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This year, the discovery of gravitational waves shook the world of physics- literally! Join us to find out more about this mysterious and awesome force from a man who helped contribute to the discovery. And it’s not only cosmic bangs we’ll be talking about- we’ll also be learning more about explosions here on Earth, and exploring the world of volcanoes through the medium of beer. Strap in, as it’s set to be a bumpy ride...
Surfing the gravitational waves of the universe
The LIGO experiment made the first direct detection of gravitational waves from two colliding black holes on September 14th 2015. After a 'user friendly' explanation of gravitational waves, I'll describe the instruments, what we measured, what we might measure next, and what all this means for you. It will be a wild ride through the physics and engineering of the future.
Bubbles, beer, and volcanic eruptions
Dr Tom Pering
(Researcher in Volcanology)
Volcanic eruptions at basaltic volcanoes are driven by the accumulation of gas at depth, which can combine and rise through conduits to generate a range of volcanic activities. By using state-of-the-art computer models and conducting laboratory experiments we can investigate these processes in much more detail than ever before. I will demonstrate how, using everyday liquids (including beer!), in scaled experiments how we can help probe and understand volcanic behaviours.
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