Blackfoot Poetry from Einstein to Spacetime – Elmhurst BMW Dealer

Go on a journey that connects the Blackfoot language to gravitational wave astronomy. Blackfoot Poetry from Einstein to Spacetime is a virtual event hosted by Fermilab on Friday, Aug. 20, 2021, at 7:30 p.m. Scientist Corey Gray will talk about his 23-year career as a gravitational wave detector operator during this presentation. He’ll discuss how he recruited his mother to translate the announcement of a major scientific discovery into the Blackfoot language. He’ll also share a list of his favorite detections. We at Elmhurst BMW think this sounds like a fascinating program, and we’re happy it’s being offered online for everyone to enjoy.

Scientists have been looking for proof of gravitational waves since Albert Einstein first predicted their existence in 1916. The big moment came in 2015 when the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatories in Washington and Louisiana detected massive ripples in spacetime caused by two black holes colliding 1.3 billion light-years from Earth.

Before LIGO scientists announced this significant discovery to the world in 2016, they asked translators to prepare press releases in various languages, including Chinese, French, Hindi and Korean. Corey Gray, a detector operator at LIGO’s Washington observatory and a member of Canada’s Indigenous Siksika Nation, suggested that the announcement should also be translated into Blackfoot. He asked his mother, Sharon Yellowfly, to perform the translation. The resulting press release was the first time a Nobel Prize-winning scientific discovery was announced in the Blackfoot language.

According to Gray, the translation highlights his mother and others’ important work to restore and revitalize Indigenous languages, which were pushed to the brink of extinction in the 20th century. Blackfoot Poetry from Einstein to Spacetime links the language of the Blackfoot people to the language of spacetime.

Date and Time:
Friday, Aug. 20, 2021, at 7:30 p.m.

Location:
Blackfoot Poetry from Einstein to Spacetime is an online Zoom meeting.

Admission:
Tickets are $4 and can be purchased at https://tinyurl.com/yfudtbku.

For More Information:
Visit https://news.fnal.gov/newsroom/public-events.