Astronomers use large telescopes to study distant planets, stars and galaxies. Scientists pore over the data and images that arrive through these telescopes to learn as much as they can about distant objects and the workings and mysteries of space.

Because of technological improvements in deep-space observation over the past few decades, the images that astronomers have been working with have also proven to be stunningly beautiful.

Dr. Travis A. Rector, an assistant professor in the UAA Department of Physics and Astronomy, discusses these images in a unique type of show entitled “The Aesthetics of Astronomy.”

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Astrophysics and Astrophotography

Find the images that Dr. Rector discusses in this talk on his Web site under Deep Sky images.

Chancellor Fram Ulmer announces a special gift to the University of Alaska Anchorage. Students Stephanie Lawer and Marie Hawkins discuss the impact scholarships make on their student experience, and University of Alaska President Mark Hamilton says a few words about the importance of individual giving and how even small gifts can make a huge difference for students.

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Anonymous donor sends millions of dollars to UAA

Donation to benefit students for generations to come

Noted philosopher Dr. David Chalmers is among those who argue for a new understanding of the mind, extending its boundaries to include parts of the external world.

Chalmers’s talk addresses new insights into his earlier groundbreaking work with Dr. Andy Clark entitled The Extended Mind. The earlier paper challenged basic assumptions about where the boundaries of the mind end and the external world begins. Should a person’s digital phone book or the directions she writes down to arrive at a particular location count as part of her mind? Chalmers and Clark originally argued that, in particular cases, “external” objects are coupled with the mind in such a way that they should be considered extensions of the mind itself. This thesis has inspired much debate, and in his talk, Chalmers assess his work on the extended mind in light of new considerations and evidence.

This podcast was recorded on April 17, 2009.

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Dr. David Stevenson, director of UAA’s Creative Writing and Literary Arts Department, leads a discussion about mountaineer literature with Clare Chesher, literary critic from the UAA Department of English UAA; Charlie Sassara, climber and owner of Alaska Rock Gym; and Bill Sherwonit, author of Living with Wildness and numerous nature books.

Recorded: 04.13.2009

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