Everything we can see and measure - hundreds of billions of galaxies, trillions of stars, countless planets, and any beings that might inhabit them - all of that only makes up 5% of the known universe. The rest - the other 95%? We have no idea. I will talk about how the Webb telescope reveals new secrets of the universe and what's in store for the future that might give us insight into the unknown 95%. Dr. Amber Straughn is an Astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD and is a member of the Webb Space Telescope Science Team. She is also the Associate Director of the Astrophysics Science Division.
Amber grew up in rural Arkansas and was the first person in her family to attend college. She obtained her BS in Physics at the University of Arkansas, and completed her MS and PhD in Physics at Arizona State University.
In addition to research, Amber is a passionate and accomplished science communicator. She frequently speaks to large audiences at conventions, corporate events, museums, and research societies worldwide. Amber has done numerous live interviews and media features for NASA, and has appeared on CBS 60 Minutes, PBS NOVA, the Emmy-nominated Netflix documentary “Unknown: Cosmic Time Machine”, The Science Channel, in the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon's "Hubble Gotchu" segment, and in the Emmy-winning documentary The Hunt for Planet B. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx