{"id":16893,"date":"2020-03-10T10:55:49","date_gmt":"2020-03-10T10:55:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/?p=16893"},"modified":"2023-06-08T18:27:06","modified_gmt":"2023-06-08T18:27:06","slug":"ligo-comic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2020\/03\/10\/ligo-comic","title":{"rendered":"Gravitational wave science finds a home in comics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Comic
Character representing Joey Key. Courtesy image<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By N.L. Sweeney
First popularized in the United States in the 1930s, comics have a long history of engaging the public. Whether in the daily funnies, in a superhero story or in a political cartoon, this mixed medium provides entertainment for young and old alike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All fun aside, comics have also been used since their early days as a form of educational outreach. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joey Shapiro Key<\/a>, assistant professor in the School of STEM<\/a> at the University of Washington Bothell, is following in this tradition by collaborating on a comic book about physics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sharing the research <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Joey
Joey Key<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSpectra: Super Special\u201d<\/a> is the unofficial 11th publication in a 10-book series written by Rebecca Thompson (herself a physicist) and published by the American Physics Society. The artists for this issue are Scott Arnold and Roel Torres.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sporting the UW Bothell logo, this particular edition features Key\u2019s research with the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory<\/a>. LIGO, one of the largest and most ambitious projects funded by the National Science Foundation, engages more than 1,000 scientists to detect gravitational waves using lasers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

LIGO has installations in both Livingston, Louisiana, and Hanford, Washington. In 2015, the scientists used the LIGO facilities and laser technology to identify the convergence of two black holes, which matched predictions of Einstein\u2019s general relativity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key\u2019s hope with the new comic book is to expand the audience for the important work happening through LIGO. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cArtists have ways to communicate that many scientists don\u2019t,\u201d said Key. \u201cThat\u2019s why collaborations like this are so important.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Assembling the team <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Spectra
The UW Bothell LIGO edition of Spectra. Courtesy image<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In addition to her research and teaching at UW Bothell, Key serves as a data analyst for LIGO, for which she received a $400,000 National Science Foundation CAREER award this year. At LIGO, she leads research into methods of analysis. Currently, she and her team are working on identifying and analyzing data they want to use to measure supernovae, which are stellar explosions. (Yes, the explosions play a role in the comic book).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was through this work that she met Thompson at an American Physics Society event. Thompson was doing outreach for the APS, through which the \u201cSpectra\u201d comics series originally came to be. Finishing at 10 books, the series tells the story of a high school student who discovers she has the ability to become, create and control lasers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt seemed like a very natural collaboration,\u201d said Key. \u201cI told her, \u2018You have a comic about a laser superhero, and we have a tool that uses laser technology for astronomical measurements. We should work together.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To help fund the comic, Key received a grant from the UW Royalty Research Fund, which reinvests money gained from inventions. With these funds, Key was able to pay the comic book\u2019s creative team and print copies of the finished product to share. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friendly global outreach <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This is the first time LIGO has been featured in a comic book, Key believes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Normally, LIGO staff publish research papers and profiles of scientists, and host or attend a variety of science events. They also on occasion participate in artistic projects, including a blackhole sound installation, a multimedia theater event and the \u201cABCs of LIGO,\u201d a picture book of terms related to LIGO research. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All these efforts help increase scientific literacy and excitement about future discoveries. \u201cBut it\u2019s easy for us scientists to get caught in our own bubbles,\u201d said Key. \u201cWith a project like LIGO, outreach is a necessity. That\u2019s why the \u2018Spectra\u2019 collaboration is so important.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the earliest data collected in 2002, LIGO is a multi-generational project, and Key is hopeful the LIGO edition of \u201cSpectra\u201d will help expand interest in the ongoing work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have to find ways to train our successors and excite them the same way we were when we first started our work here,\u201d she said. \u201cWe can\u2019t do it alone.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re looking for a copy of the \u201cSpectra\u201d comic, a limited number of free print copies will be available in UW Bothell\u2019s gravitational wave astronomy discovery space (Discovery Hall 256). You can also look at the digital version PDF on the Physics Central website. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An educational comic about the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory has a character inspired by Joey Key, a member of the LIGO team and an assistant professor in the School of STEM.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_is_archived":false,"_archived_contact_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[202,218,229,214],"tags":[],"school":[421],"class_list":["post-16893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-campus-news","category-community-engagement","category-faculty","category-research","school-school-of-stem"],"acf":{"related_links":{"toggle_visibility":false,"link_1":null,"link_2":null,"link_3":null,"link_4":null,"link_5":null},"highlight_box":{"toggle_visibility":false,"title":"","content":"","button":null,"button_style":"angled-purple-button","button_screen_reader_text":""},"contact_type_1":{"toggle_visibility":true,"contact_title":"","email":"","phone":"","box":"","address_line_1":"","address_line_2":"","location":""},"contact_type_2":{"toggle_visibility":false,"contact_title":"","email":"","phone":"","box":"","address_line_1":"","address_line_2":"","location":""},"social_media":{"toggle_visibility":false,"facebook_url":"","instagram_url":"","linkedin_url":"","twitter_url":"","youtube_url":""},"blog_archive_sidebar_visibility":false},"yoast_head":"\nGravitational wave science finds a home in comics - News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2020\/03\/10\/ligo-comic\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gravitational wave science finds a home in comics - News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An educational comic about the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory has a character inspired by Joey Key, a member of the LIGO team and an assistant professor in the School of STEM.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2020\/03\/10\/ligo-comic\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-03-10T10:55:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-06-08T18:27:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2020\/03\/10\/ligo-comic#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2020\/03\/10\/ligo-comic\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Gravitational wave science finds a home in comics\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-03-10T10:55:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-06-08T18:27:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2020\/03\/10\/ligo-comic\"},\"wordCount\":709,\"articleSection\":[\"Campus News\",\"Community Engagement\",\"Faculty\",\"Research\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2020\/03\/10\/ligo-comic\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2020\/03\/10\/ligo-comic\",\"name\":\"Gravitational wave science finds a home in comics - News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-03-10T10:55:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-06-08T18:27:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2020\/03\/10\/ligo-comic#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2020\/03\/10\/ligo-comic\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2020\/03\/10\/ligo-comic#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Gravitational wave science finds a home in comics\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/\",\"name\":\"News\",\"description\":\"Just another UW Bothell site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/author\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Gravitational wave science finds a home in comics - News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2020\/03\/10\/ligo-comic","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Gravitational wave science finds a home in comics - News","og_description":"An educational comic about the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory has a character inspired by Joey Key, a member of the LIGO team and an assistant professor in the School of STEM.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2020\/03\/10\/ligo-comic","og_site_name":"News","article_published_time":"2020-03-10T10:55:49+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-06-08T18:27:06+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2020\/03\/10\/ligo-comic#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2020\/03\/10\/ligo-comic"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Gravitational wave science finds a home in comics","datePublished":"2020-03-10T10:55:49+00:00","dateModified":"2023-06-08T18:27:06+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2020\/03\/10\/ligo-comic"},"wordCount":709,"articleSection":["Campus News","Community Engagement","Faculty","Research"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2020\/03\/10\/ligo-comic","url":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2020\/03\/10\/ligo-comic","name":"Gravitational wave science finds a home in comics - News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-03-10T10:55:49+00:00","dateModified":"2023-06-08T18:27:06+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2020\/03\/10\/ligo-comic#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2020\/03\/10\/ligo-comic"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2020\/03\/10\/ligo-comic#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Gravitational wave science finds a home in comics"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/","name":"News","description":"Just another UW Bothell site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"","url":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/author"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16893"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16893\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26171,"href":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16893\/revisions\/26171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16893"},{"taxonomy":"school","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/school?post=16893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}