{"id":27708,"date":"2019-09-01T08:00:58","date_gmt":"2019-09-01T13:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/?p=27708"},"modified":"2019-09-01T01:20:20","modified_gmt":"2019-09-01T06:20:20","slug":"apsu-launches-science-on-tap-september-3rd-at-strawberry-alley-ale-works","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/2019\/09\/01\/apsu-launches-science-on-tap-september-3rd-at-strawberry-alley-ale-works\/","title":{"rendered":"APSU launches \u2018Science on Tap\u2019 September 3rd at Strawberry Alley Ale Works"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AustinClarksville, TN<\/strong> – When Austin Peay State University\u2019s Dr. J. Allyn Smith talks black holes, he likes to drop in lots of \u201cfun stuff\u201d and quirkiness.<\/p>\n

Take, for instance, his description of a hypernova (which is basically supernova\u2019s bigger and more energetic brother that forms a black hole inside its starry shell): \u201cIt becomes what we call a self-eating watermelon, the black hole eats the star from the inside out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"APSU<\/a><\/p>\n

And spaghettification happens to unfortunate souls who step into wormholes: \u201cFor us on the outside, we\u2019re seeing younger brother falling in, we say, \u2018Bye,\u2019\u201d Smith said. \u201cTo them they see us as they are agonizingly stretched for, to them, hundreds of millions of years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith \u2013 an astrophysicist who teaches in the Department of Physics, Engineering and Astronomy \u2013 will discuss black holes at 5:00pm Tuesday, September 3rd, at Austin Peay State University\u2019s first \u201cScience on Tap,\u201d a monthly lecture series that unites two great things: science and local brews.<\/p>\n

The series is hosted by APSU\u2019s College of STEM on the first Tuesday of every month at Strawberry Alley Ale Works.<\/p>\n

Major Discovery At Heart Of Lecture<\/h3>\n
\"Dr.<\/a>

Dr. J. Allyn Smith<\/p><\/div>\n

Smith will center his lecture on the first-ever image of a black hole captured earlier this year. Event Horizon Telescope \u2013 a global collection of telescopes \u2013 spotted the black hole in the Messier 87 galaxy about 55 million light-years away.<\/p>\n

But he\u2019ll also talk about the basics and the fun stuff about black holes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll talk about what a black hole is, the theory, the discovery and the description of a black hole, how big they are and what that actually means in physical size,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n

He\u2019ll touch on supermassive, stellar-mass and primordial black holes. Supermassive black holes have a million to a billion times more mass than a typical black hole. Stellar-mass black holes are the typical ones. Primordial black holes exist (for now) in theory only and were created moments after the Big Bang (they are tinier than you can imagine).<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is all really neat stuff,\u201d Smith said. \u201c\u2018Science on Tap\u2019 is a great way to spend a Tuesday evening meeting members of the community, meeting Austin Peay State University people, having fun and learning something about science.\u201d<\/p>\n

The next \u201cScience on Tap\u201d is scheduled for 5:00pm October 1st, when APSU chemistry professor Dr. Allen Chaparadza will discuss how to make beer, aka fermentation. Future topics could include Clarksville\u2019s sinkhole topography, the newly discovered Screaming Eagle Crayfish and the New Madrid Fault.<\/p>\n

To Learn More<\/strong><\/p>\n