Bulletin of the American Physical Society
APS April Meeting 2016
Volume 61, Number 6
Saturday–Tuesday, April 16–19, 2016; Salt Lake City, Utah
Session J5: Forum on Outreach and Engaging the PublicInvited Undergraduate
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Sponsoring Units: FOEP Chair: Yvan Bruynseraede, University of Leuven Room: Ballroom D |
Sunday, April 17, 2016 10:45AM - 11:21AM |
J5.00001: The Origin of our Universe: From Quantum to Cosmos Invited Speaker: Thomas Hertog The discovery in the late 1920s that our universe expands fundamentally changed the discussion about its origin. I first review the scientific, historical and philosophical background behind this discovery. A key player in this was Georges Lemaitre who was also a Catholic priest. Respecting meticulously the differences in methodology and language between science and religion he was first to conceive of a physical origin of our universe, based on quantum theory. Today Lemaitre's vision is realised concretely in inflationary cosmology where a phase of rapid expansion generates the seeds for a complex universe starting from a simple natural beginning. A fuzzy quantum origin however gives rise to a multiverse of possible universes. I discuss some of the challenges associated with the development of a truly predictive multiverse cosmology that is falsifiable to observers within one of its histories. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, April 17, 2016 11:21AM - 11:57AM |
J5.00002: CERN's approach to public outreach Invited Speaker: Rolf Landua CERN's communication goes beyond publishing scientific results. Education and outreach are equally important ways of communicating with the general public, and in particular with the young generation. Over the last decade, CERN has significantly increased its efforts to accommodate the very large interest of the general public (about 300,000 visit requests per year), by ramping up its capacity for guided tours from 25,000 to more than 100,000 visitors per year, by creating six new of state-of-the-art exhibitions on-site, by building and operating a modern physics laboratory for school teachers and students, and by showing several traveling exhibitions in about 10 countries per year. The offer for school teachers has also been expanded, to 35-40 weeks of teacher courses with more than 1000 participants from more than 50 countries per year. The talk will give an overview about these and related activities. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, April 17, 2016 11:57AM - 12:33PM |
J5.00003: Engaging the public on climate change issues Invited Speaker: Alice Bean As a Jefferson Science Fellow from August 2014-August 2015, Alice Bean worked with the Office of Religion and Global Affairs at the U.S. Department of State on climate change and environmental issues. The Office of Religion and Global Affairs works to implement the National Strategy on Religious Leader and Faith Community Engagement which includes building partnerships on environmental issues. With the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties meeting 21 in December, 2015 in Paris, there were and continue to be great opportunities for physicists to interact with policy makers and the general public. As an experimental particle physicist, much was learned about climate change science, how the public views scientists, how science can influence policy, but most especially how to communicate about science. [Preview Abstract] |
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