What originally drew you to studying physics (/maths/astronomy), and what made you then decide to go into research and in the area you did? What is the best part about what you do?
Asking as possibly the most indecisive person ever, but physics is what I want to study! Thank you for doing this though, it's really interesting
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furryface12
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- 21-03-2016 12:59
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Martin Hendry
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- 21-03-2016 13:19
(Original post by dragonkeeper999)
What did you find where the big differences between undergrad, PhD and being a researcher? Any advice for aspiring researchers?
As your career progresses beyond PhD, there isn't such a big qualitative change after that: my experience was that it was really just more of the same. The bigger qualitative changes came when I was appointed to a Lectureship position, and then (eventually) to the position of Head of Physics and Astronomy. These roles meant that I was no longer just employed as a researcher, but had much wider duties and responsibilities, e.g. in teaching or in supervising other PhD students and researchers - and (as Head of P&A) in helping shape the overall direction and performance of the School. Those responsibilities present a whole new set of challenges, and inevitably mean that I don't have nearly as much time to devote to doing research as I'd like to. On the other hand I've always found teaching very rewarding too, and it certainly helps you to understand something more deeply yourself when you are asked to teach it to others! -
Martin Hendry
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- 21-03-2016 13:30
(Original post by furryface12)
What originally drew you to studying physics (/maths/astronomy), and what made you then decide to go into research and in the area you did? What is the best part about what you do?
Asking as possibly the most indecisive person ever, but physics is what I want to study! Thank you for doing this though, it's really interesting
Posted from TSR Mobile
Once I was at Secondary School I really enjoyed maths and physics, so it was starting to become clear that studying maths, physics and astronomy at University was the way to go. I left high school in 1984 and enrolled on a BSc degree at Glasgow University, and settled in there very quickly. I had the chance to undertake a summer vacation project between my 2nd and 3rd year, in 1986, and I think that's what convinced me that I wanted to try to do a PhD after my first degree. Of all the topics that I studied during my degree, the ones that fascinated me most were cosmology and relativity - basically all about the big scale properties of the universe and how it got to look like it does - so I applied for various PhD scholarships and was awarded one by the Carnegie Trust to work on cosmology, again based at Glasgow.
That took me through to 1991, by which time I'd decided it would be a good idea to move away from Glasgow and get some experience elsewhere. I applied for a postdoctoral research position at the University of Sussex, again working on cosmology, and spent 5 years there - before a position came up at Glasgow which brought me back here again. I hadn't really expected that I'd wind up back in Glasgow, as it's much more common for research staff to move around a lot, but when I was offered the position I wasn't going to turn it down!
I would say that the best part about what I do right now is the opportunity to discover phenomena that have never been seen before, to find out entirely new things about the universe. The more I've learned about the cosmos, the more I've realised how much there is still to be learned, and the chance to be at the forefront of that - especially with an exciting new field like gravitational wave astronomy - is really a privilege. -
lewiswallis
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- 21-03-2016 21:26
How has your life changed since the discovery? How has your perspective on science been affected?
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furryface12
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- 21-03-2016 23:39
(Original post by Martin Hendry)
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Improvement
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- 22-03-2016 09:21
How did you feel when you released that you had made a massive scientific discovery?
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Martin Hendry
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- 22-03-2016 12:12
(Original post by lewiswallis)
How has your life changed since the discovery? How has your perspective on science been affected?
My perspective on science hasn't really changed that much either, although I must confess I've found myself a few times being totally "blown away" by the magnitude of the event that we observed: the equivalent of three times the mass of the sun converted in gravitational wave energy in a fraction of a second! -
Martin Hendry
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- 22-03-2016 12:21
(Original post by Improvement)
How did you feel when you released that you had made a massive scientific discovery?
In the final few weeks before the announcement, as we put the finishing touches on our scientific papers, one of my particular tasks was to lead the writing of a "Science Summary" of the main detection paper: an article whose aim was to summarise all of our main conclusions and findings but without the technical language and jargon found in the main scientific paper. I'm very pleased with that summary, and through it I got a very satisfying feeling to think that I had helped communicate the discovery to the wider world. You can find a copy of it on our www.ligo.org website at: http://www.ligo.org/science/Publicat...0914/flyer.pdf -
Fullofsurprises
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- 22-03-2016 13:57
What exactly is 'waving'?
I mean, what are gravity waves waving in? -
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- 22-03-2016 14:01
(Original post by Fullofsurprises)
What exactly is 'waving'?
I mean, what are gravity waves waving in?
it was an Ethereal World back then... -
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- 22-03-2016 14:09
(Original post by the bear)
at one time the waves were supposed to propagate in the "Ether".
it was an Ethereal World back then...
I don't know what any of those words mean, but stringing them together like that seemed satisfying. -
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- 22-03-2016 14:12
(Original post by Fullofsurprises)
I think I read something to the effect that the ether concept might not have been all wrong, something to do with quantum point energy in the vortex?
I don't know what any of those words mean, but stringing them together like that seemed satisfying. -
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- 22-03-2016 14:21
(Original post by Martin Hendry)
The biggest difference between UG and PhD was all about working on something new that hadn't been tackled before - which means there isn't a pre-defined answer at the back of the book! In fact often working out what the question is in the first place is more than half the battle when it comes to PhD research. So defining, and trying to solve, your own research questions was the biggest change from UG degree to PhD.
As your career progresses beyond PhD, there isn't such a big qualitative change after that: my experience was that it was really just more of the same. The bigger qualitative changes came when I was appointed to a Lectureship position, and then (eventually) to the position of Head of Physics and Astronomy. These roles meant that I was no longer just employed as a researcher, but had much wider duties and responsibilities, e.g. in teaching or in supervising other PhD students and researchers - and (as Head of P&A) in helping shape the overall direction and performance of the School. Those responsibilities present a whole new set of challenges, and inevitably mean that I don't have nearly as much time to devote to doing research as I'd like to. On the other hand I've always found teaching very rewarding too, and it certainly helps you to understand something more deeply yourself when you are asked to teach it to others! -
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- 22-03-2016 14:51
How dangerous are events like the one LIGO detected?
How near to earth could black holes / neutron stars collide without exterminating life on earth
edit - came over a bit daily mail for a minute there... congratulations on the detecttionLast edited by Joinedup; 22-03-2016 at 15:01. -
Fullofsurprises
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- 22-03-2016 14:52
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- 22-03-2016 14:59
(Original post by Fullofsurprises)
What exactly is 'waving'?
I mean, what are gravity waves waving in?
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- 22-03-2016 15:09
I have read contradicting information about black holes. It is often said that black holes are a point of singularity (as in infinitely small), on the other hand I heard some black holes are so massive that if you put one where our sun is, it would fill the orbit of Mercury. So do black holes vary in size or are they all the singularity thing?
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Steve82
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- 22-03-2016 17:20
(Original post by Student403)
My first question is why did you let Caltech reject me?
Spoiler:Showseriously though this is great news! I can't wait for the 22nd! -
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- 22-03-2016 17:22
(Original post by kalclash)
Why did they reject you? This is not acceptable!But such is life
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Kyx
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- 22-03-2016 18:54
How did you make sure it was gravitational waves, and not something else?
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