Advancing the Frontiers of Astronomy and Cosmology

New Frontiers in Astronomy and Cosmology at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia

Breakthroughs in astronomy and cosmology often occur when someone is inspired to look at a problem in a different way. This was the case for dark matter, dark energy, the multiverse, and even the Big Bang. But it is difficult to nurture such imaginative leaps because they are rare and, by definition, often unexpected. It is also very hard to secure the funding required to rigorously investigate and test such new ideas.

One approach is to bring together scientists with deep insights, researchers, and young students with unbounded imaginations and allow them to ponder the big questions. This strategy is at the heart of the New Frontiers in Astronomy and Cosmology, an international project launched by the University of Chicago and funded by a three-year, $5.6 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation.

More than $4 million in New Frontiers research grants has been awarded to 20 scientists working on non-mainstream proposals with the potential to expand the boundaries of scientific inquiry. Coupled to that, more than $200,000 has been offered to 21 high school and college students who are the winners of the New Frontiers essay competition. The grants and prizes were presented at a conference in mid-October at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. It brought together a number of distinguished scientists alongside the grant and student winners. “It was an opportunity to celebrate the awards and prizes, but it was more than that too,” explains Donald G. York, the program director and Horace B. Horton Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Chicago. “It encouraged students and scientists from across the generations to engage with one another so as to fire minds, refine ideas and kindle aspirations.”

To that end, the agenda for the weekend was not rushed. And yet, York was not sure it would work until the participants were actually mingling together. But it did work, well beyond expectations. “Right from the start the mood was to interact, to engage,” continues York. “It was a joy to be part of.”

The winners of the research grants will investigate four big questions: what was the earliest state of the universe; is the observable universe part of a much larger multiverse; what is the origin of complexity in the universe; and is there other life and intelligence beyond the solar system?

The essay prizes were awarded to college students writing on the origin of complexity in the universe and to high school students exploring the topic of whether there might be life and intelligence beyond the solar system. “I was genuinely astonished by the standard of writing,” says George Musser, contributing editor at Scientific American who helped present the prizes. “They were a pleasure to read.”

New Frontiers college essay winners

The college essay winner was Yong Wei Chong Gabrielle of Wellesley College, for “A Letter to My Dearest Newborn Baby Brother.” Her writing spoke powerfully of the incomprehensible intricacies of the cosmos that nonetheless convey a sense of profound beauty. The high school essay winner was Zequn Li of the Charter School of Wilmington, for “Speaking of Stars.” He wrote about the failure, so far, to detect extraterrestrial life as “a quiet urging to think, work and unite, and find the answers to the hard questions for ourselves.”

The conference included a public lecture given by Brian Greene, professor of physics and mathematics at Columbia University, entitled “Beyond the Big Bang: In Search of Cosmic Origins.” The lecture was followed by a panel discussion, moderated by 2004 Templeton Prize Laureate George Ellis, with four grant winners—David Spergel from Princeton University, Alexander Vilenkin from Tufts University, Marcelo Gleiser from Dartmouth College, and Geoffrey Marcy from the University of California, Berkeley. Two other Templeton Prize winners, Paul Davies and Charles Townes, also took part in the weekend. A total of eight Templeton Prize Laureates acted as honorary advisors to the overall project.

“By hearing practicing scientists engaged in the battle of ideas, students gain a sense that science is not about arriving at fixed solutions to problems but is about reaching out to ask better and better questions,” explains York. “They learn that big, bold ideas that might have been deemed ‘crazy’ when first proposed can become very important further down the line.”

New Frontiers in Astronomy and Cosmology celebrates and advances the vision of Sir John Templeton in the year that marks the 100th anniversary of his birth, the 40th anniversary of the Templeton Prize, and the 25th anniversary of the Foundation. “For Sir John, astronomy and cosmology exemplify what he called ‘the Humble Approach’ as they have constantly reminded us of the smallness of our place in the universe and the needs for our imaginative investigation of the vast seen and unseen realities,” explains Ayako Fukui, program officer at the Foundation.

Request for Proposals Sought in the Physics of Information

A new request for proposals for rigorous research on the physics of information is now being offered by the Foundational Questions Institute (FQXi). Grants totaling about $3 million will be available to researchers in academic and other non-profit institutions worldwide for projects up to two years in duration. The initial proposals are due by January 16, 2013, and the full proposals should be completed by the end of April 2013. Full information is available online.

Contemporary developments in information theory and computer science are driving an explosion of research at the interface of physics and information. However, important questions need to be addressed concerning the fundamental nature of information. Also, it is often unclear whether different researchers are working on the same fundamental entities. The research funded by FQXi will address the gap between the substantial technological progress being made in information science and the study of the physical nature of information.

FQXi, which was supported by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation, is a non-profit organization that aims to support, catalyze, and disseminate research in areas that deepen our understanding of physical reality. Since 2006, FQXi has awarded over $7.6 million in grants to researchers and outreach specialists, within the US and internationally, focused on foundational questions.

Researching Feelings of Guilt

How guilty would you feel about your behavior if you did something wrong, even if no one knew about it? If you answered a lot, chances are you are high in guilt proneness.

Guilt proneness is a disposition to anticipate negative feelings before a perceived offense is committed. New research shows that individuals with this character trait have a keen sense of conscience. They differ from those who moderate their behavior only because they fear being shamed or caught out.

Guilt proneness also seems to be associated with other personality characteristics, such as sympathy, empathy, contemplating the consequences of behavior, and valuing morality. Further, women appear to show it more than men, and older adults more than younger adults.

The research was conducted by Taya Cohen and Nazli Turan of Carnegie Mellon University and A.T. Panter of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Their work was recently published in Current Directions in Psychological Science and was supported by the Character Project at Wake Forest University, an initiative funded by the John Templeton Foundation.