WA astrophysicist Jean-Pierre Macquart dies after solving decades-long riddle on how to weigh the universe

Vale star watcher The universe is holding on to its secrets a little tighter after the passing this week of a Curtin University astrophysicist who devoted his life to unravelling its greatest mysteries. Associate Professor Jean-Pierre Macquart, from the Curtin University node of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research, died on Tuesday after a short hospitalisation. Inside Cover spoke to J-P just two weeks ago regarding his groundbreaking use of radio telescopes in outback WA to solve a decades-long riddle of where all the matter in the universe was hiding. Professor Steven Tingay, executive director of the Curtin Institute of Radio Astronomy, has worked with Macquart for years and described the discovery as the “peak” of the “exceptional” scientist’s research career. “This is one of the biggest results in astrophysics in recent years and was likely to be the first of many big results in a field of research J-P helped pioneer, using bright flashes of radio waves from distant galaxies to probe the properties of the universe,” Professor Tingay told IC. What we liked best about J-P’s breakthrough was that he predicted it in an interview with us back in 2017, before the CSIRO-run ASKAP radio telescope was even fully functional. “ASKAP will enable us to weigh the universe,” he promised. Not only did he deliver on that promise, J-P always made himself available whenever we had other questions about the cosmos, and he always played along when we required a colourful analogy to help make sense of brain-meltingly complex concepts. “He loved doing pen-and-paper calculations, having robust scientific discussions with colleagues, and teaching his students,” Professor Tingay said. “He was a brilliant person with a satirical sense of humour, and a passion and excitement for his work. He is a great loss to science in WA.” Macquart, a great friend to many, who was renowned as a kind person and devoted family man, is survived by wife Sherine, and two children. “The deeper you go into this business, you realise how little we actually know about the universe,” J-P once told us. We have no doubt he was right but can’t help but think the universe is that much more unknowable without him in it. COVID silver linings West Aussies seem pretty stoked the Phase 3 easing of the McGowan Government’s COVID-19 restrictions has us almost back to normality. However, a new survey from Bankwest has revealed many people were able to find positives in the past few months of coronavirus lockdown. In fact, nine out of 10 respondents were able to find a silver lining in the pandemic. Nearly half of women respondents said they felt less social guilt during the lockdown and one in four said the enforced slowdown meant they had less occasion to wear make-up, which resulted in an improved complexion. Meanwhile, the majority of parents (59 per cent) claimed the biggest positive impact of COVID lockdown was the opportunity to spend more time with their kids. The positives were less, umm, positive when it came to the blokes. Only a quarter of male respondents enjoyed spending more time with their partner, which was roughly the same percentage that enjoyed spending their iso time gardening or being alone. Ground-breaking find Years from now, we might look back and scoff at geologists who believed the process of plate tectonics commenced on Earth 800 million years ago. “Everyone knows it was at least 3.2 billion years ago,” we’ll laugh. Just remember this feeling of superiority was made possible by a discovery released yesterday by a team of scientists from Curtin University’s Earth Dynamics Research Group. The team examined about 6000 rocks derived from Earth’s mantle to determine at what point in the planet’s history its innards were first stirred up by tectonic activity. “For the first time, we were able to demonstrate that a significant shift in mantle composition started around 3.2 billion years ago ... which we believe shows the start of global plate tectonic activity,” lead researcher and PhD candidate Hamed Gamal El Dien said. Not only did plate tectonics make Earth the paradise for life it is today, it is responsible for creating the minerals that underpin the WA economy and the energy powering our homes. So, figuring out when it started is no small accomplishment, and provides a valuable jumping off point for future research into the dynamic evolution of our planet. Read the full paper in Nature’s Scientific Reports journal.