Life in optical

Yabi on the beach

A month ago, I joined the AIMS Cosmology research group. Bruce Basset’s (our unanimously admired professor :) ) cosmology group itself isn’t new but what is new is that we now are at AIMS.

Yesterday we had a bunch of visitors and we had a great group day.

A friendly, openminded, inspiring atmosphere is such an asset in a research group that I though I should mention this specifically.

The group has a weekly day-long meeting which involves a journal club, perhaps a short talk and a ‘hack’ session of a few hours where we learn to dabble in new skills under the guidance of our resident expert and hack along on mini projects. Everyone’s involved: students, researchers, visitors, the big boss. The weekly day also involves walks on the beach, coffee and lunch together, which are great moments to discuss projects, ideas and issues. We are all settling in the format and this has become a nice feature of our week.

Working together in unassigned offices

Last week there was a cool conference in Stellenbosch, for which a number of scientists came from abroad. South Africa being a faraway destination for most, many decided to stay on for a week or two. We invited Hillary Sanctuary to come and give the first ‘CosmoAIMS’ seminar of the year and invited whoever was still around to come along.

What happened is that suddenly the group size doubled. We went from about ten to twenty people. Most stayed all day using available desk space and collaborating on projects, participating in the journal club, attending the seminar, coming along for lunch, and even for dinner. All in all it was a great day. Who knows how many of the ideas discussed will lead to papers or jobs ultimately? Even if it’s a small fraction, so many ideas were discussed that it definitely beats not having such a day.

Lively discussions at coffee

One thing that made this so easy was that we don’t really have assigned desks as group members so no table looks like it belongs to anyone. So when visitors come along, they are free to feel as much at home as anyone else.

The fact that we have one day a week that we spend together is a very special thing in itself. We don’t lock ourselves away in our offices working on out own separate projects and that makes a big difference when it comes to feeling part of a group.

I feel that we shouldn’t underestimate the importance of social cohesion in a research group and that it probably is neglected more often than we think.

Thanks to all who were there yesterday, we had a great day!

This is not a country that is packed with science and technology and dependent on people to run it like is the case in Europe¹. Nor is it a place that doesn’t have anything and is starting from scratch. It is a country with everything: from areas with very little, to cutting-edge high-tech hubs that need people.

South Africa is super active in trying to recruit young people into science and technology careers, and to give them great opportunities in those fields. They are creating the supply of young techy people – and the demand for them.

They take part in large global science and technology projects, and they use those to inspire young people to pursue science and technology careers. It’s the opposite of burning the candle at both ends, it’s building the country from everywhere at the same time. This is a realisation of the ‘holistic approach’ that Sir David King was pushing for so strongly while he was Chief Scientific Adviser to UK Government.

This morning saw the launch of the South African National Science Week at Fort Hare University in the Eastern Cape Province. At 7am in the morning, in a hall full of school pupils playing with fun hands-on science experiments, the national TV channel SABC2 was broadcasting its ‘Morning Live’ breakfast show. I don’t know many countries where the launch of a national science week gets the national TV channel to leave their studio like that.

The presenter interviewed the South African minister of Science and Technology, Ms. Naledi Pandor, also up and active at 7am! (I was watching this from bed…)

I must say that I was very impressed by the interview. It was live, obviously not scripted and the minister’s answers were excellent! She talked about the South African high-tech science endeavours like a professional science communicator, she talked about the importance of science for the country like an inspiring teacher and she never sounded like a politician. She obviously believes in her portfolio and sees the big picture.

As a scientist in this country there are countless opportunities to partake in all those activities. Scientists can contribute at every level through research, teaching, mentoring, public engagement, communication and international connections. When those activities are encouraged by a minister like her, you really feel supported by your authorities.

Notes:

1. To quote from the European Commission’s ‘Why Science in Society’ page:

Moreover, Europe needs more scientists and more people skilled in science and technology in order to compete in the global arena. It is, however, becoming increasingly difficult to attract young people to science careers.

2. Some global science and technology endeavours in which South Africa plays a crucial role:
Astronomy: among many projects, MeerKAT and SKA, for which they are bringing in another 7 African countries, and the IAU’s Global Office for Astronomy Development
Antarctic and Climate Research
HIV/AIDS research: CAPRISA‘s latest results about an anti-HIV gel made world news just a few weeks ago
Aquatic Biodiversity: South Africa hosts 3 of the world’s 25 biodiversity hotspots)
Space

Tribute to Escher in Barcelona

I dreamt of a night sky full of colourful stars – of course :) What did you think of?

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the famous Pale Blue Dot picture. It was a collective revelation. The day we had to realise all of our egos fit into 3 pixels…

Look again at that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every ‘superstar,’ every ‘supreme leader,’ every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there — on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

Read more about the story of the Pale Blue Dot picture

And here is a talk in which Brian Cox tells us why the perspective the Pale Blue Dot gave us 20 years ago still matters today. Enjoy.