Faculty of Science E-newsletter

To encourage ongoing learning at home during the pandemic, the University had organised eight public talks targeting both local and overseas high school and college students. Dr. Tong Shiu Sing of Department of Physics delivered one of them, titled “What Do Gravitational Waves Tell Us?” on 31 March, 2020 and had attracted over 350 participants to join online.

Dr. Tong introduced how the gravitational waves could be produced and detected with the help of animation and computer models, and explained how the observation of gravitational signals has changed human understanding of the universe. He also came across the application of relativity in daily life, which is on Global Positioning System (GPS). Engineers take the theory of General Relativity into account for GPS location navigation, they electronically adjust the rates of the satellite clocks and build mathematical corrections to navigate a precise location.

Dr. Tong concluded the talks with words from Richard P. Feynman, a theoretical physicist – “I can live with doubt and uncertainty and not knowing”. One prefers living with doubt rather than getting wrong answers as uncertainty leaves opportunities for one to continue to search for alternatives, to stay curious, and to remain enthusiastic about the quest for knowledge, and they are the essence which empowers us to make improvement and science to lead innovations.

Press Release | Video Recap