Larry Kawano Photo courtesy of Larry Kawano
Many know Larry, or more properly, Dr. Kawano doctorate in cosmology from the University of Chicago, bachelor of science in physics from Cornell University and postgraduate study at CalTech as a member of the Idyllwild Master Chorale and as a gifted and extraordinarily funny actor in IMCs summer theater offerings. Larry may seem unassuming but his academic pedigree and wealth of knowledge about all things astronomical and cosmological is very impressive indeed.
Ask him a simple question such as What was there before the Big Bang? and he will give you nuanced answers, analogies and explanations that even the most unschooled layperson can grasp. And hell do it in a way that leaves you thinking and smiling, informed, intrigued and wanting to know more. We at Astrocamp are all about fun, said Kawano, who is curriculum director and science interpretives creator at Idyllwilds Astrocamp, explaining why he mixes smiles with substance and comedy with cosmology.
Ill be discussing six topics covering the span of the universe about which people might have misconceptions: planets, our sun (Sol), black holes, the Milky Way, the Big Bang, and [our] universe. Ill ask a question of the audience to see what their current perceptions are about that subject and then discuss how, in science, things and concepts are always changing. Thats the nature of things. In science, things are always changing.
When prodded for an example, using the Big Bang, Kawano answered, Many think about the Big Bang as an explosion, hence the outward expansion of the universe. But thats not so. Come to the presentation to hear his metaphoric explanation comparing the universe to a gigantic dance floor with tiles on the dance floor, too close together with dancers standing on the tiles, and then, over time, the tiles with the dancers begin slowly and inexorably moving farther and farther away from each other. The question is why, what started it, and what preceded it.
Kawano compares the most efficient way to explore space and other star systems and galaxies (using self replicating machines) with the challenge of visiting the unexplored depths of our own planets seas (James Camerons recent dive makes him the third person to have dived that deep and seen the landscape Cameron described as very lunar, very desolate.) Both space and deep sea exploration are better ways to understand what our home [the Earth] is like, said Kawano.
Kawanos presentation, Astro Mythbusters will be 6 p.m., Wednesday, May 16, at Silver Pines Lodge. There will be a wine and cheese reception before his talk. Both are free to the public.
Category: On The Town
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The mysteries of the cosmos revealed at Idyllwild speaker series
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- Cosmological parameter extraction and biases from type Ia supernova magnitude evolution - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Continuous monitoring of pulse period variations in Hercules X-1 using Swift/BAT - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Constraining the ortho-to-para ratio of H{_2} with anomalous H{_2}CO absorption - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- A photometric and spectroscopic study of the new dwarf spheroidal galaxy in Hercules - Metallicity, velocities, and a clean list of RGB members - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Luminosities and mass-loss rates of SMC and LMC AGB stars and red supergiants - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Electron beam – plasma system with the return current and directivity of its X-ray emission - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- The propagation of the shock wave from a strong explosion in a plane-parallel stratified medium: the Kompaneets approximation - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Analysis of hydrogen-rich magnetic white dwarfs detected in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Letter: Centaurus A as TeV \gamma-ray and possible UHE cosmic-ray source - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Young pre-low-mass X-ray binaries in the propeller phase - Nature of the 6.7-h periodic X-ray source 1E 161348-5055 in RCW 103 - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
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- Solar granulation from photosphere to low chromosphere observed in Ba II 4554 Å line - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
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- Destriping CMB temperature and polarization maps - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Search for cold debris disks around M-dwarfs. II - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Precise data on Leonid fireballs from all-sky photographic records - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- An X-ray view of 82 LINERs with Chandra and XMM-Newton data - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Radio observations of ZwCl 2341.1+0000: a double radio relic cluster - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Candidate free-floating super-Jupiters in the young \sigma Orionis open cluster - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- The metallicity gradient as a tracer of history and structure: the Magellanic Clouds and M33 galaxies - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- XMMSL1 J060636.2-694933: an XMM-Newton slew discovery and Swift/Magellan follow up of a new classical nova in the LMC - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- The inner rim structures of protoplanetary discs - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
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- Magnetic evolution of superactive regions - Complexity and potentially unstable magnetic discontinuities - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Low-mass protostars and dense cores in different evolutionary stages in IRAS 00213+6530 - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- PMAS optical integral field spectroscopy of luminous infrared galaxies - I. The atlas - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- First AGILE catalog of high-confidence gamma-ray sources - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Radiative hydrodynamics simulations of red supergiant stars - I. interpretation of interferometric observations - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Extrasolar planets and brown dwarfs around A–F type stars - VII. \theta Cygni radial velocity variations: planets or stellar phenomenon? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Cosmic rays and the magnetic field in the nearby starburst galaxy NGC 253 - II. The magnetic field structure - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Physical structure and water line spectrum predictions of the intermediate mass protostar OMC2-FIR4 - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- The bright galaxy population of five medium redshift clusters - II. Quantitative galaxy morphology - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Dust in brown dwarfs and extra-solar planets - II. Cloud formation for cosmologically evolving abundances - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- The quiet Sun magnetic field observed with ZIMPOL on THEMIS - I. The probability density function - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Complexity in the sunspot cycle - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Properties and nature of Be stars - 26. Long-term and orbital changes of \zeta Tauri - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- The massive Wolf-Rayet binary LSS 1964 (=WR 29) - II. The V light curve - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Supernova progenitor stars in the initial range of 23 to 33 solar masses and their relation with the SNR Cassiopeia A - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- The Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram of Star Clusters - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Table of the 10 Brightest stars within 10 Parsecs of the Sun - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- The Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram of the Nearest Stars - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Magnitude and Color in Astronomy - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Stellar Types - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Brown Dwarfs - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
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- The Structure and Evolution of Brown Dwarfs - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
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- The Sizes of the Stars and the Planets - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
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- The Radii of Degenerate Objects - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- The Inevitability of Black Holes - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Scientific Pig-Out - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- The Neutrino Cooling of Degenerate Dwarfs - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- The Neutrino Cooling of Neutron Stars - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Overview of Supernovae - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
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- Nuclear Reactions in Thermonuclear Supernovae - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Core-Collapse Supernovae - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Neutrinos and SN 1987A - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Revealing the sub-AU asymmetries of the inner dust rim in the disk around the Herbig Ae star R Coronae Austrinae - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Probing the dust properties of galaxies up to submillimetre wavelengths - I. The spectral energy distribution of dwarf galaxies using LABOCA - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- On the physical origin of the second solar spectrum of the Sc II line at 4247 Å - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- On detecting the large separation in the autocorrelation of stellar oscillation times series - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Imaging the spotty surface of Betelgeuse in the H band - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Chandra observation of Cepheus A: the diffuse emission of HH 168 resolved - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
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- The chemical composition of carbon stars. The R-type stars - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
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- The nature of the X-ray binary IGR J19294+1816 from INTEGRAL, RXTE, and Swift observations - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Relating basic properties of bright early-type dwarf galaxies to their location in Abell 901/902 - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]