Ex-Spy Telescopes May Aid Hunt for Dark Energy

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06/08/2012

Jun. 08, 2012

Ex-Spy Telescopes May Aid Hunt for Dark Energy

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SNACK

Missing Invisible Matter: If Found, Call Physicist

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Last year, the National Reconnaissance Office gave NASA a gift--two declassified spy telescopes, each higher in quality than anything NASA has ever produced for space. NASA astrophysics director Paul Hertz and Caltech theoretical physicist Sean Carroll discuss how the telescopes could be used to hunt for elusive dark matter and dark energy.

In the SciFri Snack: How do you see an invisible particle? Theoretical physicist Sean Carroll, author of the forthcoming book The Particle At the End of the Universe, tells us that scientists could find dark matter by looking for what’s missing -- maybe it’s there, you just can’t see it! Check out more SciFri Snacks -- and join a conversation about what you've heard -- at Sound Cloud.

Guests

Paul Hertz
Director of Astrophysics
NASA Headquarters
Washington, DC
Sean Carroll
Author, forthcoming "The Particle at the End of the Universe" (Dec 2012)
Theoretical physicist, California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, California

Jun. 08, 2012