“Discrepancies in the Measured Expansion Rate of the Universe”
Saturday February 24 at 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM SLT
by Rob Knop
The most basic parameter in our description of the expanding Universe is
the current expansion rate, given by the Hubble Constant.
A mere two decades ago, the value of that constant was uncertain to a
factor of two. Since then, the face of cosmology has changed, and we are
now in an era of precision cosmology. We are able to measure the value
of the Hubble Constant to within a few percent. The problem is, we now
have two measurements– one from nearby objects such as variable stars
and low-redshift supernovae, and the other from statistics of
fluctuations in the early Universe. The two measurements are different
at about the six-percent level, which is greater than the uncertainties
on the individual measurements. While astronomers of two decades ago
would dream to be in this situation, we find ourselves questioning
whether there is something going on in the expanding universe that we
haven’t figured out, or whether it is a matter of systematic
uncertainties that we haven’t yet identified.
In this talk, I will discuss the history of both the Universe and of our
dominant model of the Universe. I will describe how the Hubble Constant
went from being extremely uncertain to relatively well known… well
enough that we can see a discrepancy in two different measurements. I
will describe the two ways we measure the Hubble Constant, and talk
about possibilities for resolving the discrepancy in their results.
Read more information
here.
The Science Circle (
61/126/32)
* * * * *
"CRISPR"
“New Advances in Genetic Engineering: The Nuts, The Bolts, Frankenstein Monsters?, and Ethics”
Sunday Feb 25 at 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM SL Time
by Stephen L. Gasior
In the last 150 years we’ve had an amazing advancement in our
understanding of the genetic code that programs life. While some
technologies for manipulating genes have developed in the last few
decades, new programmable systems have been discovered in the past few
years. Developed from bacteria, the CRISPR/Cas systems allow a new level
of ease for genetic changes in cells. This presentation will describe
the origins of the CRISPR/Cas9 system, how it works, applications for
its use, and implications for the future.
Read more information
here.
The Science Circle (
61/126/32)
