Our Galaxy and the Future of Flight

The drive for sustainable aviation and increased mobility will transform air travel by the year 2050. The evolution of new aircraft concepts will be accelerated by technology, however the needs of pilots, operators, passengers and the wider public must not be overlooked for a safe, sustainable and socially responsible aviation sector.

Mike is an Associate Professor in Aerospace and Flight Safety Researcher at the University of Birmingham. He is a Chartered Engineer and Chartered Ergonomics/Human Factors Specialist affording insight into complex ‘human in the loop’ systems challenges.

Black holes are notoriously difficult to see, but for the first time gravitational waves reveal their secrets. But could it really be even more exotic objects? And how do we distinguish the sound of black holes and "echoes" from the unknown? I am an astrophysicist at the University of Birmingham studying black holes in science - and in spare time in fiction: They have finally made it into the movies! And some fantastic ideas in science fiction come not from script writers but reality. Let us see how surprisingly right (and delightfully off mark) Star Trek/Wars, Interstellar, etc. can be!

The Sun is one of roughly 100 billion stars in the Milky Way, but did you know that not all the stars in our Galaxy today were born here? In this talk we will find out about the field of Galactic archaeology, investigate how to identify stars eaten by the Milky Way in the past, and see what we can learn about how galaxies form and evolve by studying our Galaxy in detail.