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Einstein Year - a year celebrating physics - future
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How will physics change how we live in the future? Will artificial intelligence be able to pass exams? Will you be spending your holidays on the moon? Take a peek through the crystal ball of physics with the links, games and activities we’ve gathered for you here.

a couple looking for the moon at dusk

Moon Watch

Help astronomers improve their predictions by joining in with Moon Watch – an experiment that aims to get you scanning the evening sky. 

 

Simply look for the new crescent moon immediately after sunset in the western sky on the first three days after the new moon appears, which over the coming months will be from 4 to 6 October, 3 to 5 November and 2 to 4 December. After you've made your observation go to www.crescentmoonwatch.org to submit the details of what you’ve seen.

How will new technologies change your life in 2051?
Fast forward time to discover what technologies may have an affect on your life in the future with this fantastic timeline from BT.

Along with many other technological advances, BT predict that humanoid robots will beat the England football team in 2050.... what a match that would be!

BT Timeline

illustration of a elevator to the moon

Holidays in Space
Will you be taking a holiday to the moon in the future? If so how would you get there - by a huge elevator perhaps?

Have a look at this BBC site on the future of space travel and see which method of travel you prefer.

Left: Artist Pat Rawling's concept of a space elevator

 

Chat to George
George is a computer - his creators recently won the Loebner Prize for making George hold a conversation like a human. Talk to George yourself - see how human like he really is. A warning though, he may be slightly slow to respond to you.

Or you can talk to Alice - last year's winner of the Loebner Prize. Alice can be a little slow too, but she's definitely worth chatting to. 

 ducks by Simon Whittaker

 

Debating the future of science in cyberspace
How is physics changing the future of the computer gaming industry? What does the Many-People phenomena mean? And what lies beyond the moon?

These are some of the subjects being hotly debated in cyberspace this month as the Institute of Physics offers members of the general public and the scientific community the chance to discuss such topics as Next generation games programming and the new physics of Many-People phenomena.

To find out more go to http://careers.iop.org/events

 

More Links
Follow the phases of the Moon by making your own Moon Clock.

Build your own bot to cover challenging terrains - try this robot constructor game.

What robots should and shouldn't we create? Consider the ethics of robotics here.

Have your say on the future of physics with these BBC discussion boards.

Find out how physics is being used to predict the future. 

See what else the future may hold with this future facing website.