MIT Lecture Series Committee

The Truth about Santa: Wormholes, Robots, and What Really Happens on Christmas Eve

This one-hour lecture will be followed by a book signing.

We all know Santa Claus: fat, jolly, omniscient, swift. Lives in a nice home in the Arctic, with the missus and a pack of elves.

Well, forget what you know. Santa Claus is from Greenpoint, Brooklyn, as it turns out, and he's not as fat as he used to be. Here's something else you didn't know: he's been dabbling in some futuristic technology, and has found myriad ways to make his job possible. How can Santa know who's been naughty and nice? Simple: implant listening devices into your ornaments. How can he make it to every house Christmas Eve? That's nothing a little cloning and some wormholes can't solve. And he has plenty of other tactics: quantum entanglement, organ replacement, drug-induced hibernation, and unmanned aerial vehicles, to name just a few.

In this fantastically illustrated, affectionate, and hilarious book, Gregory Mone uses science and technology to overturn the assumption that Santa can't be real. Drawing on the work of accomplished scientists and researchers, Mone gives us a whole new portrait of this remarkable man and the miracles he makes happen every year. With imaginative artwork and an eye-catching package, this book makes an outstanding Christmas gift for just about anyone. [amazon.com]

Gregory Mone is a contributing editor at Popular Science magazine. His feature articles have appeared in Wired, Discover, Women's Health, National Geographic Adventure, and The Best American Science Writing 2007. He is also the author of the novel The Wages of Genius. He lives in Massachusetts with his wife and two children.