Q: Why do researchers do experiments on university students?A: Because rats are expensive and you grow attached to them. Since 2014 I have helped to teach two astronomy units at the University of Western Australia, Our Universe and Our Solar System. These are relatively basic first-year astronomy units designed to be taken by non-science students … Continue reading The Astronomy Diaries: I did an experiment on my students
Category: Research
Sometimes ideas for research projects can come from unusual places. For me, this project started when I signed up to the ACT Science Mentors program to mentor a high school student through a research project. The student I was partnered with was very interested in quantum mechanics, and had already measured the Boltzmann constant in … Continue reading Twisting light: creating an optical vortex
Optical phased arrays are a way to construct a really powerful laser beam, and steer it precisely without mirrors or lenses. Making an optical phased array that can steer millions of times per second would be a huge boon to systems like LIDAR for autonomous cars. But to make something move that fast, you need … Continue reading Fast steering optical phased array: how to trick a control system
So after months of lab work, late nights, and statistics you’ve got some data and have p-hacked your way to a statistically significant correlation. Now you just have to write up your findings and force the manuscript through a peer review system based more in tradition than sanity in order to publish before you perish. … Continue reading How to publish a turd
Papers are the currency of the academic world. All academics know that they must “publish or perish” in an environment where resources are slim and competition is fierce. But that doesn’t stop us from having some fun with our papers. Entertaining titles, jokes, hidden surprises, and even the occasional hoax can be found in just … Continue reading Hoaxes, humour, and haggis – the weird world of publish or perish
With thousands of radio dishes spread over thousands of kilometres, the Square Kilometre Array will be the largest and most powerful radio telescope in the world and able to explore the deepest regions of the cosmos. But only if these thousands of radio dishes, some hundreds of kilometres apart, can be synchronized to within a … Continue reading Getting in Sync with the SKA
We used a telescope and a high-precision laser system to beam an atomic clock signal through thin air. While we only sent the signal between buildings, this is the first step in developing a system able to beam these signals to satellites in orbit, with the ultimate aim of pushing our theories of the universe … Continue reading Between a clock and outer space
Units are important. Units are how we measure things. They are how we know whether a cop is going to write us a speeding ticket, whether we need to try harder at that diet we’ve supposedly been on since New Year, or whether the bloke who owns the petrol station has pulled a fast one … Continue reading More Favourite Units
Doing a PhD is a long, challenging but rewarding journey. Earlier this year, astrophysics PhD student Fiona and I teamed up to pass on what we had learned and give our advice for new and prospective PhD students. The advice was compiled into two videos on my YouTube channel, and two accompanying blog posts on … Continue reading How to Handle Your PhD
Last week I was interviewed for the always interesting and entertaining Astrophiz podcast. I had a great time talking about my work, astrophysics, and science in general. Check it out: Astrophiz 51: Dr David Gozzard ~ Telescope pilot taking the pulse of the Universe
