Commentary

Join the photonics dance craze

Nov. 12, 2013

What do physicists and artists have in common? Some great, choreographed dance videos explaining lasers, the cosmos, and everything.

Conard Holton

What do physicists and artists have in common? Some great, choreographed dance videos explaining lasers, the cosmos, and everything.

I know that there are many educational videos about photonics and physics, but recently I've found these two entrancing. The first, titled: Dance vs. PowerPoint, a Modest Proposal, comes from a TED Talk by science writer John Bohannon. He uses dancers from the Black Label Movement to show rather than tell how lasers can be used to cool matter.

The other video, with physicist David Glowacki at the Dance Spectroscopy Festival in Bristol, England, uses a high dome, with eight 3D cameras and six projectors, to help visitors see their energy fields morph in real time. He wondered if, instead of interpreting people as little video game characters, we interpreted people as energy fields.

About the Author

Conard Holton | Editor at Large

Conard Holton has 25 years of science and technology editing and writing experience. He was formerly a staff member and consultant for government agencies such as the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the International Atomic Energy Agency, and engineering companies such as Bechtel. He joined Laser Focus World in 1997 as senior editor, becoming editor in chief of WDM Solutions, which he founded in 1999. In 2003 he joined Vision Systems Design as editor in chief, while continuing as contributing editor at Laser Focus World. Conard became editor in chief of Laser Focus World in August 2011, a role in which he served through August 2018. He then served as Editor at Large for Laser Focus World and Co-Chair of the Lasers & Photonics Marketplace Seminar from August 2018 through January 2022. He received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, with additional studies at the Colorado School of Mines and Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.