Bohemian Gravity: String Theory Explored With an A Cappella Version of Bohemian Rhapsody

This past spring, Timothy Blais wrote his masters thesis at McGill University in Montreal. Titled “A new quantization condition for parity-violating three-dimensional gravity,” the thesis clocks in at 74 pages and gets into some serious physics. The first line reads: “(2+1)-dimensional gravity with a negative cosmological constant is a topological theory with no local degrees of freedom.” I have to admit that Tim lost me right there. But he has made some amends with Bohemian Gravity, a potentially viral video that explores string theory with the help of an a cappella parody of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody. I have to admit that I don’t quite understand the substance of the video either. But I am thoroughly entertained and that counts for something.

Blais previously recorded “Rolling in the Higgs,” a scientific riff on Adele’s song. According to his Facebook page, these “science-parody creations are 100% originally recorded and made out of unaltered sounds from his mouth, throat and vocal cords.” Keep an eye on his YouTube Channel, acapellascience, for more videos (we hope) in the future.

H/T Robin/via I F’ing Love Science

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