Gravitational-Wave Paleontology at Rakiura
I am a science communicator for the Gravitational-Wave Paleontology Lab at Rakiura, led by Floor Broekgaarden. The lab uses astrophysical simulations and AI-driven data science to reconstruct the lives of massive stars from the gravitational waves of their black-hole “fossils”.
Rakiura’s goal is to share science and to open research up to people outside academia: anyone with the skills can join a working lab and work on a real research problem, mentored as part of a research group. Besides Gravitational-Wave Paleontology, Rakiura hosts other labs: Morning Star Missions to Venus, Project Starshade, Limits of Habitability, and Strings & the Early Universe.
🎙️ Podcast: Cosmic Fossils
In Cosmic Fossils, we follow massive stars from birth to their explosive deaths, and explore how the gravitational waves from the black holes they leave behind help us read the history of the Universe. I recorded these episodes:
- S1E1: The Dinosaurs of the Universe · Spotify · Apple Podcasts · Rakiura
- S1E2: We Are Made of Exploded Massive Star Dust · Spotify · Apple Podcasts · Rakiura
The full series is on Rakiura, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
🎥 Videos
Short videos about the lab and its science are on Instagram at @rakiuralabs.