Galactic archaeology, LGBTQ+ STEM Day, Extraterrestrial Life & Fantastic 2D Materials
For the week of November 15, here are colloquium-like webinars of potential interest for UCI's Department of Physics & Astronomy, and beyond.
Galactic archaeology: mining stellar fossils in the Milky Way (IOP/U. Surrey)
Tuesday, November 16, 8 am PT
Dr. Payel Das, UKRI Future Leaders Fellow in the Astrophysics (University of Surrey)
Stars in the night sky like our Sun have been around almost since the birth of the Universe. They have witnessed a number of interactions between our Milky Way galaxy and other nearby galaxies. What they are made out of and how they move encodes their origins and any interactions they have been involved in. Some stars for example, were born in a nearby galaxy that fell into our Milky Way. Stars are therefore a bit like the fossils we find here on Earth. Galactic archaeologists are collecting many millions of stellar fossils to work out why our Milky Way looks like it does now. I will share some of the secrets of making an excellent galactic archaeologist and will invite you to help me find the origins of some stars in our night sky. You will have the opportunity to understand how astronomers use stars to understand the transformation of galaxies from irregular blobs in the early Universe into the beautiful spiral and elliptical galaxies of today.
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PRISM Speakers: Shining a light on the queer side of science for LGBTQ+ STEM Day (Exeter Library)
Wednesday, November 17, 10:30 am PT
Alexandre Coates (Heriot Watt University) - "Shaking things up: how the messy world around us affects quantum mechanics (and researchers)"
Dr. Jon Davies (U. Exeter) - "How our genes shape our brain's development"
Information and registration here.
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New Strategies in the Search for Cosmic Company (NAS)
Wednesday, November 17, 6pm PT
Dr. Seth Shostak, SETI Institute
Are we alone in the universe? The scientific hunt for extraterrestrial life is now well into its fifth decade, and we still haven’t discovered any cosmic company. Could all this mean that finding biology beyond Earth, even if it exists, is a project for the ages – one that might take centuries or longer? New approaches and new technology for detecting life and sentient beings elsewhere suggest that there is good reason to expect that we could uncover evidence even of sophisticated civilizations – the type of aliens we see in the movies and on TV – within a few decades. It could be that the hunt for radio or laser signals is not the best way to proceed. But if we do find E.T., what would be the societal impact of learning that something, or someone, is out there?
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The fantastic world of 2D materials (IOP)
Thursday, November 18, 11 am PT
Dr. Juliana Morbec (Keeley University)
Go upon a journey to explore the world of two-dimensional materials, this class of very thin materials that has been showing huge promise for a variety of technological applications. Dr. Morbec will discuss what makes such materials so attractive and how they can revolutionize the development of future technological devices.