Inside The Inside Story Of A Flying Telescope
Hello and welcome to the first Hacks/Hackers Brisbane newsletter!
Our first meet-up for the year will feature ABC Science editor Jonathan Webb, who recently spent a long night chasing a very big shadow.
When the dark shape of Titan — one of Saturn's moons — fell on Earth, Jonathan was on board NASA's flying telescope, SOFIA, to witness the event and the operation to capture it.
"When the star’s directly behind Titan — like, right in the centre — Titan acts like a lens and focuses the starlight on us," explains Michael Person, an astronomer from MIT.
"So the starlight passes through the atmosphere, all around the limb of the planet, and all of that light reunites here at the observer."
Read it ~ Watch it ~ Listen to it
Come and hear how that translated (he hopes) into compelling science storytelling across audio, video, social media and the web.
Join us on February 20 from 6pm in the foyer of the ABC building, South Bank
6pm: Arrive / Socialise / Grab a drink
6.30pm: Jonathan Webb: Inside The Inside Story Of A Flying Telescope
7pm: Drinks / Food / Open Discussion
8pm: Close
Interesting reads this month
Could this algorithm have saved the Ancient Mariner? An experiment to reduce one harm of industrial fishing
Pew did some research on algorithms, and here's what they learned
The Guardian's Nick Evershed built a robot to write the news
Crikey's Emily Watkins on why specialist science reporters are important [free to read with trial sign-up]
A look inside the "giant, contaminated laboratory" of Chernobyl – and drinking cherry vodka for breakfast
Why a newsletter?
This year we want the newsletter to grow and be a resource for the community, whether you can make the meet-ups or not, but also where you can find interesting reads/listens/watches. It should also be a place that reflects you, the Hacks/Hackers Brisbane community, so keep in touch and let us know what you're doing, and what you want to learn from the group.
(If someone has kindly sent this on to you, here's where you can sign up.)