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KANSAS CITY, MO (kcur) – Galaxies, black holes and supernova: for most of us, they are the mysteries of our universe. For UMKC physics professor Daniel McIntosh, it’s his life’s work. He is part of a team of over 100 scientists, led by University of California scientist Sandra Faber, who will be using the newest and most advanced version of the Hubble Space Telescope to survey the heavens during a three year period.

The survey will actually look back in time by observing light and galaxies from billions of years ago. McIntosh is especially interested in how galaxies grew during the period when the universe was young, about 2 billion years ago. The first data from the studies is expected to be available by the end of the year.

Daniel McIntosh stopped by the studios to talk to KCUR’s Susan B. Wilson about his interest in the largest galaxy survey ever conducted using the Hubble telescope.

Science isn’t static: It grows and breathes and changes like a living thing. In fact, the best way to describe the state of science at any given time is to compare it to a tree. At the core of the tree is the unchanging heartwood, while at its periphery are the areas of growth and change.

Science is like that: At its core are ideas that have been tested over and over again, ideas that really aren’t going to change much in the future. Out at the periphery, though, things are different. There we have a constant state of flux: ideas being tested, sometimes succeeding, sometimes being abandoned, sometimes being rethought in a bewildering, shifting kaleidoscope. Read the rest of this entry »