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Einstein's Telescope: The Hunt for Dark Matter and Dark Energy--Special Public Lecture
(Special Event)
"Einstein's Telescope: The Hunt for Dark Matter and Dark Energy"
Evalyn Gates is an astrophysicist, author, and executive director of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History
Book signing at 7 PM
Data from a wealth of cosmological observations insist that "normal" matter makes up less than 5 percent of the universe - dark matter accounts for 23 percent, while the remaining 72 percent is not matter of any kind but some strange new substance, dubbed dark energy, about which we know very little. Gravitational lensing - dismissed by Einstein in 1936 as a "most curious effect" that had little chance of ever being observed - is currently one of the most powerful techniques for exploring this dark universe. Using the warps and dimples in the space-time continuum described by Einstein's Theory of General Relativity as "cosmic lenses," gravitational lensing allows us to search for black holes and planets within our own galaxy; to map out the dark matter in distant galaxies, clusters and the cosmic web; and to detect the subtle influence of dark energy on the evolution and formation of structure in the universe. Gates' lecture will explore these mysteries. More information...
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