Uncharted with Hannah Fry
14. Whispers from the Cosmos
Sep 9, 2024
Hannah Fry, a researcher spotlighting groundbreaking discoveries from the 1960s, shares an intriguing tale of a young scientist who uncovers a bizarre cosmic signal in a makeshift hut. Listeners learn about the challenges she faced as a woman in a male-dominated field and her determination to explore radio astronomy. The podcast dives into the creation of a massive radio telescope, the team's quest to decode mysterious signals, and the pivotal moment of discovering pulsars, reshaping our understanding of the universe.
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Quick takeaways
- Jocelyn Bell-Burnell's discovery of pulsars highlighted the importance of resilience in overcoming sexism within academia during the 1960s.
- Her decision to fund female graduate students through the Breakthrough Prize exemplifies her commitment to fostering diversity in scientific fields.
Deep dives
The Discovery of Pulsars
The journey to discovering pulsars began in 1967 with Jocelyn Bell-Burnell's meticulous work analyzing signals from a newly constructed radio telescope. Despite battling a challenging environment as a woman in a male-dominated field, she found an unusual repeating signal that did not resemble typical radio interference or celestial objects like quasars. Her diligence led to confirmatory tests that revealed this signal was not a fluke, but rather a consistent pattern, prompting speculation about extraterrestrial intelligence. Ultimately, this signal was identified as a pulsar, a type of rapidly spinning neutron star emitting regular bursts of radio waves.
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