The Horizons research magazine goes to the movies
Films can make research famous – Hollywood blockbusters especially. The latest issue of Horizons points its camera at the complicated relationship between fact and fiction.
Let's go straight to a suspenseful scene: in the movies, there's often a kernel of fact behind the fiction. But who's winning now in the struggle between entertainment and accuracy? Horizons talks to researchers who advise film crews, shows which clichés about researchers are especially beloved of the movies, and clarifies whether anything at all is correct about the popular time travels shown in science fiction. Together with a film historian, it puts together a collage of blockbusters and smaller productions that have entered the collective consciousness.
Alongside all that, Horizons takes a critical look at Europe's flagship projects. Have the Human Brain Project and the Graphene Flagship discovered any new worlds? And where are Battery 2030 Plus and the Quantum Flagship heading?
Further highlights include: a tour behind the safety airlocks of the animal epidemic laboratory; an excursion along the River Aare and the research projects on its banks; and the woman fighting for our digital privacy.
The latest issue of Horizons is just as diverse as research itself – and, as always, accessible for everyone.