Private Project

The 2018 Quantum Matters Science Communication Competition Finals

Four brilliant young scientists compete to give the best (and most-entertaining) 3-minute explanation of quantum physics to a rambunctious family audience at the Museum of Science, Boston, in this first-of-its-kind live competition. Wielding pink-frosted donuts, fireflies, lightsabers, and custom animations, and hailing from four different countries, the competitors bravely tackle “spooky science” on stage while revealing inner anxieties between scenes. Suspense builds as the audience texts in votes and the panel of expert judges - among them NOVA senior producer Chris Schmidt and Harvard quantum materials professor Evelyn Hu - deliberate in a back room. 21 minutes.

  • Carol Lynn Alpert
    Director
  • Carol Lynn Alpert
    Writer
  • Carol Lynn Alpert
    Producer
    Various PBS documentary series episodes: NOVA, Frontline, American Experience, War & Peace in the Nuclear Age, Race to Save the Planet, The Kennedys; and non-broadcast productions for museums and educational distribution.
  • Karine Thate
    Key Cast
    "Emcee"
  • Jessica Pointing
    Key Cast
    "Jessica Pointing"
  • Srujan Meesala
    Key Cast
    "Srujan Meesala"
  • Rebecca Engelke
    Key Cast
    "Rebecca Engelke"
  • Joseph Yoon
    Key Cast
    "Joseph Yoon"
  • Corey Nichols
    Technical Direction and Editing
  • Rob Kirwan
    Online Editor
    NOVA PBS "Poisoned Water" and other broadcast documentaries.
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Short
  • Genres:
    Live competition, reality-based, science communication
  • Runtime:
    21 minutes 19 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    September 25, 2018
  • Production Budget:
    15,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Distribution Information
  • YouTube
    Country: Worldwide
    Rights: Internet
Director Biography - Carol Lynn Alpert

Carol Lynn Alpert is a filmmaker, writer, and science communicator. As director of strategic projects at Boston's Museum of Science (MOS), she forges education and outreach partnerships with researchers and helps them tell their stories. Carol Lynn was a science and history documentary producer with WGBH/PBS before coming to MOS to launch the Museum's award-winning Current Science & Technology Center, which brings cutting-edge research to family and internet audiences through presentations, media, hands-on activities, and drama. (Her most recent dramatic production is "The Amazing Nano Brothers Juggling Show," a popular tragicomedy about physics at the smallest scales.) Carol Lynn also serves as co-Director of the Center for Integrated Quantum Materials, a multi-institutional research center headquartered at Harvard, and in that role she has been exploring new ways to engage broader audiences in the rapidly growing fields of quantum science and technology, which are poised to have significant impact in the next few decades. Alpert was recently elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Her most recent filmmaking award was a Cine Golden Eagle for "Inventeens: A High School Engineering Design Challenge."

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

I am a co-director of the Center for Integrated Quantum Materials, which has its headquarters at Harvard, and my team at the Museum of Science is challenged to find new ways to engage family audiences in the current revolution in quantum science and technology and the potentially very large impact it may eventually have on our world. But of course quantum physics is notoriously difficult and scary to most people. Even Einstein fretted about its inherent "spookyness." We were making headway in our quest, but not enough, so we decided to share the challenge with the broader scientific community. We put out a call for entries to the world's first Quantum Matters Science Communication Competition, inviting anyone involved in quantum research to create "a fabulous, jaw-dropping, 3-minute talk for a family audience explaining a key concept related to their research, and why it might matter to us in the future." The four Finalists featured in this film are heroes to us for taking on this challenge and acing it, much to the delight of the Museum audience and the judges. This year, we are going national with the Competition, with help from the National Science Foundation. The vision for the film was to capture the event from many points of view - including behind the scenes and in the minds of the participants - by capturing on-the-spot commentary from the contestants, judges, and audience members. We had to do all this in real time during the staging of the competition, without disrupting it and while managing a 5-camera crew. We filmed both the competition warm-up and the Finals round to be sure we could cover ourselves and our contestants in case there were any unexpected disruptions, but, miraculously, everything went off without a hitch, and you can see the emotion and suspense building as the competition proceeds. Our brilliant online editor, Rob Kirwan, found just the right music and inserted just the right amount of technical pizzazz to bring the excitement through. We hope that the film inspires other young people to explore these new fields and inspires other scientists to seek creative ways of sharing their enthusiasm with the broader community.