Santa - Wanted for Violation of Einstein's Law

On December 1, at University of Arizona's Steward Observatory, a man was put on trial for violating one of the fundamental laws of the universe. The man: Santa Claus. The law: Einstein's theory of relativity.

Using the holiday season as a background for explaining physics, visiting speaker Robert Jedicke of the University of Hawaii gave a talk: Is Santa Claus guilty of breaking the laws of relativity?

As my loyal readers know, I'm fond of this sort of speculative tie between popular mythology and the sciences, because I think it makes the topic very approachable for the non-scientist. A similar analysis of Santa's relationship to relativity can be found in Roger Highfield's The Physics of Christmas, one of my favorite holiday books.