How are astronomers approaching their search for life in the universe? What have we learned from the surge of exoplanets discoveries? How likely is it that Earth does not host the only life in the Universe? In this course we explore the field of astrobiology, an emerging multidisciplinary field. Progress in astrobiology is driven by telescopes on the ground and in space, and by new insights on how life emerged on Earth and its diversity. The topics in this course range from the science of how exoplanets are detected, to the chemistry that supports the argument that the ingredients for life are common in the Universe. We will follow the analyses of experts in chemistry, astronomy, geology and archaeology to build a strong foundation of understanding. By the final assignment, students will be equipped with the knowledge necessary to identify what makes a planet habitable, and how likely it is that life exists there. Students will graduate from this course informed about one of the most exciting fields in all of science, and ready to discuss the current exoplanet news stories and discoveries.

Our course on the basics of thermodynamics targeting a wide audience includes only what is absolutely necessary, focusing on the most basic issues, excluding less important specialized topics. However, you will learn about unusual phenomena such as stretched liquid and see interesting experiments. A future competent specialist, whose work should be at least somehow connected with physical phenomena, will find this course in thermodynamics useful and necessary. We tried to explain the basic concepts as clearly and consistently as possible and at the same time remain at a serious physical level. As a result, in a relatively short time, you will receive a core of knowledge that will allow you to easily supplement it with appropriate special tasks in the future. In addition, such an ultra-short extract of the essentials often allows you to look at the course differently: to cover it as a whole, to see the interconnection of the parts. So, it may be of interest even to those who have already studied thermodynamics.

The movement of bodies in space (like spacecraft, satellites, and space stations) must be predicted and controlled with precision in order to ensure safety and efficacy. Kinematics is a field that develops descriptions and predictions of the motion of these bodies in 3D space. This course in Kinematics covers four major topic areas: an introduction to particle kinematics, a deep dive into rigid body kinematics in two parts (starting with classic descriptions of motion using the directional cosine matrix and Euler angles, and concluding with a review of modern descriptors like quaternions and Classical and Modified Rodrigues parameters). The course ends with a look at static attitude determination, using modern algorithms to predict and execute relative orientations of bodies in space. After this course, you will be able to... * Differentiate a vector as seen by another rotating frame and derive frame dependent velocity and acceleration vectors * Apply the Transport Theorem to solve kinematic particle problems and translate between various sets of attitude descriptions * Add and subtract relative attitude descriptions and integrate those descriptions numerically to predict orientations over time * Derive the fundamental attitude coordinate properties of rigid bodies and determine attitude from a series of heading measurements

In this course you get the chance to get teaching and hands-on experience with the complete workflow of high-resolution tomography analysis. You will get introduced to data acquisition, 3D reconstruction, segmentation and meshing and, finally, 3D modelling of data to extract physical parameters describing mechanical and flow properties. The teaching and the exercises will take place in close interaction with top experts in the field. Exercises will require some basic programming skills, and will be carried out in a common python environment.

This is an introductory astronomy survey class that covers our understanding of the physical universe and its major constituents, including planetary systems, stars, galaxies, black holes, quasars, larger structures, and the universe as a whole.

In this course we will seek to “understand Einstein,” especially focusing on the special theory of relativity that Albert Einstein, as a twenty-six year old patent clerk, introduced in his “miracle year” of 1905. Our goal will be to go behind the myth-making and beyond the popularized presentations of relativity in order to gain a deeper understanding of both Einstein the person and the concepts, predictions, and strange paradoxes of his theory. Some of the questions we will address include: How did Einstein come up with his ideas? What was the nature of his genius? What is the meaning of relativity? What’s “special” about the special theory of relativity? Why did the theory initially seem to be dead on arrival? What does it mean to say that time is the “fourth dimension”? Can time actually run more slowly for one person than another, and the size of things change depending on their velocity? Is time travel possible, and if so, how? Why can’t things travel faster than the speed of light? Is it possible to travel to the center of the galaxy and return in one lifetime? Is there any evidence that definitively confirms the theory, or is it mainly speculation? Why didn’t Einstein win the Nobel Prize for the theory of relativity? About the instructor: Dr. Larry Lagerstrom is the Director of Academic Programs at Stanford University’s Center for Professional Development, which offers graduate certificates in subjects such as artificial intelligence, cyber security, data mining, nanotechnology, innovation, and management science. He holds degrees in physics, mathematics, and the history of science, has published a book and a TED Ed video on "Young Einstein: From the Doxerl Affair to the Miracle Year," and has had over 30,000 students worldwide enroll in his online course on the special theory of relativity (this course!).

Welcome to this Big History course! In this course, renowned scientists and scholars from the University of Amsterdam and beyond will take you on a journey from the Big Bang until today while addressing key questions in their fields. After completing this journey you will have developed a better understanding of how you and everything around you became the way they are today. You will also have gained an understanding of the underlying mechanisms that have helped shape the history of everything and how they wil help shape the future. Last but not least, you will have developed the skill to use this knowledge to put smaller subjects into a bigger perspective with the aid of the little big history approach, which can help you develop some new ideas on these smaller subjects.

This course trains you in the skills needed to program specific orientation and achieve precise aiming goals for spacecraft moving through three dimensional space. First, we cover stability definitions of nonlinear dynamical systems, covering the difference between local and global stability. We then analyze and apply Lyapunov's Direct Method to prove these stability properties, and develop a nonlinear 3-axis attitude pointing control law using Lyapunov theory. Finally, we look at alternate feedback control laws and closed loop dynamics. After this course, you will be able to... * Differentiate between a range of nonlinear stability concepts * Apply Lyapunov’s direct method to argue stability and convergence on a range of dynamical systems * Develop rate and attitude error measures for a 3-axis attitude control using Lyapunov theory * Analyze rigid body control convergence with unmodeled torque

This course introduces you to subatomic physics, i.e. the physics of nuclei and particles. More specifically, the following questions are addressed: - What are the concepts of particle physics and how are they implemented? - What are the properties of atomic nuclei and how can one use them? - How does one accelerate and detect particles and measure their properties? - What does one learn from particle reactions at high energies and particle decays? - How do electromagnetic interactions work and how can one use them? - How do strong interactions work and why are they difficult to understand? - How do weak interactions work and why are they so special? - What is the mass of objects at the subatomic level and how does the Higgs boson intervene? - How does one search for new phenomena beyond the known ones? - What can one learn from particle physics concerning astrophysics and the Universe as a whole? The course is structured in eight modules. Following the first one which introduces our subject, the modules 2 (nuclear physics) and 3 (accelerators and detectors) are rather self contained and can be studied separately. The modules 4 to 6 go into more depth about matter and forces as described by the standard model of particle physics. Module 7 deals with our ways to search for new phenomena. And the last module introduces you to two mysterious components of the Universe, namely Dark Matter and Dark Energy.

A total eclipse is one of the most spectacular sights you can ever see! It looks like the end of the world may be at hand. There is a black hole in the sky where the sun should be. Pink flames of solar prominences and long silver streamers of the sun's corona stretch across the sky. It gets cold, and animals do strange things. People scream and shout and cheer, and remember the experience their whole life. But total eclipses are important scientifically as well. They let us see parts of the sun’s atmosphere that are otherwise invisible. A total eclipse presented the first chance to test Einstein’s prediction that matter can bend space – like near a black hole. The best total eclipse in the United States in 40 years happens August 21st, 2017. This course has two primary goals: 1) to get you excited for the total solar eclipse coming in August 2017 and prepare you and your community to safely view it 2) to provide an inviting overview of the science of the sun and the physics of light If you are most interested in preparing for the eclipse, you can hop right into Week 5! If you want the full course experience, and to get some fun scientific context for what you'll be seeing on August 21st, start with Week 1 and move through the course week by week! [Note: if you start with Week 1, you can skip through some of the repeated material once you get to Week 5.] Overall this course will prepare you to... * Safely view the total or partial solar eclipse * Help others watch safely and even make money by leading a “neighborhood watch” of the eclipse * Review fundamental sun science, including the physics of light, how astronomers study the sun, how it formed, how we know what’s inside it, and where the energy that supports life on earth is generated