Reminder that this meeting will be ONLINE only.
Traveling Near the Speed of Light
This month, we'll be taking a break from talking about black holes and neutron stars, even though our speaker is an expert on these topics too. Our speaker will be Dr Paul Baker from Widener University. Dr Baker will be taking us on an enjoyable exploration of the physics of extremely fast travel. So, hang on to your seats! Please see the description of his talk below.
Even the nearest stars are several light-years away. If you want to visit or be visited by neighbors from another star system, someone will have to travel very fast. We’ll talk about some of the practical concerns and strange consequences of traveling near the speed of light. How much energy would it take? How long would you have to accelerate? How long would a journey to another star take? And how does traveling near the speed of light mess with the passage of time?
About Dr Paul Baker
Dr. Paul T. Baker is an associate professor of physics and astronomy at Widener University near Philadelphia, PA. He is an alumnus of Reed College in Portland and received a PhD in physics from Montana State University. His research is focused on the detection and characterization of gravitational waves. His favorite class to teach is "Modern Physics," where sophomore physics majors and minors first dig into special relativity and quantum mechanics. When not doing physics-y things he enjoys big mountains, bitter beer, and loud music.