Sophia Gad-Nasr is a PhD Physics student of cosmology and astroparticle theory. Her work focuses on studying the nature of dark matter, an elusive substance permeating space and making up a whopping 85% of the Universe’s matter content, and 25% of its energy content. She is an avid science communicator and loves hamsters.
Her talks and panel appearances will include the following:
The Dark Side of the Cosmos
Peering out into the Universe, we are left in awe by the objects we can see: stars, nebulae, and galaxies. But these objects make up a mere 5% of the contents of the Universe: there’s more to the cosmos than meets the eye. Dark matter, a substance that permeates all of space, makes up 25% of the Universe’s energy content. Dark matter has eluded detection for years due to its lack of interactions with light and normal matter. Yet it reveals its presence through the one thing that it has in common with normal matter: its interactions with gravity. The remaining whopping 70% of the Universe’s content is owed to an even more mysterious substance called dark energy, which causes the Universe to expand faster and faster with the progression of time. In this talk, Sophia Gad-Nasr will delve into the dark side of the cosmos, through the depths of ever-expanding spacetime and beyond the radiant objects we see in the night sky. She will explore dark forces that may govern the dark side of the Universe and reveal to you an even more awe-inspiring and bountiful Universe.