Halloween is on SATURDAY, which is very soon. Do you have a costume yet? If not, consider these (mostly pretty terrible) science-themed ideas. You may not be the best dressed person at your Halloween party, but at least you'll seem like a smarty pants.
[13 spooky science stories to get you in the Halloween spirit]
1. Pluto and Charon
The perfect, topical science costume for you and your main squeeze.
Pluto: Dress in orange or red with a giant white heart taped to your shirt. Bonus for sticking a whale and a donut on there too.
Charon: Head to toe gray with a red beanie. If possible, be exactly half the size of your costume partner.
Both of you: Wear scarves and mittens! It's cold out there.
Spend the party facing each other and holding hands, spinning around in circles. If you've got a third friend in need of a costume, have them dress up as New Horizons. Their job is to show up ridiculously late to the party, say hi to you once, take a billion pictures of you, and then never speak to you ever again.
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2. The Doppler effect
Confession: I can't stand "The Big Bang Theory." I don't think it's actually a good show. But once upon a time I was a silly tween who liked a lot of things I no longer like. Sometime during that period, this fantastic Halloween costume came to be:
Sheldon has a special-made suit with stripes that create a Doppler effect illusion, and he makes his voice sound like a fading siren. But if you don't have a special suit at the ready, just wear stripes and run around the room screaming. People won't get it, but you'll be cool.
You won't be cool.
Bonus idea: Dress as viscosity! Just lean all over people and slowly ooze down to the floor.
3. Thomas Edison and his creepy dolls
Lots of people come to parties dressed as stereotypical white male scientists. But if you really must, at least be the creepiest stereotypical white male scientist in the room. You can accomplish this with the help of Thomas Edison and his creepy dolls.
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Share this articleShareShow up with white hair and a suit and bowtie, holding a lightbulb in one hand. Under your other arm, tuck the creepiest doll you can find. I recommend something like this --
-- which you can surely find at any local thrift store.
Here's the really important part: Take this audio clip (or any of Edison's creepy doll audio clips) and record it on your phone so you can play it at random times throughout the evening. Act surprised that people find your ingenious technological marvel "creepy".
4. Dark matter
This is the laziest nerd Halloween costume in the universe. No one really knows what dark matter is (I once suggested calling it "idk matter" and some very prestigious physicists thought I was on to something, I'll have you know) so of course we don't know what it "looks" like. Just wear whatever you want and tell people you're dark matter, then launch into a know-it-all explanation of the unknowable nature of the cosmos and see how long it takes everyone to hate you.
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5. Iron Man
This is the second laziest nerd Halloween costume in the universe. You just draw the chemical symbol for iron (Fe) on your shirt. BAM: You're Iron Man! This is less funny if someone who actually put effort into dressing up as the real superhero shows up at the same party as you.
On the other hand, it's even more funny if you pull an Fe Man costume as part of a group Avengers ensemble. Your sharpie'ed t-shirt will look great next to your buddy's meticulous Captain America getup.
Got any ideas we missed? Tweet at me and we'll add them.
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