Adam Frank

Adam Frank

Astrophysicist

adam frank

Adam Frank is a professor of astrophysics at the University of Rochester and a leading expert on the final stages of evolution for stars like the sun. Frank's computational research group at the University of Rochester has developed advanced supercomputer tools for studying how stars form and how they die. A self-described “evangelist of science," he is the author of four books and the co-founder of 13.8, where he explores the beauty and power of science in culture with physicist Marcelo Gleiser.

artemis
It is humanity's biggest step yet into the Solar System.
time
You are trapped in time. You never live in the world as it is but only as you experience it as it was.
good night oppy
Thanks to a couple of rovers, we know Mars was once blue.
The “scientific Buddha” and the idea of Buddhist exceptionalism with regard to science are modern creations.
sean carroll
"Even with my training, I still got insights from the book’s descriptions. That’s how good Carroll is at explaining physics."
rubble pile
Most asteroids aren't what you think they are.
Einstein always loses in the quantum realm.
biomass
Since our arrival, humans have driven a seven-fold drop in the mass of wild land mammals.
aliens
One book will gather all topics on the search for life in the Cosmos.
combustion
Oxygen isn't strictly necessary for combustion, but it is ideal. Any advanced (alien) civilization probably uses oxygen to burn things.
Could anyone still meet the Theoretical Minimum?
Reframing life in terms of death reveals some of the biggest philosophical problems with how we think about living systems.
What we call "basic research" is actually the most cutting-edge. It underpins knowledge, and without it, technology does not come into being.
lasers
Lasers are all around you. This ubiquitous technology came from our understanding of quantum physics.
stars die
Like humans, stars die. The James Webb Space Telescope's early images already give us a lot of information about how this happens.
sacred
Science and the sacred both allow us to retain our sense of wonder, even as disaster seems to swirl around us.
multiverse
Quite a lot, actually, even though it has no identifiable value as a scientific concept.
climate change
Any alien civilization that grows to span an entire planet would spark the same effects that we have. So, what do we do about it?