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Monday, January 13, 1997
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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Scientists help explain universe
KU professors show it backs Big Bang Theory
By Tom Winter
Kansan staff writer
The end of the world is coming.
Shawl and his colleagues study the earth and the cosmos to try to understand our origins and fate. The study of the beginning of the universe is called cosmology.
The end of the world is coming. In about 4 1/2 billion years, said Stephen Shawl, professor of astrophysics at the University of Kansas.
"I think we are starting to have a broad understanding of how the universe works." Feldman said.
Hume Feldman, professor of physics, specializes in cosmology.
He said there were three principles of modern cosmology that helped physicists research the large-scale structure of the universe.
The first principle is the Doppler effect. The Doppler effect is the wave phenomenon that occurs when you hear an oncoming train, Feldman said. As the train approaches, you hear the high pitch of the train, and as it passes there is a noticeable change to a lower pitch.
The same thing happens with light waves. A star has a certain color from its heated elements. That color is akin to the pitch of sound. When a star has a color higher in frequency on the color spectrum, then that
"I think we are starting to have a broad understanding of how the universe works."
Numo Foldman Professor of Physics
star is approaching the earth. When the color is lower in frequency, the star is going away from the earth, Feldman said.
The phenomenon of whole galaxies moving away from us is called the red shift.
"Those galaxies, which move away from us, have changed from emitting the normal green light of a star to a red light," Feldman said.
"The scientific evidence shows that there was a big bang. It is indisputable. Everything then resulted from that." Shawl said.
The second principle of modern cosmology is the two lightest elements, hydrogen and helium, are everywhere in the universe.
This expansion pushed lightweight elements such as hydrogen and helium all across the universe.
"For a very, very short time after the big bang there was a very big expansion," Feldman said.
"When we look around, there is the same amount of hydrogen and helium everywhere we look," Feldman said. "When we look for heavier elements such as oxygen, nitrogen and silicon, we see they are concentrated around stars, especially young stars."
"When you have an explosion such as the big bang, there is light being emitted," Feldman said. "As the universe expands, the wavelength of that light becomes stretched," he said.
The final principle of modern cosmology is the presence of a microwave radiation, which measures the same in all directions.
Since every wave has a source, it should be found to be either going away from earth or going toward earth.
However, there is a constant microwave radiation all across the earth that is without direction, Feldman said. That radiation must be left from the big bang.
Although there have been many discoveries that have led to the current understanding of the universe, physicists still have much to find out.
"I think it is awfully close-minded to say we've done it all," Shawl said. "We still need to find out what the fate of the universe is, what the universe was like originally and how much of the universe is in a form that we can see."
'Little sponges' absorb nature
By Gale Garber
Kansan staff writer
From the mysteries of the deep to the far reaches of our solar system, a University of Kansas summer program for grade-school children is examining nature.
The KU Natural History Museum in Dyche Hall is offering 40 one-week summer workshops. Youths from ages 4 to 12 are attending the Summer Workshops For Young People 1997.
Ruth Genrich, director of public education at the museum, said the program was a great place for children to experience the world around them.
Barbara McConnell, Salmon, Idaho, senior and environmental science major, said getting children to learn about nature at a young age would help the environment as a whole.
Graduate students teach the workshops along with staff, teachers and
some KU students.
"Children are so susceptible to information, they are like little sponges. If they can get the sense of right and wrong about the environment early, they will be able to appreciate and understand nature and its issues better when they are older," McConnell said.
The workshops include geology, astronomy, botany, paleontology, ecology and zoology.
Workshops are held in five campus classrooms. The children also take one or two field trips, depending on their ages and the workshop in which they are enrolled.
Field trips include the going to the Topeka Zoo to study animals and the rain forest; Mask-Snorkel-Fin Inc., for a scuba-diving demonstration; and the Baker Wetlands, to study frogs, birds and plant life.
"The Wetlands have been a great place to take the children." Gemprich
said. "The last four years, it has been in such good condition. The kids get to see the wildlife in the original habitats."
Karen Jackson, co-owner of Mask-Snorkel-Fin, said she had demonstrated scuba diving and the gear at Robinson Center's pool in the past, but because of the construction on the pool, this summer's demonstration will be at Mask-Snorkel-Fin's demonstration tank at 1301 E.25h St.
"This will be the first year at our facility," Jackson said.
The workshops aim to keep the children's interest from year to year.
She became involved in demonstrating and teaching children the scuba gear and how it is used, 12 years ago with her son.
"The kids are not allowed to take more than two workshops each year. This keeps their interest up and makes the workshops special to them," Genrich said.
CORRECTION
In "Radio station requesting more power, bigger area" in the June 25 issue of the *Kansan*, it was reported that KJHK ran on 300 watts of power. The correct wattage is 100 watts.
It also was reported that KJHK was allocated $55,000 by Student Senate. The actual amount is $15,000 a year, which has to be requested each year.
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