The Tactile Universe: accessible astrophysics for vision impaired school children

触觉宇宙：为视力障碍学童提供易懂的天体物理学

• 批准号: ST/V001515/1
• 负责人: Nicolas Bonne
• 金额: $ 9.15万
• 依托单位: University of Portsmouth
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2020 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ST%2FV001515%2F1
• 关键词: Tactile; Universe; accessible; astrophysics; vision

The Tactile Universe is an award-winning public engagement project based at the University of Portsmouth's Institute of Cosmolgy and Gravitation that is empowering and raising the aspirations of students with vision impairments (VI) by making current astrophysics research topics accessible to them.To date, the project has developed and used its tactile resources to help VI children experience the size and scale of our solar system and understand what gives every galaxy in the Universe its own unique colour and shape. With the support of the STFC, the project now has the chance to expand to cover even more exciting topics, and ensure its legacy in the coming years. Predicted by Albert Einstein in 1916, as part of his theory of general relativity, gravitational waves were not detected until 2015, when the merging of two black holes in a distant galaxy (one of the most cataclysmic and energetic events that can occur in the Universe) caused ripples in space-time that were detected by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) instrument. Working with LIGO scientists at the University of Portsmouth and around the UK, the Tactile Universe team will develop resources and activities suitable for VI students aged 14-16, covering the detection of, and science behind, gravitational-waves.To make sure that the project's resources, old and new, reach everybody that they can, the Tactile Universe is working to train and grow a network of presenters who will deliver activities to VI students wherever they are based. The resources that the Tactile Universe will develop during this STFC Legacy Award will also be made available online through www.tactileuniverse.org, alongside our existing tactile resources, lesson plans and guides currently shared on the website. With access to a 3D printer, anybody will be able to download and make their own set of tactile resources to feel the awe inspiring shapes and structures of galaxies and understand gravitational-waves, one of the most exciting areas in astrophysics today.

触觉宇宙是一个屡获殊荣的公众参与项目，位于朴茨茅斯大学宇宙与引力研究所，通过使当前的天体物理学研究课题向他们开放，赋予视力障碍学生权力并提高他们的愿望。该项目开发并利用其触觉资源，帮助VI儿童体验我们太阳系的大小和规模，并了解宇宙中的每个星系都有自己独特的颜色和形状。在STFC的支持下，该项目现在有机会扩展到更令人兴奋的主题，并确保其在未来几年的遗产。阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦在1916年预测，作为他的广义相对论的一部分，引力波直到2015年才被探测到，当时两个黑洞在遥远星系中的合并（宇宙中可能发生的最具灾难性和能量的事件之一）引起了时空中的涟漪，被激光干涉引力波天文台（LIGO）仪器探测到。Tactile Universe团队将与朴茨茅斯大学和英国各地的LIGO科学家合作，开发适合14-16岁VI学生的资源和活动，涵盖引力波的探测和背后的科学。为了确保该项目的新老资源能够惠及所有人，触觉宇宙正在努力培训和发展一个演讲者网络，他们将在任何地方为VI学生提供活动。触觉宇宙将在本次STFC遗产奖期间开发的资源也将通过www.tactileuniverse.org在线提供，以及我们目前在网站上共享的现有触觉资源，课程计划和指南。通过使用3D打印机，任何人都可以下载并制作自己的触觉资源，感受星系令人惊叹的形状和结构，并了解引力波，这是当今天体物理学中最令人兴奋的领域之一。