Carleton University’s faculty of science hosted a public talk about its research on the behaviour of dark matter in outer space on Wednesday, Sept. 25.
The talk, Exploring the Dark Universe, was given by Carleton physics professor Daniel Stolarski at the Sunnyside Public Library as part of the university’s Science Café series.
The subject of dark matter, said Stolarski, is especially interesting for those both with and without a background in physics due to its prevalence throughout the universe.
“It’s a fundamental fact about our universe that everything we see around us—all the matter that makes up the Earth and the stars—is all built from these building blocks that are only a tiny fraction of what is in this universe,” he said. “When I learned that we don’t understand 95 per cent of the universe, and that there’s this other dark matter out there, that was fascinating to me.”
“It’s always been a part of humanity’s quest to understand the world around us,” Stolarski added. “And it turns out that this is a huge part of the world around us.”
The 60 or so attendees of the talk varied from students and faculty to members of the local community, including children as young as 10 and adults as old as 70.
While the Science Café series is organized by Carleton’s science community, its aim is to provide a welcoming environment for all members of the public to hear scientists present their research, said Pamela Wolff, a chemistry instructor and regular Science Café host since 2008.
Hudaifa Zayed, a fourth-year biology student, said this aspect of accessibility is what makes Science Cafés so unique compared to other talks offered by the school.
“The beauty of these talks is that they start off incredibly basic, with general information. It makes it really easy to listen to,” he said.
Taking advantage of these opportunities, added Zayed, allows students to connect with experts on subjects outside of their immediate fields of study.
“I’ve always believed that knowledge is power, regardless of what topic,” he said. “Me learning about politics, and art, and journalism would be just as important as someone in those fields learning about scientific topics.”
The next Science Café, set to return to the Sunnyside Public Library on Oct. 9, 2019, will feature Hillary Maddin’s talk entitled Paleontology of Nova Scotia: The Evolution of Early Land Animals. The series hosts events every two weeks throughout the academic year.
Featured image by Pascale Malenfant
