Physics rap is high-energy hit on YouTube

[Marilyn. 340]

East Lansing, Mich. --

Who says science doesn't turn people on? Kate McAlpine is a rising star on YouTube for her rap performance - about high-energy particle physics.

Her performance has drawn a half million views so far on YouTube.

The 23-year-old Michigan State University graduate and science writer raps about the Large Hadron Collider, the groundbreaking particle accelerator that has been built in a 17-mile circular tunnel at the CERN laboratory near Geneva.

McAlpine raps that when the collider goes into operation on Sept. 10, "the things that it discovers will rock you in the head."

The $3.8 billion machine will collide two beams of protons moving at close to the speed of light so scientists can see what particles appear in the resulting debris.

Others, including physicists, also find it amusing.

"We love the rap, and the science is spot-on," CERN spokesman James Gillies said.

McAlpine received permission to film herself and friends dancing in the caverns and tunnels where the experiments will take place.

McAlpine honed her physics rapping skills at Michigan State's National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory, where she was part of a student research program two years ago.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?.../DDIN12MBD3.DTL