Michael Büker

Astronomers struggle to accurately measure distances in the vastness of the known universe. Get an insight into the sophisticated techniques and dirty tricks of today's astrophysics and cosmology. No physics background required, featuring lots of pretty space pictures.

On Earth, distances are commonly given in meters and kilometers, and can be measured comfortably with measuring sticks, odometers or optical instruments. But how does that work in space, where machines take years to arrive at other bodies, and distant stars are utterly out of reach? From precise calculations to daring guesstimates, many different techniques and approaches are combined to form what's called the "cosmic distance ladder", giving more or less reasonable estimates of the distances between planets, stars and galaxies. Climb the distance ladder and get to know our place in Space from kilometers to Astronomical Units and light years, all the way to gigaparsecs and the reaches of the known universe.

An overview of 70 years of nuclear weapons, focusing on some of the underlying physics, the international politics that surround the topic, modern technology for nuclear weapons detection and monitoring, and what everyone can do to help nuclear disarmament.

With the end of the Cold War, the sense of imminent danger from nuclear weapons quickly faded. But the weapons never went away: Today, half the world's population lives in countries with nuclear weapons. Roughly 15,000 nuclear warheads, each powerful enough to destroy a city, are in the hands of nine countries. The most important international treaty on nuclear weapons states that only five countries can ‘legally’ have them. But over the last 50 years, eight other countries have come into their posession, four of which are established nuclear powers today. How did that happen? Moreover, nuclear tests of different kinds are banned by a multitude of international treaties. An impressive global measurement network of hundreds of seismic, hydroacoustic, infrasound and radionuclide measurement stations has been set up to detect nuclear tests. However, a treaty to finally ban all sorts of nuclear explosions, signed by 183 countries, is on the brink of failing. What is up with that? This talk aims to provide a broad physical, technical and historical overview of the topic of nuclear weapons, and explain where international politics and verification technology stand today.

A light-hearted presentation about many aspects of particle accelerators like the LHC and their particle collision experiments. Aimed at technically interested non-scientists and physics buffs alike.

When the Large Hadron Collider went into operation in 2008, many people around the world (re)discovered an interest in particle physics and collision experiments. If you are reading this, particle accelerators have not destroyed the world yet, giving us a chance to talk about them. Particle accelerators and collision experiments touch on many fascinating aspects of technology and physics that are far removed from our usual experiences: vast machines, high precision, huge energies, enormous volumes of data, tiny lifetimes and ultra-rare occurences. This talk wants to entertain and surprise with insights into the workings of particle accelerators, the instruments used to make discoveries and the techniques used for learning from their results. The talk is supposed to be enjoyable for the scientifically versed as well as the technically inclined or the interested observer. No physics background necessary!