Tag Archives: Space

Ancient Egyptians measured the first hour, and changed how we related to time

Dr Robert Cockcroft is an assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at McMaster University. Dr Cockcroft became a faculty member at McMaster in 2020. He completed his undergraduate degree in astrophysics at University College London (UK) and earned his Masters and PhD also in astrophysics at McMaster. He held postdoctoral positions in ancient Eygptian astronomy working with Dr Sarah Symons, and pedagogical research at the MacPherson Institute (then MIIETL). In 2016, he was hired by Western University as an assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and as one of the two core faculty members in the then-new Western’s Integrated Science Program (WISc), before ultimately returning to McMaster. Dr Cockcroft’s current work focuses on science education, literacy, and communicating science to the general public.

Dr. Sarah Symons is a Professor in the School of Interdisciplinary Science, McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. Her research in history of astronomy concentrates on interpreting astronomical texts and instruments from ancient Egypt and investigating how the night sky was perceived, explained, and depicted. She is the editor of the ancient Egyptian astronomy database, an online resource for scholars, and co-edited Down to the Hour: Short Time in the Ancient Mediterranean with Kassandra Jackson Miller in 2019.

Antimatter: we cracked how gravity affects it – here’s what it means for our understanding of the universe

William Bertsche is a Reader with the Accelerator Physics group of the University of Manchester Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Cockcroft Institute.

“I work on plasma physics and accelerator topics, as well as measuring fundamental properties of antimatter through atomic physics experiments using Antihydrogen atoms. I am a Deputy Spokesperson for the ALPHA experiment.
The ALPHA experiment at CERN routinely synthesizes and traps antihydrogen atoms. With this unique source of pure antimatter systems, we are able to perform precise measurements of its properties, from its spectral signature in various energies ranges to its behaviour in a gravitational field. This research aims to address the question of observed baryon asymmetry in the universe today: why is antimatter so much more rare than matter.”

Life: modern physics can’t explain it – but our new theory, which says time is fundamental, might

Sara Imari Walker is Professor of Physics, School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University.

She is an astrobiologist and theoretical physicist interested in the origin of life and how to find life on other worlds.
She is most interested in whether or not there are “laws of life’ related to how information structures the physical world that could universally describe life here on Earth and on other planets.
Deputy Director of the pioneering Beyond Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science, which is devoted to confronting the big questions of science and philosophy. She also co-founded the astrobiology-themed social website SAGANet.org, and is a member of the board of directors of Blue Marble Space.
Sarah is active in public engagement in science, with appearances at the World Science Festival and on “Through the Wormhole” and NPR’s Science Friday.

Cosmological models are built on a simple, century-old idea – but new observations demand a radical rethink

David L Wiltshire is a Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand. His research interests are in general relativity, cosmology and quantum gravity.
He began his career working on higher-dimensional gravity, brane worlds and black holes as a PhD student in the Cambridge relativity group in the mid 1980s. He has subsequently explored a large range of ideas on topics including quantum cosmology, gravastars and dark energy. Since the mid 2000s his research has focused on the averaging problem and backreaction in inhomogeneous cosmology. By revisiting the foundational principles of general relativity, he has developed the “timescape cosmology”, a phenomenological viable alternative to the standard cosmology, without dark energy.

David is on the editorial board of Classical and Quantum Gravity, an IUPAP representative on the committee of the International Society on General Relativity and Gravitation (ISGRG), President of the New Zealand Institute of Physics, and a member of the Foundational Questions Institute (FQXi). He is also a past President of the Australasian Society for General Relativity and Gravitation.

Eoin O Colgain is Assistant Lecturer in Physical Sciences, Atlantic Technological University.

What are the best conditions for life? Exploring the multiverse can help us find out

Geraint Lewis is Professor of Astrophysics, University of Sydney. He undertakes a broad spectrum of research. On the largest scales, his program involves looking at the influence of dark energy and dark matter on the evolution and ultimate fate of the Universe.
Another aspect of his research uses the phenomenon of gravitational lensing to probe the nature and distribution of the pervasive dark matter, and employing individual stars to magnify the hearts of quasars, the most luminous objects in the Universe.
Closer to home, Geraint’s research focuses upon Galactic cannibalism, where small dwarf galaxies are torn apart by the much more massive Milky Way and Andromeda Galaxy. Using telescopes from around the world, including the 10-m Keck telescope in Hawaii, he has mapped the tell-tale signs of tidal disruption and destruction, providing important clues to how large galaxies have grown over time.

How could the Big Bang arise from nothing?

Alastair Wilson is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Birmingham, working on metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of science and philosophy of physics. His doctoral thesis was on the metaphysics of Everettian (many-worlds) quantum mechanics, and this line of thought culminated in his book The Nature of Contingency: Quantum Physics as Modal Realism (OUP, 2020). More recently he has worked on explanation and dependence in physics and metaphysics as part of his ERC-funded project FraMEPhys, on metaphysical explanation in physics. He has also worked on laws of nature, chance, properties, causation, counterfactuals, and the epistemology of disagreement and of self-locating beliefs. He was President of the Society for the Metaphysics of Science in 2017-18 and Honorary Secretary of the British Society for the Philosophy of Science in 2018-19. He remains on the SMS and BSPS committees, and is also a member of the climate task force of the Philosophy of Science Association and a Trustee of the Philosophy of Physics Association. He is PhilPapers editor for the categories ‘Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics’ and ‘Theories of Modality’, and a Managing Editor of the open-access journal Ergo.

Poems

Lynne Goldsmith’s first poetry collection, ‘Secondary Cicatrices’, won seven honors. Her second poetry collection, ‘By Light and Hidden Matter’, was published last year and she recently won Honorable Mention in the 2023 International Photography Awards in the Nature/Flower non-professional category: https://www.photoawards.com/winner/zoom.php?eid=8-1686636415-23

Looking back from beyond the Moon: how views from space have changed the way we see Earth

Dr Alice Gorman is an internationally recognised leader in the field of space archaeology. She is an Associate Professor in the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at Flinders University, where she teaches the Archaeology of Modern Society.
Her research focuses on the archaeology and heritage of space exploration, including space junk, planetary landing sites, off-earth mining, rocket launch pads and antennas.
She is a member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the Advisory Council of the Space Industry Association of Australia and the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies.
Her book ‘Dr Space Junk vs the Universe: Archaeology and the Future’ (2019) won the Mark and Evette Moran NIB People’s Choice Award for Non-Fiction and the John Mulvaney Book Prize, awarded by the Australian Archaeological Association. It was also shortlisted for the Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards, the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, and the Adelaide Festival Literary Awards.

Planet of Dreams

Cecelia Chapman is a San Francisco-born artist living in Portugal. Her work revolves around video, essay, storytelling, and works on paper and merges the documentary and experimental. ‘Planet of Dreams 2022’, follows a personal dream journey across continent and through time, observing how dream guides us. Planet of Dreams asks ‘in what ways can the dream state guide us?’