Scientific Sense ®

The Occurrence and Architecture of Exoplanetary Systems, Doppler and Transit Surveys, Kepler-78, Ultra-Short-Period Planets, and hot Jupiters Dr. Josh Winn is a physicist and astronomer at Princeton University.  His research goals are to explore the properties of planets around other stars, understand how planets form and evolve, and make progress on the age-old question of whether there are other planets capable of supporting life.  His group uses optical telescopes to study exoplanetary systems, especially those in which the star and planet eclipse one another.

The complex development of the human brain, Interneuron Types as Attractors and Controllers, Developmental diversification of cortical inhibitory interneurons, and A viral strategy for targeting and manipulating interneurons across vertebrate species Prof. Gordon Fishell is a professor of Neurobiology at Harvard Medical School and the Stanley Center at the Broad Institute.  He is a developmental neurobiologist interested in how the architecture of brain circuits are assembled, with a special focus on the diverse populations of inhibitory interneurons.

Red giant masses and ages derived from carbon and nitrogen abundances, Spectroscopic determination of masses for red giants, Young alpha-enriched giant stars in the solar neighborhood, and Dynamical heating across the Milky Way disc. Prof. Marc Pinsonneault is a theorist on the structure and evolution of stars at Ohio State University. His research interests range from the microphysics of stellar models, including composition, energy, and angular momentum transport mechanisms, to the observed properties of stars. An element of his current research is the use of astroseismological data from the Kepler space mission, in combination with APOGEE and other spectroscopic surveys, to obtain novel constraints on stellar physics, stellar populations, and the chemical evolution of the Milky Way.

The world is running out of energy in 100 years, Large-Scale Computation using Astronomical Resources, and the future of Artificial Intelligence. Prof. Gregory Laughlin is a professor of astronomy and astrophysics at Yale University. He is interested in hydrodynamic simulations, the characterization of extrasolar planets, and planet-forming environments as well as the far future of the universe. He has done research on a variety of topics, including star formation, extrasolar planets, and interstellar objects. With Fred Adams, he is the author of The Five Ages of the Universe

The New Horizons Mission to Pluto, the Juno Mission to Jupiter: What have we learned and what's in store? Prof. Fran Bagenal is a Professor of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder and a researcher in the fields of space plasmas and planetary magnetospheres. Her career spans involvement in the exploration of the outer solar system with NASA’s Voyager, Galileo, New Horizons, and Juno missions.

Bayesian analysis of the astrobiological implications of life’s early emergence on Earth,  A Possible Spectroscopic Biosignature of Extraterrestrial Plants, and Characterization of extrasolar terrestrial planets from diurnal photometric variability Prof. Edwin Turner is a Professor of Astrophysical Sciences at Princeton University. He also serves as Co-Chair of the NAOJ-Princeton Astrophysics Collaboration Council (N-PACC). He has carried out extensive astronomical observations at Mt. Palomar Observatory, Kitt Peak National Observatory, NRAO's Very Large Array, Apache Point Observatory, the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan’s Subaru Telescope, and with the Hubble Space Telescope.

Algorithms and Artificial Intelligence,  definitions, origin, progress, problems, and the future. Dr. Chris Bleakley is an Associate Professor and Head of the School of Computer Science at University College Dublin (UCD), Ireland. Chris leads a research group focused on inventing novel algorithms for analyzing real-world sensor data. His latest book ‘Poems that Solve Puzzles: The History and Science of Algorithms tell the story of how algorithms came to revolutionize our modern computerized world.

Qatar, a great field experiment in understanding factors affecting COVID incidence rates, mortality, herd immunity, testing, reinfection, and vaccination and forming policies for the future. Laith Abu-Raddad is a Professor of Population Health Sciences at Cornell University in Qatar. He is also the director of the WHO Collaborating Center for Disease Analytics on HIV, Sexually Transmitted Infections, and Viral Hepatitis. Previously he held academic and research positions at the University of Washington, Imperial College London, and Osaka University.

Phage Therapy: A Renewed Approach to Combat Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria, Prisoner's dilemma in an RNA virus, Virus population extinction via ecological traps, and Dynamics of molecular evolution in RNA virus populations depend on sudden versus gradual environmental change Prof. Paul Turner is a Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Yale University and a Microbiology faculty member at Yale School of Medicine. He studies evolutionary genetics of viruses, particularly phages that infect bacterial pathogens, and RNA viruses transmitted by arthropods. Paul’s honors include Fellowship in the National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts & Sciences, and American Academy of Microbiology.

Love, Money, and Parenting: How economics can help explain how we raise our kids today, Women's Employment in a Pandemic Recession, and Why has the college wage premium risen rapidly in the US, but not in European economies such as Germany? Prof. Matthias Doepke is a Research Professor in the Department of Economics at Northwestern University. His research spans many areas including parenting, inequality, and their economic effects on society.