My student's third paper of a stunning 3-part series on the growth of dark matter structures. In this paper Camila finally demonstrated the long studied concentration of dark matter haloes was tied to the growth history of that halo and hence, through her other works, the basic cosmology of the universe. Reference: Correa, Wyithe, Schaye and Duffy 2015 MNRAS 452, 1217C
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Are we alone? It's a fundamental question that haunts us as we look up into a cold, dark sky and (so far as we know!) the answer is yes, but perhaps for not too much longer. With $100m from the Breakthrough Listen project Australia will be leading the search for ET's signals. This is something that everyone is fascinated by, including politicians! Myself and a group of distinguished scientists gave a briefing at Parliament House to, amongst others, then Minister for Industry Ian Macfarlane and Minister for Science Karen Andrews (seen above with me politely trying not to be bored by my awful ramblings).
You can watch the interview at the National Library of Australia hosted by 666 ABC Canberra's Genevieve Jacobs, Nobel Laureate Prof Brian Schmidt, Prof Naomi McClure-Griffiths, Laureate Fellow Prof Matthew Bailes, Prof Paul Davies and yours truly (completely out of my depth!)
You can also listen to the earlier news briefing arranged by AusSMC (Australian Science Media Centre)
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An amazing chance to open for Neil deGrasse Tyson in front of 5000 people, speaking about dark matter and generally hanging out with him backstage (and yes he's a top dude).
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More awesome results from Rosetta and in particular it's epic Philae lander has found organic material on the surface of Comet 67P
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The discovery of the closest Earth-like world yet has huge implications for the search for alien life. We think this world will likely be too hot but it means rocky worlds similar in size to us really are everywhere... So where are all the aliens?
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I made it to the panel of ABC's The Drum to chat about finding aliens with the amazing Breakthrough Listen project and the lead role Australia is playing in this endeavour.
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Quite ridiculously I found myself chatting to THE Tony Jones on ABC Lateline about the awesome Pluto flyby mission.
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Blackholes can lie dormant for decades or more, supermassive blackholes like the one in the centre of our galaxy can silently wait for millions of years, before flaring into life as the brightest objects in the sky thanks to accreting material swirling around them glowing X-ray hot.
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My student's second paper of a stunning 3-part series on the growth of dark matter structures. In this paper Camila tied the distribution of dark matter in haloes (i.e. the density profile) and initial power spectrum of the universe. This used detailed N-body simulations that Camila herself ran several of on supercomputer. Reference: Correa, Wyithe, Schaye and Duffy 2015 MNRAS 450, 1521C
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I was pretty stoked to see the lander had made a surprise reawakening and rushed down to the studios to share my happiness!
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My student's first paper of her PhD was a stunning 3-part series on the growth of dark matter structures. In this paper Camila set up the analytic machinery that tied the mass accretion history of haloes to the underlying cosmology of the universe using linear structure formation theory. In particular she showed that the rapid exponential growth of haloes in the early universe slows to become a slower power law at late times thanks to Dark Energy. Reference: Correa, Wyithe, Schaye and Duffy 2015 MNRAS 450, 1514-1520
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NASA has an outrageously cool new spacecraft concept for landing ever larger cargo loads onto Mars. And yes it looks like a flying saucer.
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Channel 7's Weekend Sunrise had a feature on favourite dark matter detector in the Southern Hemisphere (it's the first and only one so that's an easy choice, as well as being a Co-Investigator which helps!)
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A chat on the couch about our Sun's Future and the protoplanet Ceres
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Modern life can seem overwhelmingly complex. By showing the astounding insights into the world we live in from asking three brief questions, I told the Sydney Opera House that sometimes the best way to understand something complex is to ask a simple question.
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With the excitement of our funding secured to build the world's first dark matter detector in the Southern Hemisphere in Stawell, Victoria we hosted VIPs and a film crew from 7's Sunrise Weekend. It was 30+ degrees and 100% humidity a km underground but that's where you need to go to search for dark matter!
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Unexpected (and slightly surprising) honour but I made Australia's "Men's Style Magazine" Men of Influence 2015 list, crazily this was alongside legend Hawthorn Hawks player Shaun Burgoyne. Still, I took it as a good sign that science was being considered as a key part of Australia.
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A Russian spacecraft is spinning out of control and I get to rant about the awesome physics of Interstellar too. Fun chat on the couch.
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Just an amazing experience heading up to the beautiful Pilbara region of West Australia to speak about aboriginal astronomy. I was part of an amazing lineup of speakers and events for the Karijini Experience, featuring everything from indigenous basket weaving techniques to Opera in the Gorge by the incomparable Deborah Cheetham
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The worlds most famous telescope just turned 25, I looked back on some of its iconic images and greatest discoveries.
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