This September 14 the gravitational wave detector LIGO (Laser Interferometry Gravitational-wave Observatory) celebrated 10 years since recording the first gravitational waves - the shaking of space generated when two black holes merged some 1.3 billion light years away. The detection opened a new astronomical window on the cosmos, making it possible now to "listen" to the shaking of the universe, in addition to more conventional seeing the universe with light, and with other electromagnetic waves.  Since then, LIGO and its companion detectors Virgo in Italy and very recently KAGRA in Japan have detected gravitational waves from hundreds of black hole mergers, and even from mergers of pairs of neutron stars and "mixed mergers" of neutron stars and black holes. In this lecture, which will not assume any prior knowledge of the subject, Cathrine Blom will first explain how gravitational wave detectors work, and then describe their recent amazing results.

Speaker Bio: Cathrine Blom earned her Ph.D. in musicology at the University of Illinois, where she also earned a B.A. in psychology. In addition, she has a working background in physics participating in Norway on analysis of CERN experiments prior to coming to the U.S. At Illinois, she co-taught the primary introductory music classes for majors several times and received an honorary mention for the Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award in the College of Fine and Applied Arts. Her OLLI courses and presentations on both music and science topics are highly regarded; one recent student noted, “She made a very difficult topic much easier to understand.”

This September 14 the gravitational wave detector LIGO (Laser Interferometry Gravitational-wave Observatory) celebrated 10 years since recording the first gravitational waves - the shaking of space generated when two black holes merged some 1.3 billion light years away. The detection opened a new astronomical window on the cosmos, making it possible now to "listen" to the shaking of the universe, in addition to more conventional seeing the universe with light, and with other electromagnetic waves.  Since then, LIGO and its companion detectors Virgo in Italy and very recently KAGRA in Japan have detected gravitational waves from hundreds of black hole mergers, and even from mergers of pairs of neutron stars and "mixed mergers" of neutron stars and black holes. In this lecture, which will not assume any prior knowledge of the subject, Cathrine Blom will first explain how gravitational wave detectors work, and then describe their recent amazing results.

Speaker Bio: Cathrine Blom earned her Ph.D. in musicology at the University of Illinois, where she also earned a B.A. in psychology. In addition, she has a working background in physics participating in Norway on analysis of CERN experiments prior to coming to the U.S. At Illinois, she co-taught the primary introductory music classes for majors several times and received an honorary mention for the Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award in the College of Fine and Applied Arts. Her OLLI courses and presentations on both music and science topics are highly regarded; one recent student noted, “She made a very difficult topic much easier to understand.”

In this presentation, Charness outlines two important trends: population aging and accelerating technology diffusion, emphasizing the role that technology can play in supporting aging adults to live productive, purposeful lives. The discussion takes into account the significant age-related digital divide that currently exists in technology adoption and use. Charness presents a framework for technology interventions—Prevent, Rehabilitate, Augment, Substitute (PRAS)—and provides examples of these approaches applied to domains such as brain training, driving, and mitigating loneliness and social isolation. The presentation also addresses constraints on technology adoption related to human and system reliability and product design.

Speaker details: Neil Charness is a Sessional Clinical Professor of Psychology in Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine and Professor Emeritus at Florida State University, where he also served as Director of the Institute for Successful Longevity. He earned degrees from McGill University and Carnegie Mellon University, and held faculty positions at Wilfrid Laurier, University of Waterloo, and FSU (1994–2024). His research centers on human factors in aging and technology use. Charness has authored over 200 publications and co-authored several books on designing for older adults. He is a Fellow of APA, APS, and GSA, and recipient of multiple honors including the HFES Jack A. Kraft Innovator Award and APA’s Prize for Interdisciplinary Team Research.

In this presentation, Charness outlines two important trends: population aging and accelerating technology diffusion, emphasizing the role that technology can play in supporting aging adults to live productive, purposeful lives. The discussion takes into account the significant age-related digital divide that currently exists in technology adoption and use. Charness presents a framework for technology interventions—Prevent, Rehabilitate, Augment, Substitute (PRAS)—and provides examples of these approaches applied to domains such as brain training, driving, and mitigating loneliness and social isolation. The presentation also addresses constraints on technology adoption related to human and system reliability and product design.

Speaker details: Neil Charness is a Sessional Clinical Professor of Psychology in Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine and Professor Emeritus at Florida State University, where he also served as Director of the Institute for Successful Longevity. He earned degrees from McGill University and Carnegie Mellon University, and held faculty positions at Wilfrid Laurier, University of Waterloo, and FSU (1994–2024). His research centers on human factors in aging and technology use. Charness has authored over 200 publications and co-authored several books on designing for older adults. He is a Fellow of APA, APS, and GSA, and recipient of multiple honors including the HFES Jack A. Kraft Innovator Award and APA’s Prize for Interdisciplinary Team Research.