and Pitts on WCIA's The Morning Show.
About CERN and the LHC
U.S. participation in the Large Hadron Collider project is supported by the Department of Energy’s Office of Science and the National Science Foundation.
CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is the world’s leading laboratory for particle physics. It has its headquarters in Geneva. At present, its Member States are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. India, Israel, Japan, the Russian Federation, the United States of America, Turkey, the European Commission and UNESCO have "Observer" status.
About Sony Pictures Entertainment
Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America (SCA), a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE’s global operations encompass motion picture production and distribution; television production and distribution; digital content creation and distribution; worldwide channel investments; home entertainment acquisition and distribution; operation of studio facilities; development of new entertainment products, services and technologies; and distribution of filmed entertainment in more than 100 countries. Sony Pictures Entertainment can be found on the World Wide Web.
Media Contact: Toni Pitts, University of Illinois +1-217-244-2948, tpitts@illinois.edu