UC Davis Scientists Star in New Film Examining the Origins of the Universe – CBS Sacramento

DAVIS (CBS13) — Scientists are used to looking at the stars, but now these UC Davis scientists are the stars of a new movie examining the origins of the universe.
Professor Manuel Calderón De La Barca Sánchez of UC Davis gets the star treatment. It is a recognition of his research on what makes up the stars, the elements and all other matter in the known universe.
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“Maybe we discover there is something smaller inside. That’s what makes it fun,” he said.
Manuel is featured in the new film “Secrets of the Universe” which premieres in Sacramento at the Museum of Science and Curiosity.
The professor is leading a team of UC Davis researchers trying to shed light on the fundamental particles that were produced microseconds after the Big Bang.
“What we are creating is the hottest matter that has been created since the beginning of the universe,” Manuel said.
In the documentary, the professor gives viewers a glimpse of the Large Hadron Collider – a 16-mile ring of scientific instruments buried underground on the France-Switzerland border that is used to break up and study atomic particles.
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“One of the reasons I was so excited about making this movie was because not everyone had a chance to sit in the lobby and see the five-story detector,” said said Manuel.
The film is screened in the museum’s 46-foot-wide, 4K, full-dome cinema.
“To get that kind of ‘holy cow’ feeling, that’s the way to go,” Manuel said. “It’s the second best thing to actually being there.”
It’s a movie about the most complex machine ever built by man starring one of the Sacramento area’s top scientists.
“Through movies like this, we hope people realize that there’s all this fantastic research going on at UC Davis,” Manuel said.
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The Large Hadron Collider just restarted last month after undergoing three years of maintenance and upgrades. The film will open to the public at the museum later this month.