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Sharing the Adventure with the Public The Value and Excitement of 'Grand Questions' of Space Science and Exploration: Summary of a Workshop (2011) / Chapter Skim
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Session 2: Understanding the Universe: How Did It Begin and How Is It Evolving?
Pages 17-21

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From page 17...
... ; Chair of the European Space Sciences Committee of the European Science Foundation Panelists: Miles O'Brien, Television and Internet Science Journalist Linda Billings, George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs INTRODUCTION Alan Dressler, an astronomer at the Observatories of the Carnegie Institution and an Space Studies Board (SSB) member, began the session by commenting that much has happened over the past century that has "changed the notion of where we are," but only a "fraction of the human beings on this planet" knows it.
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From page 18...
... Blandford took the audience on a trip back in time to the beginning of the universe and through its evolution, reviewing the basics of cosmology, including the discovery of the cosmic microwave background by Penzias and Wilson and the discoveries by the Cosmic Background Explorer, the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe, and the Planck observatory. He outlined the challenges facing astrophysicists in understanding the universe today: dark matter, dark energy, and understanding why the universe is so uniform.
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From page 19...
... , and AOES Medialab. PANEL DISCUSSION Miles O'Brien, television and Internet science journalist, and Linda Billings, George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs, joined Dressler, Blandford, and Swings for the panel discussion.
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From page 20...
... O'Brien said that the conventional media no longer have the expertise in science to vet anyone, and it is better done by the masses. 2 Steven Squyres, Cornell University, is the principal investigator for the Mars Exploration rovers Spirit and Opportunity.
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From page 21...
... He thinks there is a loss of the interrelationship between the sciences and the humanities, the "two cultures," when using social media. Christie Nicholson, journalist and online contributor for Scientific American, urged everyone to try the new social media because it is very abstract, and "if you don't get into it, you really can't understand what use it is." If it turns out to not be valuable, then stop using it.
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Key Terms

  • european science
  • roger blandford
  • panel discussion
  • space studies
  • using social

  • hubble space
  • european space
  • science journalist
  • scientific american
  • hundred billion

  • dark energy
  • carnegie institution
  • alan dressler
  • decadal survey
  • knowledge level

  • astrophysics decadal
  • internet science
  • linda billings
  • sciences committee
  • space telescope

  • dark matter
  • space sciences
  • history museums
  • rovers spirit
  • southern observatory

  • blandford roger
  • planck observatory
  • discovery fits
  • wilkinson microwave
  • media platforms


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