Kavli Workshop: The Universe, Summer 2010
In a three-day intensive workshop for journalists, top scientists from MIT and Harvard will explain the latest of what is known at all scales—from a primordial soup bubbling with universes, to the vast structure of our own, to galaxies, to stars and solar systems, and finally to the planets and moons. We’ll hear about the first moments the universe existed and see instruments scientists are using to explore further.
Schedule and Faculty
| (All day) |
 The Big Picture Paul Schechter, Kavli Scholar and MIT Kavli Institute professor of astrophysics. Schechter studies galaxies, clusters of galaxies and the distribution of dark matter therein. He is primarily an observational astronomer who works with both ground-based telescopes and the Hubble Space Telescope. |
| (All day) |
 The Modern Instruments of Astronomy Robert Kirshner is a professor of science in the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and author of The Extravagant Universe : Exploding Stars, Dark Energy, and the Accelerating Cosmos. |
| (All day) |
 Poetry, Mountains and Radio Astronomy James Moran, professor of astrophysics at the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge. He uses radio astronomy for such projects as The SAMBA survey (Smithsonian Astronomical and Maser and Black hole All-sky survey). |
| (All day) |
 Visualizing the Universe Alyssa Goodman is Professor of Astronomy at Harvard University, and a Research Associate of the Smithsonian Institution. Goodman and her research group study the dense gas between the stars. |
| (All day) |
 Planets Not Our Own Joshua Winn, assistant professor of physics at MIT, whose research focuses on observations of extrasolar planetary systems using optical telescopes as well as theoretical models. |
| (All day) |
 Cosmology and Relativistic Astrophysics Edmund Bertschinger, member of the MIT Kavli Institute and Head of the Physics Department. His research interests focus on cosmology and relativistic astrophysics. |
| (All day) |
 The Milky Way and Ultra Cool Subdwarfs Adam Burgasser, associate professor of physics at MIT’s Kavli Institute. He specializes in the physics and properties of stars, especially the relatively low-mass objects called brown dwarfs. |
| (All day) |
 The X-ray Sky Claude Canizares, professor of physics and MIT Kavli Institute associate director of the Chandra X-ray Observatory Center. Canizares’s main research interests are high resolution X-ray spectroscopy and plasma diagnostics of supernova remnants and clusters of galaxies, X-ray studies of dark matter, X-ray properties of quasars and active galactic nuclei, and observational cosmology. |
| (All day) |
 Observatory Visit The Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics combines the resources and research facilities of the Harvard College Observatory and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory to pursue studies of those basic physical processes that determine the nature and evolution of the universe. |
| (All day) |
 Human Spaceflight: The Future Possibilities Dava J. Newman is Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Engineering Systems at MIT. She has assisted NASA in developing the "Bio-Suit" which will provide pressure mechanically, rather than with pressurized gas, allowing astronauts to move around more easily. |
| (All day) |
 Galaxies in Clusters Megan Donahue, astronomy professor at Michigan State University, is a leader in the use of distant galaxy clusters to measure fundamental properties of the universe. |
| (All day) |
 Detecting Dark Matter Peter Fisher, Kavli scholar and professor of physics at MIT Kavli Institute. He is primarily involved in the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) experiment, which will make high precision measurements of cosmic rays. Current interests also include development of new particle detectors, embedding processors in detector systems. |
People Attending this Bootcamp
|
Rebecca Boyle
Freelance Writer
,
Mainly: Popular Science, Scientific American
|
Rab An
Science Editor
,
China Newsweek
|
Damond Benningfield
Freelance Writer and Producer
|
|
Molly Bentley
Independent Radio Producer
,
SETI
|
Phil Berardelli
Contributing Writer
,
ScienceNOW
|
Yudhijit Bhattacharjee
Staff Writer
,
Science Magazine
|
|
Joseph Brean
National Reporter
,
National Post, Toronto
|
Karen Fox
Freelance Writer
,
Children's Book Author
|
A.J. Hostetler
Science Writer
,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
|
©2010 Knight Science Journalism at MIT. All Rights Reserved.