We all know magic isn't real. Or is it? Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is a play that explores the wizarding journey of the next generation of Hogwarts students, including the children of Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Malfoy. Written by British playwright Jack Thorne, the play has dazzled audiences in London's West End since 2016 and on Broadway in New York City since 2018. It now plays in theaters all around the world, from Toronto, Canada, to Tokyo, Japan.
While the play's story has been lauded as a brilliant addition to the world of Harry Potter, its live special effects and magical illusions put it in a category all its own. Flames fly out of wands, a Time Turner floats in midair, and Ministry of Magic visitors disappear inside a phone booth. Before our eyes, Polyjuice Potion transforms kids into adults. Dementors hover over the audience, eerily aglow.
The entire set is distorted as the main characters travel through time. Awe-inducing effects and illusions like these happen in every performance. How do they do it? Believe it or not, no real magic is necessary. Engineers, lighting designers, flying specialists, illusions experts, and the actors work together to make it happen. Each trick works thanks to science. From chemistry to physics to psychology, it's the science behind the magic that brings Harry Potter and the Cursed Child to life.
Fire
If you know one thing about wizards, it's that they use wands to cast spells. Wands can be turned into flashlights or deployed against your worst enemy. In Cursed Child, Harry's son Albus casts the Incendio spell, in which a bright burst of flames shoots out of his wand, only to quickly disappear.
Denne historien er fra May/June 2023-utgaven av Muse Science Magazine for Kids.
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Denne historien er fra May/June 2023-utgaven av Muse Science Magazine for Kids.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Who's Your Cousin?
The great apes are among the most popular animals in most zoos. Their actions, facial expressions, and family life remind us so much of ourselves. Have you ever wondered, though, how we might look to them?
Is it possible to die of boredom?
To figure out if we can die of boredom, we first have to understand what boredom is. For help, we called James Danckert, a psychologist who studies boredom at the University of Waterloo in Canada.
THE PROBLEM WITH PALM OIL
Palm oil is all around you. It’s in sugary snacks like cookies and candy bars. It’s in lipstick and shampoo and pet food.
SERGE WICH
Serge Wich’s favorite days at work are spent out in the forest, studying orangutans in Sumatra and Borneo or chimpanzees in Tanzania.
ELODIE FREYMANN
When you’re feeling sick, it probably doesn’t occur to you to try eating tree bark.
Guardians of the Forest
EARLY, MAKESHIFT WILDLIFE DRONES HELPED TO DETECT AND PROTECT ORANGUTANS.
APE ANTICS
The Whirling World of primate play
Dr. Ape Will See You Now
HUMANS AREN’T THE ONLY PRIMATES THAT USE MEDICATION.
THE LEFT OVERS
A lot has happened for modern humans to get to this point. We lost most of our hair, learned how to make tools, established civilizations, sent a person to the Moon, and invented artificial intelligence. Whew! With all of these changes, our bodies have changed, too. It’s only taken us about six million years.
SO, WHAT IS A PRIMATE?
What do you have in common with the aye-aye, sifaka, siamang, and potto? If you said your collarbone, you re probably a primatologist—a person who studies primates. If you’re not, read on.
