Let Academy parent Dirk Morr take you on a galactic journey that marries the arts with science. Choose one topic: "The Science of Star Wars" OR "The Physics of Star Trek"

Star Wars - the fight of the light side of the force against the dark side -- is a story that has fascinated us for the last 40 years. A crucial part of this story are unbelievable scientific and technological advances - traveling through hyperspace, light sabers, holograms, discovery of habitable planets, ? -- that fill the universe. But are these advances really beyond our reach, or have we already surpassed some of them? Are they even scientifically possible? If you want to hear the answers to these questions, join me for a lecture on the science behind Star Wars, and the physical laws that we have to "bend" to make them work.

Star Trek is a story of exploration that has fascinated us for the last 50 years. A crucial part of this story are unbelievable scientific and technological advances -- warp drive, wormholes beaming technology, holodecks ? -- that make the exploration of the universe possible. But are these advances really beyond our reach, or have we already surpassed some of them? Are they even scientifically possible? In this talk, I will discuss some of the (crazy?) scientific ideas behind Star Trek technologies, and the physical laws that we have to "bend" to make them work.

Dirk K. Morr is a professor of physics at the University of Illinois at Chicago. His research in the area of theoretical condensed matter physics focuses on the evolution of complexity from the nano- to the macroscale. From 2003 to 2010, Dr. Morr was a member of the task force that developed the new Science Storms exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. Dr. Morr is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the German Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and held the Leibniz Chair at the University of Leipzig (Germany) for 2011/12. His public engagements include popular science talks, in which he does not only discuss the "mysteries of the quantum world", but also examines the relation between art and physics. Dirk Morr received his M.A. from the Freie Universität Berlin in 1993, and his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin - Madison in 1997. After being a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1997-99), and a Director's Fellow at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (1999 - 2001), he joined the faculty of UIC in 2001.

Date to be mutually agreed upon by winner and Dirk Morr.