Imagery that Moves Planets and People August 21, 2023 Share A glowing dot passes behind a blackened circle and reappears on the other side. Four luminous pin pricks orbit a dark central body. These moving images are not models. They are real exoplanets: directly observed, recorded, and time-lapsed, inviting people around the world to glimpse distant solar systems and their dynamics over more than a decade—in just seconds.
Science Program Director Dr. Cyndi Atherton Appointed to National Academies’ Climate Crossroads Advisory Committee August 3, 2023 Share Heising-Simons Foundation Science Program Director Dr. Cyndi Atherton has been appointed to the inaugural advisory committee of Climate Crossroads, a new climate initiative of grantee partner the National Academies. Climate Crossroads will focus on key pathways to tackle the climate crisis. “The National Academies are committed to marshaling the deep and broad expertise that this …
Heising-Simons Foundation Funds Six Scientists Looking for Signatures of Life in the Universe July 14, 2023 Share The Heising-Simons Foundation’s Science program has made a suite of grants totaling $550,000 to support six exoplanet scientists working on projects that originated in a Scialog program entitled “Signatures of Life in the Universe,” convened by Research Corporation for Science Advancement.
Science Program Director Cyndi Atherton to Moderate Climate Crossroads Summit Panel July 7, 2023 Share Science Program Director Dr. Cyndi Atherton will moderate the Pathways to Climate Action panel session at The National Academies’ Climate Crossroads Summit on July 11. The National Academies’ Climate Crossroads Summit will bring together leaders spanning the breadth of expertise for a vibrant discussion about how to catalyze action among a diverse range of stakeholders …
51 Pegasi b Fellow Discovers First Extrasolar Radiation Belt: Q&A with Dr. Melodie Kao June 13, 2023 Share A team of scientists led by Dr. Melodie Kao, a 51 Pegasi b postdoctoral fellow based at the University of California, Santa Cruz, has discovered the first extra-solar radiation belt, a zone of energetic charged particles that are captured by and held around a planet by that planet’s magnetosphere. See below for a Q&A with …
Solving the Astrophysical N-body Problem More Efficiently May 26, 2023 Share A new algorithm developed by a grantee of the Foundation’s Science program has the potential to trace the evolution of large astrophysical systems, such as galaxies, planetary systems, or clusters of stars.
1400 Degrees: Exploring the Universe of Materials with Nadya Mason May 2, 2023 Share “Condensed matter is the physics of stuff. We’re surrounded by wood, metal, and electronics that we take for granted. But we should be wondering more about materials. Why does a metal conduct electricity? Is it the little dudes running from one end to another?” Dr. Nadya Mason Dr. Nadya Mason, a condensed matter physicist who …
The First Detection of Neutrinos at a Particle Collider April 11, 2023 Share The FASER (Forward Search Experiment) collaboration, which searches for light and extremely weak interacting particles, has announced the discovery of neutrinos (subatomic particles) produced at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.
Announcing the 2023 Class of 51 Pegasi b Fellows March 30, 2023 Share We are pleased to announce the 2023 recipients of the 51 Pegasi b Fellowship. The eight Fellows were selected based on their outstanding research achievements, innovative research plans, and potential to impact the field of planetary astronomy. Fellows were also selected based on their commitment to and plans for advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in planetary astronomy.