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Cosmic dust factories & giant black holes

Adam Walton talks to Cardiff scientists observing spinning black holes and a cosmic dust factory that holds clues to how a star is born.

28 minutes

Last on

Sun 23 Jul 2017 06:31

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Spinning black holes and a cosmic dust factory: they sound like the ingredientsÌýfor the latest science-fiction blockbuster film. In fact, they're the subjects of someÌýbreakthrough research involving diligent Welsh scientists, based at Cardiff University.

This week, Adam talks to Dr Mikako Matsuura and Dr Phil Cigan, who recently discovered a rich inventory of molecules within the remnants of an exploded star.ÌýIt suggests that the death of a sunÌýmayÌýlead to the birth of a new star.ÌýÌý

He also hears from Prof Mike Hannam, an expert in Numerical Relativity, who has been observing a giant pair of spinning black holes over three billion light years away. He's testing Einstein's TheoryÌýof Relativity - with remarkable success.

It's all made possible by the work of LIGO, the group of scientists based around the world who are detecting gravitational waves in space. There are researchers at Cardiff involved too, and their work is explained by Science Café regular, Dr Chris North,Ìýthe Ogden Science Lecturer at Cardiff University.

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Broadcasts

  • Tue 18 Jul 2017 18:30
  • Sun 23 Jul 2017 06:31

Adam Walton

Adam Walton

Adam's "other job" - tune in every Saturday at 10 PM for the best new music from Wales.