Out of This World
Omar Mouallem’s “O, Canadarm” (June) is a well-deserved celebration of Canadian excellence in space robotics. In that spirit, as an assistant professor at the University of British Columbia’s department of physics and astronomy, I would have also liked to see some flexing for the array of Canadian achievements in astrophysics. To name just a few: cosmic fireworks captured by the James Webb Space Telescope (with two Canadian components), mysterious bursts of radio waves measured by the world-leading Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) telescope in British Columbia, and the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics for the true nature of ghostly neutrino particles detected by the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO). Looking ahead: Canada recently announced planned investment in the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO), an ambitious radio telescope project with the potential to teach us about mysterious dark energy and the origins of life. We’re well beyond a second golden age—we’re at the beginning of an entirely new era, with Canada at the forefront of exciting discoveries far beyond the reach of our solar system.
Jess McIver
Vancouver, BC
