by Jeremy Thomas
I was very privileged to be able to attend this four day conference and also to be able to help with several of the associated outreach events for schools and the public. The scientific sessions covered everything from the latest results of the Dark Energy Survey, to Solar Superflares, Archaeo-Astronomy and Planetary Surface Exploration. A wide range of disciplines was represented, with physicists, mathematicians, computer scientists, chemists, archaeologists and geologists as well as straightforward astronomers. Internationally, representatives came from all over Europe, the USA, South America and Asia showing the global interest in co-operating to seek out new knowledge and go where no one has gone before, at least intellectually.
A highlight of the public sessions was the evening Astrobiology lecture, given by Dr.Lewis Dartnell of the University of Leicester, who explained some of the methods and multi-disciplinary techniques needed to search for alien life in the solar system and further afield. Dr.Dartnell was also able to conduct a live video interview with Major Tim Peake, the first British astronaut to be selected for training by the European Space Agency. Major Peake was in Star City, Russia but took time out to speak to the audience about his training and his forthcoming mission in 2015. Major Peake is actually an alumnus of the University of Portsmouth’s Engineering Department, from where he joined the Army Air Corps.
During NAM week, local school pupils were given unique
opportunities to experience the conference at first hand. Local sixth formers, including several from
PGS, attended one of the conference plenary lectures, by Professor Sarah Bridle
of the University of Manchester, on the Dark Energy Survey. Professor Bridle
then spoke separately to the sixth form group, answering questions about her
work in more detail, and addressing issues such as her career path and her dual
role as top scientist and mother of two. A certain Portsmouth flavour was added
to this session by the Band of the Royal Marines, who provided musical accompaniment
through the open windows, from Guildhall Square where Armed Forces Day was
being celebrated!
I was very privileged to be able to attend this four day conference and also to be able to help with several of the associated outreach events for schools and the public. The scientific sessions covered everything from the latest results of the Dark Energy Survey, to Solar Superflares, Archaeo-Astronomy and Planetary Surface Exploration. A wide range of disciplines was represented, with physicists, mathematicians, computer scientists, chemists, archaeologists and geologists as well as straightforward astronomers. Internationally, representatives came from all over Europe, the USA, South America and Asia showing the global interest in co-operating to seek out new knowledge and go where no one has gone before, at least intellectually.
A highlight of the public sessions was the evening Astrobiology lecture, given by Dr.Lewis Dartnell of the University of Leicester, who explained some of the methods and multi-disciplinary techniques needed to search for alien life in the solar system and further afield. Dr.Dartnell was also able to conduct a live video interview with Major Tim Peake, the first British astronaut to be selected for training by the European Space Agency. Major Peake was in Star City, Russia but took time out to speak to the audience about his training and his forthcoming mission in 2015. Major Peake is actually an alumnus of the University of Portsmouth’s Engineering Department, from where he joined the Army Air Corps.
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| Major Tim Peake addressing a NAM audience by video link from Star City, Russia |
The second school session, for KS3 pupils, took place on the
final day of NAM, when PGS Astronomy Club joined other schools to spend a
morning investigating distant galaxies, through the online Galaxy Zoo project;
building planetary landers with engineers from Portsmouth based Astrium and
enjoying the ICG’s mobile planetarium
show, as well as a tour of the ‘Seeing the Universe In All Its Light’
exhibition.
In addition the scientific and public outreach activities
that took place, the NAM delegates also displayed other talents not always
associated with serious scientists, but showing that they are human beings too,
with a wide variety of other interests. The ICG football team was victorious in
the NAM football tournament, beating off opposition from seven other
astronomical research groups and the silver cup now stands proudly in the ICG
tea room until the next NAM. The most amazing event of the week was, though,
the Cosmic Comedy Supernova with a mixed cast of professional astronomers and
personalities from TV and radio providing a hilarious evening of entertainment
at Tiger,Tiger in Gunwharf Quays. This included Dr.Jen Gupta, Outreach Officer
at the ICG, alongside Chris Lintott, presenter of BBC Sky at Night and the
inimitable John Culshaw, performing wickedly satirical impersonations of
Patrick Moore, Tom Baker and Brian Cox in front of a very appreciative audience
of non-celebrity scientists. Dr.Karen Masters, Senior Lecturer and researcher
at ICG, found a new career opportunity as sound engineer for the evening,
seeming very much at home behind the mixing desk.
My title for this piece promised two conferences, so I will
finish with a brief overview of another opportunity that has been kindly
afforded to me by my hosts here at ICG this week. This was an invite to the
internal research conference of the Faculty of Technology at the University of
Portsmouth, showcasing the latest research by those recently appointed to
professorial positions as well as some of the research being conducted by the
early years researchers under their guidance. There were several talks by ICG
staff, such as Professor Claudia Maraston and Dr.David Bacon, who explained
their research into Galaxy Population Synthesis Modelling and the latest plans
for cosmological observation on a very large scale, using synthetic aperture
radio telescope techniques. With the advances in high speed broadband
communication and supercomputing, it is now possible to combine signals from
small receiving stations all over Europe to synthesise the effect of a radio
telescope as big as Western Europe. Soon this will be extended in the Southern
Hemisphere with similar arrays planned in South Africa and Australia,
effectively constructing a telescope with an aperture as large as the Pacific
and Indian Oceans combined.
The Faculty of Technology covers a wide range of really
interesting and useful research areas as well as cosmology. There were other presentations
on methods to deal with pollution in urban sewage and water supply systems; computer
modelling of nano-materials for engineering applications; operational research
methods applied to optimising the siting of offshore wind farms and the use of
statistical modelling and computer science to develop new standards for
identifying patients at high risk of sudden death in hospitals. Each of these
areas of research had some unique aspect linked to the location in Portsmouth,
which was an interesting link to the Dean of Faculty’s introduction where he
aired his misgivings over the concentration of government funding in a limited
number of specialist centres of research excellence. I agree with his
sentiment. Governments and their civil servants like the administrative
convenience of dealing with small numbers of large scale organisations in all
areas of their responsibility, but is this the best way to encourage the
uninhibited creativity demonstrated by Portsmouth’s thriving research
community? As my title suggests, Portsmouth has a fine tradition of creativity
in both arts and science and I hope that this continues to flourish through the
university, local industries, the schools and exciting future projects such as
Sir Ben Ainslie’s fantastic new sailing centre of excellence. I am sure that we will continue to play our
part in Portsmouth’s creative future at PGS.
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| NAM 2014 delegates enjoying a sunny lunchbreak on the steps of the Guildhall |
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