'The Day the Earth Stood Still' panel: Hollywood + real scientists = awkward

But perhaps to calm the fears of the science community, Fox and Caltech arranged a panel discussion last Friday at Caltech, in which astrophysicist Sean Carroll, robotic engineer Joel Burdick, director Scott Derrickson and Klaatu himself, Keanu Reeves, sat down to discuss the science -- and science fiction -- of the movie.

Did the two worlds come together harmoniously? Not really.

The audience, made up of Caltech students, was a stickler for accuracy. When a quick flash of a top secret government computer screen flashed a Microsoft logo the audience howled. "It's gonna crash," one student (no doubt a hardcore Mac-man) called out.

Then came the Q&A portion of the evening in which the Hollywood duo were peppered with exam-ready questions: "Do you think the laws of physics would change in different parts of the universe?" and, later, "Are you human?"

The former was answered handily by the scientific half of the panel (not shown in the video above), but it was apparent that Derrickson and Reeves were left bewildered. "These are the strangest questions," Derrickson announced at one point. And a little later, he glanced at his watch and asked the audience, "How much longer will this go on?"


http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/herocomplex/2008/12/the-day-the-ear.html