Congratulations to new Physics Professors

The school congratulates our colleagues Prof. Vincent Toal, Prof. Hugh Byrne and Prof. Pat Goodman for their recent well-deserved award of the title of Professor.

Congratulations to Dr Ann Coughlan

Congratulations to Dr Ann Coughlan who successfully defended her doctoral thesis this morning.

Her thesis is entitled: "The effects of posture on quantitative EEG and end tidal CO2 during standardised optimal hyperventilation in healthy adults, and in patients with childhood absence epilepsy and attack disorder”. The examiners were Prof. Orla Hardiman, Consultant Neurologist at the Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College, Dublin and Dr. Eugene Coyle, DIT. Ann’s supervisors were Prof. Joe McMenamin, Head of Department of Neurology at Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Dublin, Prof. Matt Hussey, Dr. Pat Goodman and Dr. James Walsh, DIT.

Congratulations to Dr Pavani Kotakonda

Congratulations to Dr Pavani Kotakonda who successfully defended her doctoral thesis, entitled “Holographic Liquid Crystal devices”, on December 5th.

The examiners were Prof. Gabriella Cipparrone of the Department of Physics at the University of Calabria, and Dr. John Doran, DIT. Pavani was supervised by Dr Robert Howard, Dr. Izabela Naydenova and Dr. Vincent Toal.

"Fossil imprint" of Tycho Brahe's 1572 supernova reported in Nature.

'In 1572, a "new star" appeared in the sky which stunned astronomers and exploded ancient theories of the universe.

Now the supernova recorded by Tycho Brahe has been glimpsed again, by Max Planck Institute scientists. They used telescopes in Hawaii and Spain to capture faint light echoes of the original explosion, reflected by interstellar dust. This "fossil imprint" of Tycho's famous supernova is reported in Nature.

The study will help solve a 400-year-old mystery over the nature of the celestial event which captivated observers across the globe.'

The link below has a movie as well as further details.

See BBC News.