Public Talk – BBC Sky at Night Presenter, Professor Chris Lintott – How to be surprised by the Universe

How to be surprised by the Universe

Description:  From mysterious radio signals to spectacular supernovae, the Universe keeps finding new ways to astonish us. Chris Lintott (Sky at Night, University of Oxford) explains why we should keep our eyes peeled for the unusual, what to do when you think you’ve found an alien civilisation, and the rules to live by in a spectacular and ever changing Universe.

 

Biography: Chris Lintott is a Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Oxford, where he studies everything from galaxy evolution to interstellar asteroids. Through the Zooniverse citizen science platform, which he leads, and more recent work in machine learning, he tries hard to work out how to make the best of the large volumes of data we receive from the Universe. Best known for his role as co-presenter on the BBC’s long-running Sky at Night program, he is an accomplished speaker and populariser of science, and is looking forward to his second visit to the AAS.