Dr Becky Smethurst: Astrophysicist, Blackhole Obsessive and Science Communicator

Dr Becky Smethurst is an astrophysics researcher who is trying to understand the connection between galaxies and their central supermassive black holes in the local Universe. In particular Dr Becky focus's on the non-merger driven growth of supermassive black holes and the resultant feedback effects on their host galaxies! In this episode, Ben and Dr Becky discuss the misconceptions about black holes, spaghettification and will humanity ever traverse a black hole?! OUTLINE: Here's approximate timestamps for the episode. 00:00 Intro to Dr Becky Smethurst 01:12 Post Conference vibes  02:08 Dr Becky's passion for space 05:01 Ability to communicate the science 06:40 Science communication 09:07 A brief history of black holes (out now on paperback https://www.amazon.co.uk/Brief-History-Black-Holes-everything/dp/1529086744/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=) 11:37 Spaghettification  15:15 Being "Beyond the event horizon" 18:01 The ultimate mystery! 19:02 The James Webb Space Telescope - recent revelations 22:55 Does/could AI effect Dr Becky's research? 26:22 Could humanity survive a black hole? 28:30 Dr Becky's hobbies 29:24 Wrap Up and Socials Follow Dr Becky Smethurst X: @drbecky_ Instagram: www.instagram.com/drbecky_s Website: https://rebeccasmethurst.co.uk Stay connected with us! Use #Astroben across various social media platforms to engage with us! (NEW - YOUTUBE): www.youtube.com/@astrobenpodcast Website: www.astroben.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/astrobenpodcast/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/Gambleonit LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/astrobenpodcast/