The Cosmic Savannah Ep. 76: First Ever Live Show Debut at Astronomy Olympics

Hosted by Dr. Jacinta Delhaize, Dr. Tshiamiso Makwela
& Dr. Daniel Cunnama.


Watch the whole show on YouTube! [Editor’s note: Start at 20:28
where the audio starts with some rocking marimba action! The last
5 minutes here are more tunes from the marimba band.]


https://www.youtube.com/live/Dgw6mz5bTG4?si=xAr-fa0GvLwpT-pc


This week, join us for a special live episode from the 2024 IAU
General Assembly in Cape Town, South Africa, featuring black hole
simulations expert Dr. Nicole Thomas and winner
of the 2011 Nobel Prize for Physics Prof. Brian
Schmidt.


 


Cape Town born Dr. Nicole Thomas returns to The
Cosmic Savannah four years after previously featuring in episodes
9 and 14 as a PhD student. She shares with us the story of her
illustrious academic career around the world since then,
including a postdoctoral research position in the UK at the
Institute of Computational Cosmology, University of Durham and
now a prestigious Jim Buckee Fellowship at the International
Centre for Radio Astronomy Research, University of Western
Australia.


 


Nicole explains to us her latest research on using
state-of-the-art supercomputer simulations to understanding the
havoc that supermassive black holes wreak on galaxies. She does
this by trying to model how the Universe works using our current
understanding of physics and comparing her results to images of
the real Universe taken with South Africa’s MeerKAT telescope.
She hints that she looks forward to applying these simulations to
the findings of the upcoming SKA telescope!


 


Next, Nobel Laureate Prof Brian Schmidt, a
Distinguished Professor at the Australian National University
joins the team on stage. Brian takes us back to the night of
the 4th of October 2011 when he received a call from Sweden
telling him he had won the Nobel Prize. Brian
received the prize, alongside two other
people, for having discovered the accelerating expansion of
the Universe. He discusses what life has been like
after such a monumental achievement, including his
experiences as Vice-Chancellor of the Australian National
University. Finally, he tells us about his plans to get back
to doing research and reveals what he thinks the next big
astrophysical breakthroughs will be using the SKA
telescope under construction in South Africa and
Australia.


 


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