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NEWS
Happy independence day!
Jul 4, 2008
Happy 4th to our U.S. readers. To others, don't feel bad - independence is great, but collaboration is also fun: see this week's article on the work by John Barrett and Louis Crane
A Different End?
Jun 13, 2008
FQXi Members Fred Adams and Greg Laughlin, the collaborative team at the heart of this week's article, will have to account for dark energy, as discussed in this New York Times article, in the next version of their book, The Five Ages of the Universe.
Happy Birthday FQXi Community Page!
May 30, 2008
One year ago, FQXi launched this Com- munity website to share our excitement about physics and cos- mology with you! In that year, we have been astonished by the terr- ific reaction we have received, and so with your support, today we begin our second year with great new articles on Collaborations.
The first article, by sci- ence writer and blogger Kate Becker, smashes the myth of the "lone genius" and shows us that a hallmark of modern science is the collaboration. True, Fotini Markopoulou was recently named by Discover as a potent- ial new Einstein, but her collaborations have been pretty fruitful too.
As have ours. So, as we plan a summer of new Community feat- ures, we would like to hear your thoughts. Please submit your constructive suggest- ions on how we might improve.
And, on behalf of the FQXi family, I would like to thank every writer and blogger, every scientist and reader, who has, or will, colla- borate with us to make our Community page such a wild success. Have some cake on us!
Kirsten A. Hubbard, FQXi Community Editor
A Note From the Editor
Apr 18, 2008
Since January, FQXi has featured articles on foundational questions generated at our Iceland Conference. To celebrate the amazing work of our writers and the generous contributions of our Members featured in the articles, FQXi will take a look back at some of our favorites from this series, including the two articles with the most number of hits. We are unable to highlight all of the articles (a complete list is here), but we would like to extend our gratitude to the writers and Members for their time, energy, and talent. And stay tuned: a new series begins in May!
The Last Titan
Apr 15, 2008
FQXi is deeply saddened by the loss of John A. Wheeler, a giant astride twentieth-century physics and cosmology, whose influence reached to every corner of the fields we investigate, from black holes to quantum mechanics to general relativity. Our thoughts are with his family.
Dooms-Week: Saying Goodbye
Apr 11, 2008
Here is a lovely remembrance of recently departed Arthur C. Clarke, who among other contributions, looked at the dark side of space science, including the indelible 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Dooms-Week Part III
Apr 4, 2008
Here's an article taking a closer look at one of our doomsday scenarios: being incinerated by our own Sun.
Dooms-Week Part II
Mar 31, 2008
Check out this article in the NY Times that describes another freaky, improbable way to go!
Editor's Note: Welcome to Dooms-Week!
Mar 28, 2008
In honor of the upcoming April Fool's Day, FQXi is proud to present "Dooms-Week": An in-depth look at scary -- if extremely improbable -- ways that we could go. Check out our article, a post by blogger William Orem, another post by Associate Scientific Director Anthony Aguirre, and related post on the blog of the article's author, Kate Becker. We are also thankful to for artwork provided by Ron Miller, of Black Cat Studios. Screenwriters, start your engines!
But You Look So Young!
Mar 21, 2008
Newly refined measurements pin the age of the universe at 13.73 billion years (see article). Great baby pictures!
Happy Birthday Andrei!
Mar 14, 2008
FQXi wishes FQXi Member Andrei Linde the happiest 60th birthday, and invites you to check out the party!
Universal Quantum Mechanics
Mar 7, 2008
FQXi Awardee Steven B. Giddings recently published a paper outlining a quantum mechanical framework capable of incorporating gravitational phenomena, in which space and time may only emerge approximately and relationally. Far out!
Meet the Neighbors
Feb 29, 2008
FQXi Member Laura Mersini-Houghton recently completed a radio interview describing her conjecture that astronomers have discovered the first signs of a nearby universe. Welcome to the neighborhood!
Bohm Bohm-Bohm Bohm Boooohm!
Feb 22, 2008
FQXi highlights the recent work of Awardee Roderich Tumulka on extending Bohmian mechanics by defining Bohm-like trajectories for (one or more) quantum particles in a curved background space-time containing a singularity. Wow!
Internal Relations
Feb 15, 2008
Congratulations to FQXi Awardee Olaf Dreyer for his recent paper on "internal relativity," his approach to the problem of quantum gravity in which spacetime and matter are united. Great work!
Jumpy
Feb 8, 2008
Look for a third recent article in the New York Times with quotes from many FQXi Members, this time related to the upcoming time-travel movie, Jumper.
The Interior Problem
Feb 1, 2008
FQXi is pleased to recognize the recent work of Awardees Jorge Pullin and Rodolfo Gambini on loop quantization of spherically symmetric midi-superspaces. Super!
Dimensional Duality
Jan 25, 2008
FQXi highlights the recent work of Scientific Advisory Panelist Eva Silverstein and colleagues showing that under certain conditions, string theory on a compact negatively curved manifold grows new effective dimensions as the space shrinks. Way to go!
Hello Overbye!
Jan 18, 2008
FQXi recognizes another recent article in the New York Times quoting many of our Members. If you could name a body part after a famous physicist, what would it be? (Keep it clean, folks!)
Law-yers
Jan 11, 2008
FQXi notes a recent article in the New York Times with quotes from many of our Members. What's your T-shirt law?
New Year, New Ideas!
Jan 4, 2008
FQXi is excited to present, starting with today's first installment on Dark Energy, a new series of articles inspired by the group discussions at our recent Iceland Conference. For each topic in the series, a group of FQXi Awardees, Members, and others brainstormed today's most interesting Foundational Questions, such as "What Is Dark Energy?" The answers may surprise you, so check in every Friday!
A Note from the Editor
Dec 7, 2007
Over the summer and fall, FQXi profiled all 30 of our 2006 Awardees on our Community webpage. This exciting series has received more attention than we hoped, with each article getting hundreds, even thousands, of hits.
To celebrate the amazing work of our writers and the generous contributions of our Awardees, this month FQXi will take a look back at four favorites: two "Editor's Choice" and two with the most number of hits. Because there are only four publication days in December, we are unable to highlight all of the articles (a complete list is here), but we would like to extend our gratitude to the writers and Awardees for their time, energy, and talent. And stay tuned: a new series begins in January!
Taking Science on Faith
Nov 30, 2007
FQXi notes an op-ed article in the New York Times by Member Paul Davies, in which he considers the nature of belief in scientific endeavor. Nice work!
Tick Tock Atomic Clock
Nov 16, 2007
FQXi recognizes the conference "Atomic Clocks and Fundamental Constants," organized by FQXi Member and Awardee Ekkehard Peik, which took place this past June. Great work!
Simply Perfect
Nov 9, 2007
Congratulations to A. Garrett Lisi, FQXi Member and Blogger, for the recent publication of his magnum opus, An Exceptionally Simple Theory of Everything. Guess the surfboard paid off!
Quantum Graphity Model Introduced
Nov 2, 2007
Congratulations to FQXi Awardee Fotini Markopoulou, and colleagues FQXi Members Lee Smolin and Olaf Dreyer, for the introduction of their new Quantum Graphity Model, and subsequent papers, which may serve as a tractable model for the emergence of classical geometry in background independent models of spacetime.
Fluctuating Alpha?
Oct 26, 2007
FQXi congratulates Awardee Dmitry Budker on the imminent development of his new rf spectrometer, designed to investigate whether the physical constant alpha varies (see article). We wish Dr. Budker the best of luck!
The One Right After the Cane Toads
Oct 19, 2007
A radio interview with Max Tegmark, Anthony Aguirre, and other FQXi notables aired on The Science Show from the Australian Broadcasting Company. Go here for an audio clip of just the interview (works only on Apple computers), or here for the entire show. The FQXi interview is....
2007 FQXi Grants Competition Now Open!
Oct 15, 2007
FQXi is proud to announce its second grants program, a US$2.5M Request for Proposals, conducted in two rounds with a first due date of December 15, 2007. Please see our grants page for more information on this exciting opportunity, now open to all qualified applicants! Awardees from our 2006 Inaugural round are listed here.
The Future is Now -- If Its October 20
Oct 5, 2007
An FQXi-sponsored symposium by Multiversal Journeys (MJ) on the Future of the Universe will be held on October 20 from 10:00a - 1:30p in Chicago, IL. This event also includes the participation of FQXi Member and Awardee Fred Adams, who will show cool movies! MJ now also offers DVDs of past symposia, found here.
It's Getting Cold In Here
Sep 28, 2007
FQXi is proud to highlight the work of FQXi Member and Awardee Keith Schwab, who has recently created a unique, world-class low temperature space, also radio- and microwave-frequency and vibration shielded, for entanglement experiments to begin shortly. Brrrr!
Leifer Blogs -- and Much More!
Sep 21, 2007
FQXi is proud to highlight the blog of Member and Awardee Matthew Leifer, who is currently working to find a unified quantum analog of conditional probability and to investigate the information processing capabilities of theories more general than quantum mechanics. Keep up the good work!
Arrow of Time Points to October
Sep 14, 2007
FQXi is proud to help sponsor a debate on the Origin of Time's Arrow at the New York Academy of Sciences on October 15 and 16, conducted by FQXi Member Brian Greene of Columbia University, Laura Mersini-Houghton of UNC, and FQXi Member Justin Khoury of Perimeter Institute. Why does time seem to travel only toward the future? (Correction made October 1, 2007.)
Thank You and Warm Wishes!
Sep 7, 2007
Our Summer 2007 Intern, Anusha Pokhriyal, has returned to her graduate studies in the physics department at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. She did an incredible job, and FQXi wishes her the best of luck with her final qualifying exams!
Is Time Travel Possible? What Is The Nature Of Dark Energy?
Aug 31, 2007
An FQXi-sponsored symposium on General Relativity will be held on September 15 from 1:00 - 4:30p in Cambridge, MA. This event also includes the participation of FQXi Member and Awardee Ken Olum, speaking on plausibilty of time travel. (Spoiler alert: We advise you check out the symposium the first time around!)
What Is Mathematical Structure Of Quantum Space-Time?
Aug 24, 2007
FQXi highlights the new work of Member and Awardee Louis Crane on the Mathematical Structure of Quantum Space-Time. Crane's work builds, in part, on the work of fellow Member and Awardee Christopher Isham. Nice job Drs. Crane and Isham!
Broadcasting Our Presence To ET
Aug 16, 2007
FQXi is proud to have helped Member and Awardee Avi Loeb eavesdrop on ET! Check out a movie and radio interview with Dr. Loeb, which will soon be broadcasting our presence to ET.
More On Inaugural FQXi Conference
Aug 10, 2007
The Inaugural FQXi Conference was a hit with bloggers! Check out blog mentions at New Scientist, Cosmic Variance, Shetl-Optimized, and When in doubt, do. Thanks, bloggers; we had a great time too!
Hugh Everett III And His Many Worlds Interpretation
Aug 2, 2007
Two exciting events revisit Hugh Everett III and the fiftieth anniversary of his Many Worlds (MW) interpretation, recently featured in a Nature spread: the Everett@50 conference, held in late July and MW@50 conference, to be held in late September. We wish both conferences well!
FQXi's Inaugural Conference Concludes!
Jul 27, 2007
The FQXi 2007 Inaugural Conference was a great success! Fun was had by all -- in the Blue Lagoon spa and snowmobiling on a glacier, among other incredible locales -- and fascinating science was discussed and developed. Check back here for more details on this incredible event, including podcasts of the main talks!
FQXi's Inaugural Conference Begins!
Jul 20, 2007
FQXi is proud to announce its 2007 Inaugural Conference, convening July 21 to July 26, in Reykjavik, Iceland. Scheduled speakers include Alan Guth, Paul Davies, and Fotini Markopoulou.
Santa Barbara Gravity 2007 Workshop Successfully held!
Jul 13, 2007
Congratulations to Steven Giddings on his successful Santa Barbara Gravity 2007 workshop, on nonlocality, observables, black holes and cosmology. A wiki page, published talks, and photographs on the website attest to their fun and hard work!
From Lake Tahoe to Wiki Page
Jul 6, 2007
For Independence Day week, FQXi salutes A. Garrett Lisi, FQXi blogger, who embodies a true independent spirit by doing his FQXi-funded research from Lake Tahoe, and posting the results on his wiki page Deferential Geometry. Way to go Garrett!
It's All About Time!
Jun 29, 2007
FQXi is proud to support the outreach efforts of Farzad Nekoogar, FQXi Member, and his organization Multiversal Journeys (MJ), explaining foundational questions in physics and astronomy to laypeople. A new MJ symposium, It's About Time: The Concept of Time, Cosmology and the Latest Theory About Time, will be held at UCLA on July 29th.
FQXi- Funded Research has Two More Papers
Jun 22, 2007
Congratulations to Markus Aspelmeyer, an FQXi Member, for his two recent Nature papers, both of which are related to his FQXi-funded work!
Congratulations to FQXi Awardee!
Jun 15, 2007
Christopher Isham, an FQXi Member, with Andreas Doering, has recently published a four-part paper on "A Topos Foundation for Theories of Physics." We congratulate Isham and Doering for this immense and important effort!
Stork Delivers to Hubbard Family
Jun 8, 2007
FQXi is happy to announce the arrival of William Calvin Hubbard Lewis, first child of Kirsten A. Hubbard, Scientific Program Manager. Mom, dad and baby are resting comfortably on cloud nine. FQXi sends best wishes to her family!
FQXi website scores huge hits
Jun 1, 2007
FQXi is thrilled by the hugely positive response to our new Community website, with over 6451 hits in less than a month. Unfortunately, we have also had a large response from spammers. Please rest assured we are working on a permanent fix; but for now, if you see an inappropriate post, click on the tab "report post as inappropriate" and it will be deleted as soon as possible. We regret any inconvenience this may cause.
Foundations of Physics has a New Chief Editor
May 25, 2007
Congratulations to Gerard 't Hooft, Nobel Prize Winner and FQXi Member, recently named Chief Editor of Foundations of Physics, an international journal devoted to the conceptual bases and fundamental theories of modern physics, biophysics and cosmology.
Meet the Summer Intern
May 18, 2007
FQXi welcomes its 2007 Summer Intern, Anusha Pokhriyal, a grad student in physics at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts. Anusha has a wide range of experience in science and public speaking, and will be responsible for many aspects of FQXi administration through the summer. Say hello in Iceland - and ask her about lasers!
Davies Hits The Jackpot
May 11, 2007
Paul Davies -- Director of BEYOND at Arizona State University and FQXi Member -- follows up his best-seller "The Mind of God," with a new book, "Cosmic Jackpot: Why Our Universe is Just Right for Life," in which he argues that life plays a central role in the formation of the universe. Congratulations Paul!
Mini-Grant Winners Announced!
May 7, 2007
On May 7, FQXi announced the winners of its Inaugural Mini-Grant program on its FQXi Mini-Grant Winners page. Applications were due on April 9, 2007. For more information on this innovative program, targeted to FQXi Members, please go to the FQXi Mini-Grant page
NSF Looking at Transformational Research
May 7, 2007
According to a new report, the NSF has come to recognize possible deficiencies in their ability to fund "transformational research," and plans to take steps to improve in the future. FQXi applauds this initiative.
In Memoriam: Paul C. Lauterbur
Mar 27, 2007
FQXi is saddened by the loss of Paul C. Lauterbur, Nobel Prize Winner in Medicine and FQXi Member. Our thoughts are with his family.
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