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 Einstein's Greatest Blunder? The Case for Cosmic "Antigravity"  Friday, October 17, 2003 7 p.m., 2.224 Welch Hall map Alex Filippenko UC Berkeley In 1998, observations of very distant exploding stars provided intriguing evidence that the expansion of the Universe is speeding up with time, rather than slowing down as expected. New, completely independent data greatly support this conclusion, which resurrects the idea of a long-range "antigravity" effect first proposed by Albert Einstein and later renounced as his "biggest blunder." Alex Filippenko received his Ph.D. in Astronomy from Caltech in 1984 and joined the UC Berkeley faculty in 1986. His primary areas of research are exploding stars, active galaxies, black holes, and the expansion of the Universe. This lecture is part of the American Astronomical Society Second Century Lectures, a national series of talks aimed at bringing current developments in astronomy to the public. The lecture is also part of a two-day event honoring the retirement of Frank Bash as Director of the McDonald Observatory. |