Location vs Research Output & Dark Matter
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Lefteris Statharas: How Geographical Location Affects Research Output
Lefteris Statharas is a researcher, science podcaster, and science writer. We recently had the pleasure of speaking to him about his diverse experiences in academia and science journalism. With a background of researching in Greece during its economic crisis, he now aims to share lesser-known research from the Global South and examine the interplay between their geographical location and their research. You can read his series on Palestinian researchers here:
Interview Snippet
Since I was focusing on the Global South, there are things that I also want to find out about their social and economic environment and how the realities of the country that they live in affect the research they’re doing - and how the research they’re doing affects the countries they live in….
I had a discussion with a friend who is now working at NASA. She was doing a PhD in Singapore with me as well. She told me, "I hope you get a science communication job in one of those big institutions.“ Not that if I had the opportunity I wouldn’t, but if anybody who’s interested in science wants to find out what’s happening in NASA, MIT, Harvard, or Caltech, it’s extremely easy. There are so many resources out there to find out what’s happening in those big institutions. At the same time, there’s a lot of research happening in countries that don’t have the same opportunities. I started my academic career in Greece, which is technically considered West, but I did my research during the economic crisis. There were many things we had to circumnavigate to do research.
One thing I’m very happy about writing is about the researchers who work and live in the West Bank in Palestine. I was going through ResearchGate, where you could see the profiles of institutions and the papers coming out of institutions. There were papers coming from universities in the West Bank, and I was very surprised to see that there was still output happening. I decided to just go for it. I started emailing researchers and people that live there. Some of them were very keen to give me their time and talk to me about the life of an academic researcher in the West Bank.
The Mysteries of Dark Matter
Dark matter is one of the universe's most interesting mysteries. Dark matter, unlike the stars, planets, and galaxies that radiate light, cannot be seen and is only apparent by its gravitational effects. This unseen material accounts for approximately 27% of the universe while regular matter makes up only 5% of the universe. Understanding dark matter is essential for uncovering the mysteries of the universe's structure and evolution.
What is Dark Matter?
Dark matter is a form of matter that is thought to make up a large fraction of the universe's total mass. Despite its quantity, dark matter does not interact with electromagnetic forces, which means it does not absorb, reflect, or emit light. As a result, it is unseen and only discernible by its gravitational effects on visible matter, radiation, and the universe's overall structure.
Evidence for Dark Matter
Fritz Zwicky, a Swiss astronomer, introduced the concept of dark matter in the 1930s. Zwicky investigated the Coma Cluster of galaxies and discovered that the observable mass of the galaxies was insufficient to account for the gravitational forces that kept the cluster together. This implied the existence of unseen mass, which he called "dunkle Materie" or dark matter.
Research of galactic rotation curves provided additional data. Stars in galaxies, particularly spiral galaxies like the Milky Way, have been shown to rotate at speeds that cannot be explained by visible mass alone.
Read about the search for dark matter here.
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Issue #7