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Speakers Symposium 2023
The importance of science communication for future technologies
Aletta Meinsma (Leiden University)
About 100 years ago, a - for the time - new kind of physics became understood: quantum physics. Besides being a beautiful theory,
this knowledge has been very useful in the design of our smartphones,
lasers and MRI scanners.
Currently, scientists around the world are trying to take the next step.
They are trying to control and manipulate particles
on a very small scale to develop new quantum technologies,
such as quantum computers, quantum networks and quantum
sensors. At present, the technology has no major impact on society... So why does the title say that science communication is already
an important aspect of quantum technology - and not just quantum technology, but
future technology in general? join this talk and let's explore the relationship between science communication and future technologies together.
When we shouldn't do science: evolving a new ethical paradigm for modern science
Dr. Jessica Dempsey (Astron)
Physics and astronomy education and practice is largely lacking a grounding in ethical training or policy. With the exception of codes on scientific integrity, other social moral and ethical boundaries are downplayed in favour of an argument that the scientific method separates research from these concerns.
Studies show consistent bias in the scientific research by gender, race, and other minority representations that belie this conceit. Overdue publicity of cases of inappropriate behaviour in academia demonstrate how the avoidance of defining ethical boundaries are damaging. In astronomy, site-quality demands has seen the shift of telescopes to regions of extreme economic inequity, and now more than 80% of current and future major facilities are on unceded indigenous land. As the protests to the Thirty Metre Telescope construction in Hawaii demonstrate, the astronomy community must face ethical questions that are long overdue for consideration. As scientists in a rapidly evolving world cultural context, we face an increasing gap of credibility, communication and connection with the communities we exist within. If we are to be relevant, impactufl and responsible with our science in the future, we must evolve a radically different approach to our understanding of science and how it impacts our world.
How can ocean physics help fight ocean pollution?
Dr. Laura Gomez Navarro (Utrecht University)
Ocean polllution is becoming a bigger and bigger problem with time. To mitigate, manage and reduce this, it is important to understand the paths different types of pollution will follow in the ocean. Understanding ocean dynamics, namely ocean currents, is thus very important to determine the pathways different pollutants will follow. The world's ocean currents have the potential to transport material like plastic over global scales, connecting leakage on one continent to impacts on another. The sources of that pollution have also been found to be sometimes very local, but what is clear is that ocean physics is key in finding that out. In this seminar, I will present some recent work carried out by the parcels team and myself, where we use ocean physics to understand different aspects of marine pollution in very different regions from the Netherlands to different areas of the Pacific Ocean like Japan and the Galapagos Islands. The main tool we use for our Lagrangian ocean analysis simulations is the OceanParcels.org tool, which is open software. I will close by highlighting the importance of open Science and the role this has in our research.
Are there other universes? The limits of physical research, and how it's fun to run against them.
Dr. Simon Friedrich (University of Groningen)
Are there regions where the laws and constants of nature are different, perhaps in spatio-temporally separate universes? if so, how could we possibly know about them? Asking this question, we seem to be running up against the boundaries of what physical research can answer. In this talk, I discuss whether, as suggested by some, the existence of other universes can actually be inferred from the fact that the laws of nature for life seem "fine-tuned" for life. And I consider whether here might be other, indirect, ways of making theories about other universes testable.
Panel Host
Dr. Stan van Pelt (Radboud University)
Dr. Stan van Pelt is a science journalist who teaches classes on popular science writing at Radboud University.
