The Cosmic Savannah Ep. 38: Rise of the Machine

Hosted by Dr. Jacinta Delhaize & Dr. Daniel Cunnama. We are joined by Dr. Michelle Lochner who is a senior lecturer at the University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa.   Michelle is developing new machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) tools to analyze the massive astronomical datasets of next- generation telescopes. Michelle talks to us about her work on detecting and classifying galaxies and transient events. She has also developed a code to spot weird astronomical anomalies – the so-called “unknown unknowns!”   She is preparing for the vast data influx of the Square Kilometer Array (www.skatelescope.org) and the optical Vera C. Rubin Observatory with its Legacy Survey of Space and Time (www.lsst.org) Michelle is also the founder of the Supernova Foundation (www.supernovafoundation.org). This is a program designed to inspire and support young women and gender minorities who are looking to pursue careers in Physics.   We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs.  Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can! Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too!  Every bit helps! Thank you! ------------------------------------ Do go visit http://www.redbubble.com/people/CosmoQuestX/shop for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness! http://cosmoquest.org/Donate This show is made possible through your donations.  Thank you! (Haven't donated? It's not too late! Just click!) ------------------------------------ The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at [email protected].