In this episode of The Foil Podcast we’re joined by Professor Alan Duffy, Astronomer / Astrophysicist / Cosmologist and Director of the Space Technology and Industry Institute at Swinburne University.
We hear from Alan about what inspired him to study the universe on its largest scales. Alan talks to us about the mysterious substance that makes up much of the matter in our universe known as dark matter, how we know it’s there, what we know about it, and what we don’t. We hear about how dark matter is the best explanation for astronomical observations given Einstein’s theory of General Relativity and discuss competing hypotheses. Alan explains the importance of well-designed scientific exploration which uses orthogonal lines of enquiry to draw clear conclusions.
We talk about the various types of data that astronomers gather and analyse, how that data is collected and the effort involved in cleaning and analysing that data using supercomputers. We discuss the recent imaging of a supermassive black hole at the centre of the Messier 87 (M87) galaxy by an international team of astronomers under the project known as the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration. The result Alan refers to as the “Impossible Picture” and describes the enormous data collection and processing effort involved.
Alan talks to us about the role that AI is playing in filtering and analysing the vast amounts of data generated by astronomical instruments around the world. Alan shares his concern for the “unknown unknowns” that AI might miss in searching our skies for interesting discoveries because we are currently limited to training them to detect only objects that we are familiar with or expect. Alan tells us about the Zooniverse and the role of citizen scientists in helping to identify and surface oddities in our observations such as Hanny’s Voorwerp and bias in our data that AI might take for granted unless we’re careful. Alan describes the risk of confirmation bias in data analysis as it manifests in the field of astronomy and modern techniques for avoiding it.
We reflect on Alan’s Ted Talk and the power of asking simple questions, and the role of intuition and experience as a guide for finding simple questions to ask.
Alan talks to us about his technology start-up mDetect which is repurposing muon detection technology developed for sub-atomic particle experiments to see inside the structures of buildings and subterranean or submarine environments. The technology helps identify and monitor structural weaknesses for safety risks. Alan describes how the company got started and his journey as a founder.
http://astronomy.swinburne.edu.au/
Hanny’s Voorwerp – History of a mystery
www.seerdata.ai
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