Katrien Kolenberg, an astronomer from the Free University of Brussels (VUB) has been rewarded for her excellent communication on her topic.
She was awarded the Willem de Graaff prize, which is handed out every three years to someone in the field of astronomy and space research, for taking her extremely complex subject matter to the people in a very understandable and approachable way, which includes lectures, art projects and music. Her take on the matter? She doesn’t have to hide different parts of herself anymore.
"Science primarily appeals to the mind, whereas art tends to work through the heart or through intuition. And that combination is incredibly powerful. Art can touch people in a way that purely rational explanations often cannot,” the Belgian said. “This can be very subtle, but it can also be confrontational. Art does not necessarily have to be 'beautiful,' but it can provoke something that makes people start thinking differently."
One of her most famous creative projects is AstroSounds. You see, stars vibrate, only you can’t hear them because there’s no sound in space. Kolenberg and co took those vibrations and put sound to the stars so you can listen to them. “Each star has its own timbre,” Kolenberg pointed out. It’s like listening to a multitude of musical instruments.
Well, that’s music to our ears! Congratulations, Katrien.
