This year's Nobel prize in physics was announced! The prize was split between two different ways of studying our Universe.
James Peebles was awarded half of the price for his theoretical work in
physical cosmology. His ground-breaking work focused on the earliest stages of our Universe; for example, the cosmic microwave background – which is among the most valuable probes into the primordial eras.
This radiation was formed only a couple of thousands of years after the Big Bang when it decoupled from freshly formed neutral matter. Then it
aged – and stretched – with The Universe, now having temperature only 2.7˚C above the absolute zero. It is coming from every direction and there are mild (but measurable) deviations that carry valuable information about the structure of our Universe.
Peebles also contributed to areas of research of dark matter and energy,
the Big Bang nucleosynthesis and formation of large-scale structures such as galaxies.
Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz split the other half of the award for the
discovery of an exoplanet orbiting solar-type stars. Exoplanets are planets orbiting stars other than our Sun. They were believed to exist but hard to capture, as contrary to stars, the do not shine.
Indirect methods of exoplanet observations focus on their effect on their host star. For example, if the planet is very massive, the stare is forced to move as they together revolve around a common centre of mass. This movement can be detected as it causes a slight shift in the light radiation from the star. Its wavelength shortens (turns slightly bluer) as the star is moving towards as and extends (turns slightly redder) as it is moving away from us.
This method was used to discover 51 Pegasi b, which was announced in the
year 1995. It is located approximately 50 light-years from Earth, weighs
half as Jupiter and is around 1000 ˚C hot.
The field of exoplanet is very active, today we know of more than 4000
exoplanets, vigorously looking for a sign of life in their atmospheres.
*DIAS contributes to research in both of these areas
(https://www.dias.ie/2019/03/27/gravity-instrument-breaks-new-ground-in-exoplanet-imaging/
*
*https://arxiv.org/pdf/0806.2458.pdf
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Posted: 8th October 2019 by George Rogers
Nobel Prize in Physics for 2019 Announced
Category: News, School of Theoretical Physics News & Events
This work was to help towards the preservation of the Irish Language, to maintain it's continuity with the past, and was to become a resource for teachers to check pronunciation #DIASdiscovers #Irish #Irishlanguage #CelticStudies #Gaelic
The researchers used the International Phonetic Alphabet, slightly modified to represent vowels and consonants of living speech. At that time there were concerns over the deterioration of the Irish language due to the "overpowering influence of English"
Date: 02 June 1943 Paper: The Irish Press Synopsis: In 1943, a phonetic investigation led by Brian Ó Cuív, Risteárd B. Breathnach and Tomás de Bhaldraithe of DIAS would begin the first systematic scientific recording of the varied sounds of modern Gaelic speech.
Happy Birthday! twitter.com/thecelticist/s…
The papers were 1) Affine Field Theory: conservation identitites and relation to Weyl and Eddington 2)The Union of the three fundamental fields (Gravitation, Menson, Electromagnetism) Which went on to secure worldwide acclaim. #DIASdiscovers
Date: 01 December 1943 Paper: The Irish Press Headline: Two Papers by Dr. Schroedinger Synopsis: 1943 was a busy year for Schroedinger. Not only did he deliver the "What is Life?" Lectures in @tcddublin in February in November he delivered two papers in the @RIAdawson (1/2)
Available to buy on the DIAS bookshop: books.dias.ie/index.php?main… (5/5) #DIASdiscovers #celtic #studies #twopatricks
He spoke on "Palladius and Patrick". Palladius was the first bishop of the Christians of Ireland. (2/5)
He was known by his first name Patricius, which in later times would lead to confusion as he was succeeded by another apostle of the same name (Saint Patrick or Patricius in Latin). (3/5)
"In the lives of St. Patrick, the two saints are invariably fused into one", said Prof. O'Rahilly in his lecture. The lecture was a condensation from O’Rahilly’s book “The two Patricks: a lecture on the history of Christianity in fifth-century Ireland”. (4/5)
Date: 21st March 1942 Paper: The Irish Press Headline: Palladius and Patrick | School Of Celtic Studies Lecture Synopsis: The first public lecture under the auspices of the School of Celtic Studies was delivered in Trinity College by Professor T. F. O'Rahilly in 1942. (1/5)
As part of our ongoing participation in the @HistFest we decided to take a look into the Irish Newspaper Archives and see where DIAS made it into print over the last 80 years. There were so many articles, the hardest part was selecting what we would post. We hope you enjoy!
@AReillyFailte @CultureNight @VisitDublin Thanks Antoinette! Glad you enjoyed 😊
Big thank you to @MartinaPQuinn of @helloalicepr for moderating the discussion, and of course to our panel @NeasaMcG @CormacORafferty and @laoneill111
@CormacORafferty "to cut yourself off from fundamental research means you could miss out on some of the biggest ideas"
@laoneill "it's our job as researchers to keep reminding governments how important basic research is" "For Dev basic research being carried out in Ireland was a badge of pride"
@NeasaMcG Schrödinger's work in causality was not well received by the religious authorities at the time At the same time DIAS did have Catholic priests working on research projects in the early days, so there was not the conflict you might think between science and religion