Horizon Science Channel

OK. So, it isn't really physics, but since I work in this discipline, and since it won the physics Nobel Prize, we'll call it "honorary physics". I talk about the design and early results of NASA's Kepler Mission. I was a member of the science team for this mission (through the Participating Scientist Program). Thumbnail is of Kepler 11, taken from the NASA media gallery.

A quick description of the KATRIN experiment, currently running in Karlsruhe Germany. It is designed to measure the masses of neutrinos using a giant, blimp-looking spectrometer. The image is not photoshopped. Image from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KATRIN media gallery).

A description of the effects of nuclear physics in the early universe. Specifically, the brief period of Big Bang Nucleosynthesis which produced the light elements in the universe and how their abundances relate to the overall matter density in the universe.

A review of some physics experiments that probed the existence of extra spacial dimensions at small scales. They also were instrumental in constraining some of the properties of dark energy. The primary research group is the Eot-Wash group at the University of Washington: https://www.npl.washington.edu/eotwash/ The three papers, in particular, that we explore (one is a recent result from a Chinese group) are below. They all appeared in Physical Review Letters. https://arxiv.org/abs/2002.11761 https://arxiv.org/pdf/hep-ph/0611184.pdf https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.124.051301 Image of Calabi-Yao manifold.

This video gives an overview of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and many of its key results—especially its early results from the first few years of observations. Image is M51 from SDSS

This is a brief overview of the Michelson-Morley experiment, which showed that there was no aether through which light waves would propagate. This experiment was instrumental in the development of modern physics—special relativity in particular. Thumbnail from Alain Le Rille—shown on wikipedia

I outline the discovery of dark energy through the observation of distant Type Ia supernovae. The discovery paper led to the Nobel Prize in physics and has been cited 13,000 times—that's a lot. Image from NASA HST

A discussion about energy and climate change with Richard Muller (professor emeritus of physics at UC Berkeley). Professionally an astrophysicist, he has been working for the last decade on climate change, air pollution, and—most recently—nuclear waste storage. Climate, pollution, and COVID analysis: http://berkeleyearth.org/ Nuclear waste storage: https://www.deepisolation.com/ Image from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

This video discusses the axion, the reasons behind the theory, and the early experiments from Brookhaven, Fermilab, Rochester, and Trieste. I also present my own experiment looking for similar particles. At some point, I'll do a video where we examine other constraints on the axion. Image from Fermilab Image Gallery.

I discuss the design and operation of the ADMX experiment (currently at the University of Washington). This is the premier experiment with the goal of detecting dark matter axions. Image from the Millenium simulation.

This video outlines more recent solar neutrino experiments, neutrino oscillations, and the resolution to the Solar Neutrino Problem. The results of the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory were crucial for confirming how the Sun shines. Thumbnail image from the Kamioka Observatory.

This video outlines the early experiments to measure neutrinos from the Sun. I discuss the motivations for studying them, and the problem that arose when we only saw half of what we expected to find. The resolution to this Solar Neutrino Problem is the topic for another day.

A discussion about the hint of new, Charge/Parity-violating physics at the Large Hadron Collider experiment LHCb. Discovering such CP-violating processes is key to understand the origin of matter in the universe. We talk about the nature of the experiment, the data that were gathered, and the implications for the observed result. This is the first half of our conversation. The second half is a separate video about the Muon g-2 result from Fermilab. Thumbnail Credit: ID: LHCb-PHO-GENE-2008-005-1 Credit : Peter Ginter 05 Sep 2008

An overview of the early experiments to detect and characterize the cosmic microwave background. Emphasis on Penzias and Wilson at Bell Labs and NASA's Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE). There is a brief mention of Boomerang, WMAP, and Planck. Included is a discussion of the implications of the results of these studies.

A discussion about anticipated science from the Mars Perseverance rover with Dr. Elisabeth Hausrath from the UNLV Geoscience department. Special emphasis on the sample return aspects of the mission. Dr. Hausrath is a member of the science team for the mission.

A discussion with Josiah Neeley from the R Street Institute about energy, electricity, Texas, and the power outage of February 2021.

A talk I gave at my university discussing the next generation of nuclear reactors and clean energy.