Monday 18 July, 2016 7.30pm to 10pm Churchill Auditorium Open to public upon registration
The International Astronaut panel is an annual highlight of each ISU session. ISU participants and the public will have the opportunity to interact with this outstanding group of astronauts who represent over 30 years of international spaceflight experience ranging from the Soviet MIR station to the International Space Station, and whom are training for missions in future spacecraft. The panel collectively represents over 3 years of spaceflight experience, and also includes an ISU alumna who was recently selected by NASA.
Sergei Krikalev holds the record for the most days in space by a human – 803 days, including 8 EVAs – accumulated during his 5 missions aboard Soyuz, Mir, the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station – a flight career spanning from 1988 to 2005.
Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli flew on Space Shuttle Mission STS-120 in 2007, and flew on Soyuz to the International Station to serve as flight engineer for Expedition 26/27 during 2010-11. He is currently in training for ISS Expedition 52/53.
American Astronaut Jeff Hoffman flew five missions aboard four different US Space Shuttle from 1985 thru 1996, including the STS-35 ASTRO-1 astronomy labpratory mission, the STS-61 Hubble Space Telescope repair mission, and the STS-75 US Microgravity payload mission.
Jessica Meir is a member of ISU’s MSS class of 2000, and was chosen by NASA as an astronaut in 2013. She completed her astronaut candidate training in 2015 and is currently in training for a future ISS crew assignment.
John Kennedy, Richard Nixon, and the American Space Program
Sunday 17 July, 2016 7.30pm to 9pm Churchill Auditorium Open to public upon registration
Distinguished Lecture by: John Logsdon (George Washington University)
The 1961 decision by U.S. President John Kennedy to send astronauts to the moon “before this decade is out” remains the most dramatic choice in space history, and on July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong took ‘one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.’ The success of the Apollo 11 mission satisfied the goal that had been set by the US president, but also raised the question ‘What do you do next, after landing on the Moon?’ It fell to President Richard M. Nixon to answer this question, and his response has changed the course of the US space program ever since. ISU faculty member John Logsdon, author of the 2010 book “John F. Kennedy and the Race to the Moon” and the 2015 book “After Apollo?: Richard Nixon and the American Space Program” will discuss the reasons for Kennedy’s decision and the steps the young president took to turn the decision into a successful Apollo program, and will discuss the deliberations by President Richard Nixon to end the Apollo program and put the US space program on a different course.
Opening Ceremony Kicks off International Space University’s 29th Space Studies Program
The International Space University’s 29th Space Studies Program (SSP) has commenced and in a very special way. The Rappaport Hall and the Municipality of Haifa welcomed the 2016 group of 104 participants, coming from 24 countries, on 12 July 2016.
Space Studies Program Director, John Connolly of NASA, introduced participants, country by country, and led the 2016 ceremony.
John Connolly expressed:
“The International Space University (ISU) is pleased to bring its popular Space Studies program to Israel for the first time – the combination of Technion’s reputation as a leading technical institution, and Israel’s prominence in both aerospace and entrepreneurial activities make Haifa a perfect host city for this year’s Space Studies Program (SSP). SSP16 will bring over 100 student participants and 150 faculty and staff from over 30 countries together, making Haifa, for two months, one of the focal points of the space world. During the Space Studies Program, as part of the program, we will welcome Dr. Buzz Aldrin, the Chancellor of ISU, to the SSP in addition to many other space sector senior engineers, managers, and entrepreneurs from around the world.”
Additional Opening Ceremony speakers and special guest included:
Prof Walter PEETERS, president of International Space University
Prof Peretz LAVIE, president of Technion
Dr Christian SALLABERGER (SSP88), chairman of the ISU Board of Trustees
Mr Yona YAHAV, mayor of Haifa
Mr Peretz VAZAN, Director General of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Space Israeli Government
Ms Rona RAMON, chairman of the Ramon Foundation Board of Trustees
Prof Jeffrey HOFFMAN, astronaut & Faculty of ISU
Prof John LOGSDON, Professor Emeritus Georges Washington University & Faculty of ISU
Mr Ofer LAPID, member of the ISU Board of Trustees
Prof Walter PEETERS, president of ISU said:
“The objective of the International Space University (ISU) is to hold the Space Studies Program each year in different parts of the world, in order to give a maximum of regions the chance to send participants. We are therefore delighted that Technion, one of the top-ranked universities worldwide, offered to host a session this year, allowing us to be, for the first time, in this part of the world and extending our reach out to different communities.”
Prof Peretz LAVIE, President of Technion responded:
“We are thrilled and honored that Technion is the first university in Israel (and the Middle East) to host the International Space University (ISU) 2016 Space Studies Program. A leading science and technology research university and a renowned center for applied research, Technion was also one of the first universities worldwide to launch a satellite into orbit and, through its active space program, intends to do so again next year. Technion faculty and graduates play a major role in Israel’s advanced and vibrant aerospace industry. Hosting a world class program such as this one will certainly help in further developing and deepening international collaboration in space research. Finally, I’m glad that ISU students and faculty will also have the opportunity to experience first-hand not only Technion and its immediate surroundings, but also the unique beauty and cultural diversity Israel has to offer.”
Mr. Peretz Vazan, Director General of Israeli Ministry of Science, Technology and Space said:
“The Ministry of Science, Technology and Space and the Israeli Space Agency are supporting the participation of Israeli students in this program, understanding its uniqueness, the wide perspective it provides, and its significant training to those who desire to continue professionally in the space field.”
“The decision by the International Space University to conduct the first study program in the Middle East in the City of Haifa is very flattering for the city and for its universal values. Haifa has always been an international model of peaceful cooperation and tolerance. I would like to welcome the arrival of distinguished guests to the city and to the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. I am particularly pleased to see the unique encounter between the future of humanity in space and the future of humanity that depends on humans living together here on Earth” said Mr. Yona Yahav, Haifa Municipality Mayor.
Also aired during the opening ceremony was a Special Video greeting to the ISU Space Studies Program 2016 Class from the International Space Station, by Astronaut Jeff Williams, commander of Expedition 48 to the ISS.
The Space Studies Program (SSP) is an intense two-month course for postgraduates and professionals from all disciplines. The curriculum covers all major principals of space related fields. The shared experience of an international, interactive environment is ideal for creating of an extensive, international, multidisciplinary professional network.
While the Opening Ceremony kicks off the following two months for participants and staff, it also marks the start of SSP events open to the public. Discovering the space industry and its applications with fun is fully part of the activities being held by ISU, all summer long in Haifa. All are welcome to get an inside look at ISU and SSP at the events listed below, amongst many others:
Robotics competition
July, 28th at 15.15 – ENG Building Atrium, Haifa Led by Dr. Eric Choi, Canada
Robotics competition
The task is simple: build and program a prototype robot that can explore on its own, differentiate surfaces, avoid obstacles, and collect valuable samples. And do it all on 2 days. In a competition with other robots. Thanks to LEGO Mindstorms, talent, and a lot of imagination, ISU participants, assisted by robotics experts, will design and build autonomous robots following precise specifications to stimulate planetary exploration. Their performance will be evaluated by a group of international experts, and awards given to the winning team of roboticist. Visitors of all ages are welcome to share an educational and fun experience.
Model Rocket launch
August, 19th at 8.00 – Kibbutz Gal’ed Led by Dr. John Conolly, ISU/NASA
Model Rocket Launch
International Space University conducts an annual rocketry launch competition during each Space Studies Program. Participants from ISU’s Engineering department are divided into international teams of four to design, construct and fly a rocket that will meet a set of difficult requirements for altitude, payload, data capture, and design style. Each team designs a unique rocket from a limited selection of body tubes, nose cones, rocket motors and other components, aided by computer design and simulation programs. Each rocket design passes several safety checks before it is certified to fly in the competition. Will the rocket attain the correct altitude? Will the fragile payload be returned safely? Will the vehicle fly straight and stable? It is a real-world challenge and the team with the best performance will be recognized for their hard work.
Technion scientists measure and record thermal motion in a water droplet; new kind of medical sensor may result
Graduate student Shai Maayani (Left) and Professor Tal Carmon
According to scientists from Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, measuring a water droplet with a resolution comparable with the scale of a single atom will reveal that the droplet interface behaves like a miniature stormy sea. The waves in this ocean are generally referred to as “thermal capillary waves” and they exist even if the droplet is seen, to the naked eye, as being at rest.
Using that knowledge, the researchers developed technology to analyze the thermal capillary dynamics in a drop of water. The advancement could one day lead to a new generation of medical sensors that are able to identify abnormal cells.
The measurement of thermal capillary waves, performed by Mr. Maayani was made possible by turning the water droplet into a device the researchers called an “opto-capillary resonator.” The device was used to introduce light into a water droplet to record the thermal capillary motion inside it. Being able to accurately measure this activity means that it could also be possible to support a controlled energy exchange between light and capillary waves in the drop.
“The surface of a water drop is constantly moving, due to what is called ‘Brownian motion,’ or ‘thermal motion,’” said Prof. Carmon. “Thermal motion on the outer surface of a water droplet impacts many processes including breaking of a single drop into many smaller droplets.”
The researchers experimented with what are called “capillary oscillations” in a water droplet. These motions are governed by water‘s surface tension, the force that gives a drop of water its shape. Water droplets are a fundamental structure of self-contained liquid bounded almost completely by surfaces
In their experiment, photons (particles of light) were confined to circulate along the equatorial line of the droplet, at a depth of 180 billionth of a meter. Being so close to the drop interface, which host the thermal capillary waves, enabled recording this thermal motion of water.
According to the researchers, once inside the water droplet, light circulates up to 1,000 times around the circumference of the droplet, which helps in measuring the capillary waves. The number of times that light circulates is called ‘optical finesse’ and can be used to monitor the movements down to the size of 1/1000th of the very small wavelength of light.
“Optocapillary cavities can support a controlled energy exchange between light and capillaries,” explained the researchers.
When light waves and water waves co-resonate in certain ways – when they pass through one another – there can be an exchange of energy between the two types of waves. The data from that interaction could be used to develop a new type of sensor. For example, if a biological cell is placed into a water drop the cell’s reaction to waves – whether waves of light, water or sound – can reveal information about the nature of the cell.
“Based on a cell’s reaction to light, water and/or sound waves, it may one day be possible with the optocapillary resonator to determine whether a cell is normal or a malignant cancer cell,” concluded the researchers.
The Hubble Space Telescope: A Quarter Century of Science
Wednesday 13 July, 2016 7.30pm to 9pm Churchill Auditorium Open to public upon registration
Distinguished Lecture by: Jeff Hoffman (NASA Astronaut, MIT Professor)
The Hubble Space Telescope has become one of the most extraordinary and beloved instruments in the history of space science, and has provided some of the most memorable images of the cosmos. But the telescope was not an immediate success – without the work performed by the STS-61 crew, including astronomer and NASA astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman, the Hubble could have been a scientific disaster.
Dr. Hoffman will recall his shuttle missions and his experience as a space telescope “repair man”, and how those repairs have led to the telescope becoming one of the most significant science instruments ever built.
The Space Studies Program will be held at the Technion from July 12th to September 1st, 2016. The program will include a guest lecture by Dr. Buzz Aldrin, one of the 12 humans to walk on the moon, and one of the strongest advocates for human travel to Mars.
In addition, several public events will be held during the program, including: Israel in Space panel, International Astronaut panel, an evening lecture by astronaut Professor Jeff Hoffman, and a panel about the human side of the Columbia mission, and more.
All events will be held in English. Registration is required.
New Technique Could Improve Angular Resolution of Telescopes Beyond the Diffraction Limit
The angular resolution of any optical imaging system, from cameras and microscopes to telescopes, is fundamentally constrained by diffraction, the bending of light waves around obstacles in their path
Prof. Erez N. Ribak
The angular resolution of a telescope is the smallest angle between two objects that still can be resolved as separate things; in a telescope with high angular resolution, those objects can be very close together and yet still appear distinct.
In a new paper published in the journal Optics Letters, from The Optical Society (OSA), a research team now proposes a way around the diffraction limit of telescopes—one that could potentially enable even moderately sized telescopes to obtain images with very high angular resolution.
The usable angular resolution of ground-based telescopes can be increased using adaptive objects (AO) systems, which compensate in real-time for the blurring effects of Earth’s atmosphere and ideally restore imagery to diffraction-limited resolution. However, says adaptive optics expert Aglaé N. Kellerer, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, as telescope sizes increase, the correction becomes increasingly more complex. “In 1989, the first astronomical prototype had 19 correction elements and a 150-hertz sampling rate. Current systems have several thousand correction elements and sampling rates above 1000 Hz—and this is not the end of the line,” says Kellerer.
Kellerer and her co-author Erez N. Ribak, Technion–Israel Institute of Technology, Israel, now propose that it may be possible to improve the angular resolution of a telescope beyond the diffraction limit, using a combination of photon amplification and the statistical properties of stimulated photons versus spontaneous photons.
Consider a photon emitted by an astronomical object. Before the photon is actually detected by a given telescope, all that is known of its location is that it exists at some point on an immense spherical wave centered on the astronomical object and extending all the way to the telescope. Once the telescope’s detector records the photon, however, the photon’s pathway is narrowed to within an area constrained by the telescope’s aperture. The Heisenberg uncertainty principle indicates that because the path of the photon is now better known, the corresponding uncertainty in its momentum must increase. This limits the resolution of the telescope.
However, say Kellerer and Ribak, this limit applies only to independent photons; with sets of coherent or entangled photons, the limit can be smaller. And that is key to their idea. “We propose to use photon amplification—stimulated emission—to overcome the diffraction limit in astronomy,” she says.
Specifically, the researchers propose that excited atoms could be placed between the telescope aperture and its photon detector. When an astronomical photon enters the telescope, it will stimulate the emission of identical photons. “These photons arrive simultaneously on the detector and spread over the diffraction pattern,” Kellerer explains. “If the incoming photon stimulates the emission of 100 photons, the precision on the determination of the photon’s incoming direction is improved by a factor of 10.”
The stimulated emission would be accompanied by spontaneous emission that contributes noise. For that reason, scientists previously had discarded the idea of using photon amplification to improve astronomical imaging. Kellerer and Ribak, however, suggest using only stimulated photon bursts that are above a particular size. Astronomical photons that generate small photon bursts have a larger noise component and are discarded, reducing the overall noise. “This might allow us to overcome the diffraction limit,” she says.
One potential downside of the proposed technique is a loss of sensitivity in the images produced. “It is a price to pay,” she admits, “but it is reassuring: if we found a means to overcome the diffraction limit at no cost, we would be in contradiction with the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, and we would thus certainly be wrong.” (In addition, she notes, the loss of sensitivity can partly be overcome by increased exposure times.)
Achieving extremely high angular resolution would be beneficial for many astronomical applications, Kellerer says. As one example, she points to recent research by her group that led to the discovery of Earth-like planets around an ultra-cool dwarf star located 39 light years away. “Even though these planets are close by astronomical standards,” she says, “it will be extremely difficult to build telescopes that are sufficiently large, or interferometers that have a sufficiently long baseline, to image their surfaces. This will require a technological breakthrough.”
Technology developed at the Technion may replace silicon chips in the world of electronics. The development is being published in the journal Nature Communications
Since their discovery, CNTs (Carbon Nanotubes) have fascinated many researchers due to their unprecedented electrical, optical, thermal and mechanical properties and their chemical sensitivity. These tubes are considered a promising component of future electronics. Recently, a complete computer based on CNT circuits has been demonstrated, and in the future they may be able to replace the silicon chip as the building block of electronics.
One of the biggest challenges on the way to the implementation of CNTs involves the need to produce them in specific locations on a smooth substrate, in conditions that will lead to the formation of a circuit around them. An article published in the journal Nature Communications presents a breakthrough in this regard, achieved in the laboratory of Prof. Yuval Yaish of the Viterbi Faculty of Electrical Engineering and the Zisapel Nanoelectronics Center at Technion. The technology developed by Prof. Yaish creates the said conditions and moreover, also makes it possible to study the dynamic properties of CNTs, including acceleration, resonance (vibration) and the transition from softness to hardness.
Due to the nanometer size of the CNTs (100,000 times smaller than the thickness of a human hair) it is extremely difficult to find or locate them at specific locations. Together with graduate student Gilad Zeevi and doctoral student Michael Shlafman, Prof. Yaish developed a simple, rapid, non-invasive, and scalable technique that enables optical imaging of CNTs. Instead of relying on the CNT chemical properties to bind marker molecules, the researchers relied on the fact that the CNT is both a chemical and physical defect on the otherwise flat and uniform surface. It can serve as a seed for the nucleation and growth of small size, optically visible, nano-crystals, which can be seen and studied using a conventional optical microscope (as opposed to CNTs, which are too small). As the CNT surface is not used to bind the molecules, they can be removed completely after imaging, leaving the surface intact. Thus the CNT’s electrical and mechanical properties are preserved.
“The integrated circuit, the chip, is the biggest breakthrough in electronics so far,” explains Prof. Yaish, “and we believe that the method we developed will serve as an applicable platform for the integration of nano-electronics with silicon technologies, and possibility even the replacement of these technologies in molecular electronics. The CNT is an amazing and very strong building block with remarkable electrical, mechanical and optical properties. Some of them are conductors and some are semiconductors, and therefore they are considered a future replacement for silicon. The unique infrastructures available at the Technion clean room facilities within the microelectronics center headed by Prof. Nir Tessler enable us not only to demonstrate this principle but also to produce world-class devices.”
According to Prof. Yaish, existing methods for the production of CNT are very slow and costly and result in a non-precision product and, in general, cannot be implemented in industry. “Our approach is the opposite of the norm. We grow the CNTs directly, and with the aid of the organic crystals that coat the CNTs we can see them under a microscope very quickly. Then image identification software finds the precise location of the CNTs, automatically designs the optimal electrical circuit and produces the device (transistor). This is the strategy. The goal is the integration of CNTs in an integrated circuit of miniaturized electronic components, mainly transistors, on a single chip (VLSI), which could, as stated, replace silicon electronics.”
Prof. Yuval Yaish earned his B.Sc. (cum laude) and M.Sc. (cum laude) in Physics from Tel Aviv University. He earned his Ph.D. – in Experimental Physics of Condensed Matter – at the Technion, under Prof. Uri Sivan. He did his postdoc in molecular electronics at Cornell University in the US.
A Technion study reveals a mechanism for accurate and individualized control of brain activity using ultrasonic waves: ultrasound’s waveform pattern dramatically affects interaction with neurons, and consequently, certain ultrasound patterns will have a different effect on different types of neurons.
Achieving artificial brain stimulation by accurate and non-invasive means is one of the key goals of contemporary brain research and treatment and a source of growing enthusiasm by the scientific community. A major success in this area is the excitation of neurons using ultrasound waves or ‘ultrasonic neuromodulation’. This approach may complement or even partially replace existing brain treatments, which require surgical insertion of electrodes through the skull and are therefore inherently more risky. The ability to affect nerve cells using ultrasound waves has been known for many years but has recently seen dramatic developments, including a demonstration of the ability to create artificial (phantom) sensations in human subjects by direct brain stimulation. However, since these are highly complex systems and phenomena, much is still unknown about them, particularly with regard to the mechanisms that enable activation and suppression of neural networks.
Prof. Shy Shoham (Left) and Prof. Eitan Kimmel
Exciting news in this area comes now from the Technion’s Faculty of Biomedical Engineering and the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute, where new research conducted by Profs. Shy Shoham and Eitan Kimmel and PhD student Misha Plaksin could radically improve our understanding and ability to apply ultrasonic neuromodulation. In a study just published in the journal eNeuro, the Technion team puts forward a unifying new theoretical foundation that explains a wide range of experimental findings in the field. Their study surprisingly concludes that the ultrasound’s waveform pattern dramatically affects its interaction with neurons, and consequently certain ultrasound patterns will have a different effect on different types of neurons. The framework they introduce also makes it possible to predict the outcome of complex interactions in realistic brain neural networks which are composed of various types of neurons.
The study is based on NICE – a bio-physical model that the research group developed to explain the effect of ultrasound waves on brain cells. According to NICE, when the ultrasonic waves interact with a cell, the cellular membrane experiences nano-scale vibrations which lead to electrical charge accumulation on the membrane: the longer the vibrations continue, the more charge builds up in the membrane. Eventually, enough charge builds up so that an action potential is generated. The group now shows that when the ultrasonic wave is activated in short pulses, this will cause selective excitation of inhibitory cells, with the net result of suppression of the neural network activity. This is the first explanation for this suppression phenomenon, which was recently observed experimentally by researchers at Harvard University.
According to Prof. Shoham, “So far, we found a very nice agreement between the predictions of the NICE model and the results of experiments in the field. We have two important findings: further confirmation of the predictive power of the leading theory in the field, and a new ability to engineer ultrasound patterns that will specifically activate neuron populations – something that until now has only been possible using highly invasive means.”
The new study may lead to major breakthroughs in the field of non-invasive medical treatment of neurological diseases. “Right now, the brain is still something of a closed box,” says Prof. Shoham. “Ultrasound could help to pry open that box. Now, for example, for the first time at the Technion and in cooperation with InSightec Ltd. and Prof. Itamar Kahn of the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, we are using functional MRI technology to examine the effect of ultrasound on brain activity, so that we can both excite and monitor it without recourse to electrodes and other invasive means.”
Technion mourns the passing of Dr. Elie Wiesel, Nobel Laureate and long-term friend of Technion and the State of Israel.
Elie Wiesel was born in 1928 in the town of Sighet, now part of Romania. During World War II, he was deported to the German concentration and extermination camps, where his parents and little sister perished. Elie and his two older sisters survived. Liberated from Buchenwald in 1945, he was taken to Paris where he studied at the Sorbonne and worked as a journalist. In 1956, he published his first book in Yiddish, Un di Velt Hot Geshvign (And the World Was Silent), which in 1958 became La Nuit (Night), a memoir of his experiences in the concentration camps. He has since authored many more books. Prof. Wiesel was the first Henry Luce Visiting Scholar in the Humanities and Social Thought at Yale University, and a Distinguished Professor of Judaic Studies at the City College of New York.
Elie Wiesel was awarded the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize because “with his message and through his practical work in the cause of peace, [he] is a convincing spokesman for the view of mankind and for the unlimited humanitarianism which are at all times necessary for a lasting and just peace.” He was the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in Humanities at Boston University, a faculty member in the Department of Philosophy as well as the Department of Religion. In 2005, Prof. Wiesel was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Technion.
“Surely in this place you have shown that there is more to human spirit to celebrate than despair.” Elie Wiesel at Technion – Israel Institute of Technology.
Elie Wiesel at Technion
“Celebrate life.” The message resounded loud and clear from one of humankind’s guardians of ethics on all levels, Elie Wiesel, as he stood to receive an honorary doctorate from the Technion in 2005.
Attracted to the Technion and its pioneering work in life science and technology, Wiesel was a close friend of fellow Nobel Laureate Technion Distinguished Professor Aaron Ciechanover.
Wiesel delivered several lectures to Technion students calling for an awakening of human sensitivity towards the challenges ahead. “There is no escape from learning. Study, study and study!” he said. Speaking of himself as a writer, he said: “The weight of a book is the weight of its silence, not the weight of its words. What separates one word from the other is to me a mystery as great as what separates one molecule from the other in science, or what separates one planet from the other”.
Asked what makes the Technion different from other academic institutes, his response was clear: “At the Technion it is different. Technion has a moral dimension, which you don’t find everywhere.”
On June 8, 2005 Prof. Elie Wiesel delivered the lecture “Why I Write” at Technion-Israel Institute of Technology at the closing of the annual Board of Governors meeting. Wiesel was introduced by Prof. Aaron Ciechanover, Technion Nobel Laureate in Chemistry. You can watch it below.
The Space Studies Program will be held at the Technion from July 12th to September 1st, 2016. The program will include a guest lecture by Dr. Buzz Aldrin, one of the 12 humans to walk on the moon, and one of the strongest advocates for human travel to Mars.
In addition, several public events will be held during the program, including: Israel in Space panel, International Astronaut panel, an evening lecture by astronaut Professor Jeff Hoffman, and a panel about the human side of the Columbia mission, and more.
All events will be held in English. Registration is required.
Study Highlights How Audiences React to Science on Different Social Media Platforms
No longer isolated in an ivory tower, scientific ideas, practices and findings are now increasingly communicated over various social media platforms. This raises questions about the nature of those platforms and the differences between them. For example, do people react to a scientific image posted on Twitter any differently than they would if they saw the same image on Facebook?
A new study conducted by CERN and the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology suggests that similar scientific topics tend to receive similar rates of user engagement even though they are posted on different social media platforms. In particular, awe-inspiring images tend to attract high engagement irrespective of platform – and in some cases, even if these images are not newsworthy at all.
For example, a picture of a CERN dishwasher for circuit boards was viewed over 121,000 times on Facebook and retweeted over 1,200 times on Twitter, presumably because it was so surprising and funny. Indeed, it seems that the same principles that explain the allure of viral cat videos can apply to tweets about sub-atomic particles.
The study also found an unexpected difference between user engagement rates on different platforms. As one would expect, on platforms where CERN operated accounts with larger audiences, such as CERN’s English-language Twitter account, posts about scientific topics tended to receive more shares and clicks overall.
However, on average, on platforms where CERN had fewer followers, such as Instagram, each follower tended to be relatively more engaged. The results suggest that perhaps in new platforms, early adopters might tend to be more engaged followers.
The study, published last week in the scholarly journal PLOS ONE, explored how users engaged with posts about particle physics on different platforms of social media: Facebook, Google Plus, Instagram and Twitter. Also, the researchers examined the characteristics of the posts that tended to attract large numbers of user interactions.
To that purpose, the authors analyzed user interaction rates with nearly identical items which were cross-posted on five of CERN’s official social media accounts over an eight-week period in 2014. The researchers tracked a wide range of interactions, including number of “likes”, comments, shares, clicks on links, and time spent on CERN’s site.
The study was conducted by Kate Kahle from CERN along with Aviv Sharon and Ayelet Baram-Tsabari from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. “To our knowledge, this study provides the first cross-platform characterization of public engagement with science on social media,” the researchers said. “Although the study focused on particle physics, its findings might serve to benchmark social media analytics in other areas of science as well.”
