News & Events
‘Breaking Magic’ returned to the Discovery Channel for a second season at 8pm on 12th March 2014. The programme follows four of the world’s most innovative magicians around the globe as they transform pure science into head-scratching magic tricks.
During the series production, Objective Productions Ltd sought the expertise of Dr Trotta through Imperial Consultants (ICON). Dr Trotta of Imperial College has reviewed some of the scripts, to ensure that the technical explanations of the physics behind the illusions were sound and accessible for a non-scientific audience.
Paul Gilheany, Executive Producer of Breaking Magic comments:
“Our illusionists are world-class, but they are not scientists. Roberto was invaluable in helping us to translate complicated scientific principles to make them understandable in an entertainment context, yet still accurate and informative.”
Sword of Damocles
Based on the legend of the Sword of Damocles, which teaches that with great fortune and power also comes great peril and anxiety, the first episode of the season saw magician Nate Staniforth put his life on the line. A sword was dropped on him from above only to be knocked off course by a basketball launched at exactly the right moment in time by fellow illusionist Billy Kidd.
Dr Trotta comments:
“Nate was in perfectly safe hands and his life guaranteed by Newton’s second law of motion, although of course the audience didn’t know this when they first saw the trick! It was great fun contributing to the show. The series did a great job at bringing the natural laws to life in a very spectacular way. I look forward to seeing the final cut of the rest of the episodes!”
Viewers can expect to see other mystifying tricks in future episodes, including the overpowering of an entire American Football team, levitating fast food, a death defying underwater escape and many more.
The next episode airs on Wednesday 19th March at 8pm.
Please click here for more information on ICON’s consultancy services or contact us.
Please click here for more information on the Discovery Channel’s ‘Breaking Magic’.
Share post:
Latest news, insights and events
FREE Fetal Brain webinar – LIVE
Watch, LIVE, the last in our series of four, educational webinars exploring Fetal Medicine. In this, our panel will discuss imaging, investigation and management of different fetal cases - and it aims to be a truly virtual fetal neurology clinic. Delivered by Imperial’s Professor Christoph Lees, and supported by GE HealthCare. read more
International Women’s day
Monday March 8th celebrates the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women, globally and this year's theme reminds us to challenge and call out gender bias and inequality. We've asked some Imperial role models how they #ChoosetoChallenge. read more
Gravity-based energy storage could prove a cheaper option
Imperial researchers predict that gravity-fed energy storage systems may provide long-term savings - and analysis suggests that technology from Gravitricity is well suited to provide grid balancing and rapid frequency response services to grid operators. read more