Discover stimulating, educational, and family-friendly scientific events this fall through Saturday Morning Physics!
Each lecture begins promptly at 10:30 a.m. and lasts until 11:30 a.m., followed by a half-hour Q&A session. (Note: There is a pause between the talk and the Q&A for patrons to leave if needed. Due to one-way traffic on Church Street, please enter the parking strcuture via Geddes Avenue.)
Fall 2026 Schedule
October 17 – Dark Matter, Dark Energy, and Einstein’s Cosmological Constant
Bharat Ratra, Distinguished Professor of Physics (Kansas State University)
Dark energy is the leading candidate for the mechanism driving the acceleration of the universe’s expansion. Bharat Ratra will describe the astronomical data that persuades cosmologists that dark matter and the as-yet-undetected dark energy are by far the main components of the universe at present. He will review how observations have led to the development of a quantitative “standard” model of cosmology that describes the evolution of the universe from the structureless epoch of inflation to the complex structure seen today. In this non-technical talk, he will also discuss the basic physics and the history of the ideas underlying this model.
Lecture and Q&A, livestreamed on: https://myumi.ch/G7qzp
October 31 – Spooky, Spectacular Halloween Demo Show (Family-Friendly)
Physics Faculty and the Warren M. Smith Demonstration Laboratory Team (U-M Physics)
A family-friendly extravaganza of physics demonstrations and explanations that are a little bit scary and a lot of fun!
Lecture and Q&A, livestreamed on: https://myumi.ch/gkMjG
November 14 – The Physics of Art and the Art of Physics
Xiaoming Mao, Professor of Physics and Mechanical Engineering (U-M Physics and Engineering)
At the same moment Monet was painting the shimmering atmosphere, Rayleigh was explaining its physics. Moving from light and color through Helmholtz’s science of perception, this talk traces the remarkable journey from physical reality to what the eye sees, what the artist creates, and what the audience imagines — while discussing the physics principles behind it. It then turns the lens around to ask how beauty, elegance, and symmetry guide physicists in their search for the laws of nature.
Lecture and Q&A, live-streamed on: https://myumi.ch/Z87k9
December 5 – So, You’ve Taken an Image with a Telescope — Now, How Do You Measure the Expansion of the Universe?
Erik Peterson, Professor of Physics (U-M Physics)
Astronomers use light to study everything from individual stars and planets to the history and evolution of the Universe. By observing the sky across all forms of light – from radio waves to visible light to gamma rays – we can turn images from telescopes into measurements of the cosmos. In this talk, I describe how we go from taking images with telescopes all the way to making grand statements about the expansion of the Universe, focusing on exploding stars called supernovae and examples from my research projects DEHVILS and SAINTS.
Lecture and Q&A, live-streamed on: https://myumi.ch/QMmrw
Learn more about Saturday Morning Physics on the website.
