San Diego Impossible Science Festival Entertains Curious Minds

This is KPBS Midday Edition, I Maureen Cavanaugh. In many ways magicians have always tried to define the scientific laws of nature. And science has always tried to debunk magic. One of the two got together. Magic plus signs. That combination might make what seems impossible, possible. The collaboration of science and magic and a bit of showmanship is the theme of a new show coming to the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center and the star of the show is the celebrated magician and illusionist, Jason Latimer. Jason, welcome to the show. Thank you for having me. This event is called the Impossible Science Festival. What in possibilities will it make real We are spending a number of different topics from levitation to invisibility. We have a section called superpowers were kids lurk just learn to walk on water. Physically the most magical thing about it is that these are not tricks. We are actually showing the scientific way to do with. And achieve it. We are using what we do know about science to make this category possible. Is it a blend of illusion and science It is not an illusion. These are actually the real science behind an and possible topic. Let's say we take the topic walking on water. One way to do it is to bring in a non-Newtonian fluid. Which is basically a fluid that does not act like a solid or a liquid. In this case a mix of cornstarch and water. If you impacted really hard, it would be hard. If you push on it slowly that would be soft. If you want across the pond you will make it. If you walk you will think. The idea is you have kids and adults learning but a non-atoning fluid is in the context of walking on water. This goes on and on. Invisibility, levitation, just a new way to look at the word impossible. Everything should be impossible until someone does appear , Jason I want to talk about the magic side of what you do for a moment. We all know that magicians rely on showmanship. Have they traditionally relied on science two? I think magic is the forefront of science. I always joke around about magicians and the next generation because as good questions are coming up and more science comes out, technologies are approaching what we used to say was magic. The idea of a hover board. A hover board is like a superconductor. That is happening now. It is not magical to hover. It is actually happening. Magicians tend to actually be scientists. But we hide that fact. We want to create that mystery. However, knowing the mystery is far more wonderful, to realize that your knowledge was limited in that direction. My whole purpose is to inspire wonder. I'm trying to show people if we to look at things differently. To inspire curiosity. To say I may not have all the answers, just yet. Jason, you've been got given the highest award a magician can get including the Grand Prix world champion of magic. You also keep going back to school to take more science classes Yes. I'm still learning Why? The honor of the world championship was great. It was measly because I went after an effect that everyone said it cannot be done. The clear cups and bowls. Follow the ball with clear glass. You watched the ball go to another cup. The way I describe it is the illusion of knowledge told us that could never be done. It is the oldest trick in the book. Now it existed because someone wondered if it could. There is a lot I do not know. I'm very confident in what I do not know. [ laughter ] I keep going to college to keep learning because I am always excited about what is possible. You have gone and taken all the science classes and all these mathematic -- mathematics classes and so forth. How has that influenced what it is that you do Magic is a great art form that allows us -- it is the epitome of the steam movement. You can use science, technology, science, math, it does not matter what I use as long as I can get the effect to happen. The reason I love that is it is gloves off when it comes to education. As much as I can know, I want to know. The outcome of magic is a wonder. Getting you to ask a question of maybe it was this way may be was that weight it inspires you to learn more. The best part about it is your answer could end up being better than my answer. And it is not just how did he do it how did he do it how did it happen? Right Exactly. Eating people to ask those questions and you coming up with your own answer, that is the process behind better technologies, new chores, better chores. Your ability to say there may be a better answer. Yours may just be different than mine. When did you start this attraction to the question of what's possible? And attraction to wonder I was nine when I went to a magic show. My parents to be to a place where I saw a woman fly in the air. I sat there trying to figure out how they had different rules than the rest of us. How is that possible. That is when I realized, they could not. Whatever the rules will be copy will have the same ones. They must know something that I do not. I had to come to terms with the fact that my knowledge was limited at that age. That's how the idea of what is possible got started. That's really an insightful thought for a nine-year-old. Welcome appearance never hugged me. I'm joking. My parents were absolutely great. They always asked me to ask why. Ask why. The curious. When I saw someone float it was really -- I had to come to terms with the fact of why that was possible. They must know something I do not. The secret was in a secret. It just means it was knowledge. They knew something I did not. When it comes to magic and the science and we look at our daily lives, there are so many things that we use daily that would have seemed like magic a few years ago, hundred years ago. If you think about airplanes and smartphones. What do you think might be possible in the future? That we think of as impossible today? I think everything. Anything you can ever imagine. That will eventually take place. There is nothing stopping you from asking your next question. Only you stopping from asking the question. There's no reason why could not keep asking. Flight was supposed to be impossible until someone ask the question about lift. The idea is if we can nurture this idea that we may not have all the answers, there is no reason why everyone can't ask more. Don't forget, there has never been a rulebook. Every answer, every fact, everyone will we ever had we gave ourselves. That is true. Exactly. That's why our backs can be wrong. We gave them to ourselves. I once asked a space scientist if people would ever be able to travel backwards in time. He said, no, that's not possible because that's not the way the universe works. It disappointed me a great deal. We have not seen any evidence yet but that does not mean that that one answer has to be the only answer for the vastness of the universe. We cannot see the edge of it. Just to pull things out with what you know, that can be dangerous time. That's why I said I am very confident in what I don't know. I do not know. I don't want to pull things out. I have not seen evidence yet. I'm open to it. I have to play this game as best I can without that will both. What is the Impossible Science Festival epically going to look like what will it be like 20 experiments together. Hands-on. Learn how to make something close or turn things invisible. It is only a few dollars more than the regular admission. You get the science center all day. You can go to the circus exhibit that is there. Two dollars covers our expenses for the materials. Walking on water, learning levitation. You get to turn things invisible. With things you can find in your house. You could probably replicate it at home. They also had a make it and take it session. You make an experiment and take it with you. Wow. This sounds did friendly. Is this aimed at families? Yes. Anyone who is a killer acts like a kid. [ laughter ] When I tell people we are going to turn something invisible, kids are like that's amazing and parents say, I know, that's amazing. The idea is to get people exciting there's excited. Do you have a favorite One of my favorites is reminding kids they can turn things invisible with the stuff in their kitchen. When things have the same refractive index they will be invisible together. What does that mean? Speed of light and the way light passes through an object. By Rex Collier cooking dishes have the same refractive index as corn oil. Which of high Rex-ish in corn oil and it will disappear. Great. I know. That smile on your face. You can tell the difference between glass and high Rex with corn oil. You will see the edges, that's where the glass fault on itself. The straightaways, they will be invisible. I can imagine someone going to this experience in coming back and never looking at things the same again. I hope so. That's why doesn't that's what I had hoped about my career. Anything I could. I'm trying to learn as many questions as I can and inspire as many questions as I can in my career. If I can convince one person to think a little differently about things, then I think I'm doing my job right. That's why I took the position at the science center as the curator from impossible signs -- impossible signs. The very first one. I have done a lot of magic and I got tired of tricking people want to remind people I have no special powers. I've just been curious my entire life. If I can nurture that and someone else, it's been very beneficial. It's been very enlightening. Before and after this particular festival you are actually putting on a series of shows. Tell us about that the -- The impossible signs experience is a show that I put together in the IMAX Dome theater at the science center. We removed a few rows of seats and put a stage in there. A number of allusion, each to find a different level of science, style of science. Engineering, physics, psychology. Not only is it the clear cups and bowls are walking through a mirror or bending light. I remind people if you want to understand this, this would be applied physics. I was study applied physics. You have seven-year-olds asking how did you walk through the mere, how did you bent light. They say I'm going to be a physicist. I didn't even know he knew the word is a test -- physicist. It's great. You get these kids running off into the sunset saying I'm going to be a chemist. Or a mathematician. They are totally seeing past the magic. They enjoy the magic but they now know magic is everything they do not understand. They need to learn more about it. Does this mean you have given up the whole idea of being an illusionist text being someone who presents an allusion in you do not tell people how it's done? I want to inspire curiosity and wonder. As an educator I've found the best way to do that is to purposefully show people they do not understand. So, when you ask a question I really don't want to answer it. The reason is, I am trying to inspire wonder. If I have inspired a question, I do not want to tell you how I did it. I don't see there being a difference between the being the curator and an illusionist or a physicist. We use the title impossible signs to categorize all the questions we do not know the answers to get peer What is it like being a magician in the 21st century? There are some amazing -- amazing magic. The effects are Billy,. Some of the minds that are asking questions about new magic tricks are great. For me personally, I'm not interested in card tricks. I'm not interested in solving a moment in half. I'm not interested in typical magic tricks that you have seen before. That does not drive my point home. My point is shaping water, bending light, forming smoke, walking through solid objects. These are all allusions I have engineered myself through my workshop up in LA and brought down here for the show. I think it magic in the 21st century is exciting because you have to really pay attention to what's out there. You only have a small window where that is considered magic before people catch up. Do you have a favorite magician Wow. Some of my favorite magician's are actually scientists. Tesla, Einstein, the reason I put that out is they were playing in categories the people did not know existed yet. We found out some of our facts are wrong. As a show men I like Copperfield, Lance Burton, disagreed and Roy's. I have the pleasure of cross -- crossing pass with all of them. They all had the same sense of wonder. Mine is more of a scientific approach. I am fascinated by the questions that have not been asked yet. I'm not -- I minute for a showman and I have been a performer for 20 some years now but for me it's really about the question. The allusion was the byproduct of the question. The Impossible Science Festival will take place August 22 into 23rd at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center. I've been speaking with a Jason Latimer. The fleet museums or reader of impossible signs. Thank you so much peer Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it.