2025 Misel Family Public Lecture

Poster for a lecture by Kip Thorne, featuring details about the event and an image of the speaker.

Public Lecture

"Exploring the Warped Side of our Universe: from Black Holes, Wormholes and the Big Bang to Gravitational Waves and Time Travel"

Professor Kip Thorne
Feynman Professor of Theoretical Physics - Emeritus
California Institute of Technology

Wednesday, October 29, 2025 at 7:00 p.m.

McNamara Alumni Center, Memorial Hall

Abstract: In 1964, when Thorne was a student, there were hints that our universe might have a Warped Side: Objects and phenomena made from warped space and warped time instead of from matter. Thorne and his colleagues have spent these past sixty years turning those hints into clear understanding. They have explored the Warped Side through theory (using mathematics and computer simulations to probe what the laws of physics predict) and through astronomical observations (primarily with gravitational waves). In this lecture he will describe what they have learned about Warped-Side phenomena: black holes, wormholes, gravitational waves, our universe’s big-bang birth, and the possibility of time travel.

Parking is available at various University of Minnesota East Bank parking facilities, including:

University Avenue Ramp (1926 University Avenue SE)
Washington Avenue Ramp (501 Washington Avenue SE)
Fourth Street Ramp (1625 4th Street SE)

The event is also conveniently located near the Metro Green Line East Bank Station.

Can't make it to the lecture?
Stream live on our YouTube channel

Please register through the UMN Events Calendar (registration is encouraged but not required).

Physics and Astronomy Colloquium

"The Physics of the Cult Movie Interstellar"

Thursday, October 30, 2025 at 3:35 p.m.

John T. Tate Hall room B50

Abstract:Christopher Nolan’s cult science fiction film Interstellar (2014) sprang from a treatment co-authored by physicist Kip Thorne, and so had real science — both firm and speculative — embedded in it from the outset. The film’s venue is The Warped Side of our Universe: objects and phenomena made, at least in part, from warped spacetime, such as black holes, wormholes, spacetime singularities, time travel, gravitational lensing, gravitational slingshots, solitary ocean waves driven by tidal gravitational forces, and braneworlds (general relativity in five macroscopic spacetime dimensions). In this colloquium, Thorne (who was Interstellar’s executive producer and science advisor) will discuss the science and scientific speculations underlying the movie, its visual effects, and connections to contemporary physics issues.