Communication:
My topic of presentation was on the expansion of the universe. The center of my discussion was on the accelerating expansion of the universe and the cosmological implications particularly that at some point in the cosmological timescale, the better part of our universe will be unobservable to us. Our planet (or at least our galaxy since the planet would be long over) will be an isolated lonely place and boring with no cosmology to study. Due to the accelerating expansion, galaxies will at some point be moving apart at a speed possibly faster than that of light, this will get rid of any reference frame from which we measure the expanding universe. There will be no light or any electromagnetic signals from which to observe the remote parts of our universe. The conclusion was that future intelligent civilizations will up, isolated in an obscure galaxy in a remote part of the cosmos, lonely and particularly, ignorant.
The purpose of my presentation was to highlight the fact that we live in a dynamic universe that is not static as expected by many. The presentation was particularly to point out the consequences of the dynamics of the universe (particularly the expansion) on future civilizations and their perception of the universe. Part of the presentation was also meant to give an overview of the inflationary model of the universe to the audience. The audience of the presentation was the members of the science club and other students who were interested on the topic. My research sources included books by remarkable writers in the field like fabric of the cosmos and the elegant universe by Brian Greene, a brief history of time and essays on black holes and baby universes by Stephen hawking, physics of the impossible and physics of the future by Michio Kaku and the cosmos by carl Sagan. I also read a couple of articles in nature, scientific American, encyclopedia Britannica and the science daily which were very resourceful. I also obtained a lot of information from YouTube videos especially from Tedd and singularity summit by kip Thorne and Lawrence Krauss besides Feynman’s messenger lectures at Cornell.
The outline of my presentation was chronological. I started by discussing the general relativity and Einstein’s blunder of the universal constant. I then proceeded to early observations of the expanding universe by Hubble and the formulation of big bang theory by George Lemaitre. I proceeded presenting the various evidences of the big bang theory and expansion of the universe with particular emphasis on gravitational red-shift and the detection of cosmic background microwave radiation. I then discussed new astrophysical data from the latest telescopes and experiments including information from the Hubble space telescope, the international space station, LIGO, LISA, and WIMP. I also discussed the latest data on dark matter and black holes.
I went ahead to discuss, the effect of this information and data on the future of cosmology. I explained the reason for the bleak future of astronomy and cosmology on grounds of accelerating expansion and the faster than light separation of galaxies. I also discussed the alternative ways of the future civilization to acquire information on cosmology including use of quantum measurements and concluded that all this methods would not work. The only way for the future cosmologists would be preservation of our current knowledge and even this would be difficult due to the catastrophic future of our planet (death of the sun) which any information storage system may not survive. I concluded on a positive note with alternatives such as escaping with information to other galaxies or any habitable parts of the universe, travelling back in time to retrieve information and possible development of technologies so advanced that they may still have the capacity to study the universe.
My presentation employed several non-verbal cues although most were subconscious. I was however conscious of the several gestures I used to demonstrate the expansion of the universe, the intense gravitation of black holes and many others. I also used slides and pictures as visual aids in my presentation. This came to be of particular importance when it came to such aspects as illustrating the expansion and separation of galaxies and in showing images taken of space in various observatories. From the response of the audience I could tell the presentation was really effective and that I got my message across. First is that during the presentation there was significant note taking. There were also several questions e on relevant issues like the effect of the nature of the universe as closed, open or flat on the future of cosmology. Others also made comments and gave additional information on the materials. And the best indicator of the effectiveness was a request of another cosmology presentation by the club members.
I found a little difficulty in organizing the outline of my presentation and on choosing the scope of work to cover in the presentation. I also had a little problem with simplifying the ideas to part of the audience with no background in modern physics. To improve my presentation in future I would rehearse and make sure someone goes through the presentation to check if there are any loopholes.
How much does the audience know about the topic?
Where is the presentation to be done?
Does the presentation room have all you need, e.g. a projector?
What are the main points?
Do they flow well?
Is the conclusion tied to the introduction?
What visual aids are available?
Are the visual aids easy to use and understand?
