Speakers

Lawrence M. Krauss
Life, the Universe and Nothing: The Future of Life in an Ever-Expanding Universe

The revolutionary developments of the past decade, capped by the realization that empty space probably contains most of the energy in our observable universe, has dramatically changed not only our current picture of cosmology, but also our thinking about the future. Why is the universe we appear to inhabit the worst of all possible universes, as far as considerations of the quality and quantity of life are concerned? Is life eternal in an eternally expanding universe? The answers to these questions appear to hinge on issues of basic physics, in particular on issues of quantum mechanics and computation.

Lawrence M. Krauss is the Ambrose Swasey Professor of Physics, Professor of Astronomy, and Director of the Center for Education and Research in Cosmology and Astrophysics at Case Western Reserve University. An internationally known theoretical physicist, he has investigated questions ranging from the nature of exploding stars to issues of the origin of all mass in the universe. Krauss has authored more than 200 scientific publications, seven popular books — including the international bestseller The Physics of Star Trek — and has received dozens of awards for his research and writing. One of the few prominent scientists today to have crossed the chasm between science and popular culture, Krauss lectures extensively, serves on the boards of three different science and natural history museums, and is a regular radio and television commentator and essayist for newspapers such as The New York Times. He is the only physicist to have received the highest awards given by the American Physical Society, the American Association of Physics Teachers, and the American Institute of Physics.

 

Michael S. Turner
The Dark Side of the Universe: Beyond Stars and the Star Stuff We are Made Of

The sky is filled with hundreds of billions of galaxies, all lit up by their stars. But stars account for less than 1 percent of the material in the universe, and galaxies are held together by a new form of matter — dark matter — that accounts for one-third of the stuff in the universe. The other two-thirds exists in an even more mysterious form — dark energy — and is causing the expansion of the universe to speed up, rather than slow down.

Michael S. Turner is the Rauner Distinguished Service Professor at The University of Chicago as well as chief scientist and director of strategic planning for Argonne National Laboratory. He is one of the pioneers of an interdisciplinary field that has brought together cosmologists and elementary particle physicists to unravel the origin and evolution of the universe and to understand the unification of the fundamental forces and particles of nature. His research focuses on the earliest moments of creation, and he has made seminal contributions to inflationary cosmology, particle dark matter and structure formation, the theory of big-bang nucleosynthesis, and the nature of dark energy that is causing the expansion of the universe to speed up. Turner believes that cosmic acceleration is the most profound mystery in all of science today and coined the term “dark energy.” He has authored more than 300 scientific papers, lectured extensively, and served on numerous committees including the NASA Space and Earth Science Advisory Committee, the National Science Foundation Advisory Committee for Astronomical Sciences, the Department of Energy, the American Physical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Academy of Sciences.

 

Lisa M. Pratt
Looking for Life in the Subsurface of Mars

An increasing awareness of life in extreme environments on Earth has re-invigorated the call for exploration of planets and icy moons. Astrobiologists are remotely probing planetary bodies in our solar system and beyond using telescopes and satellites to look for signs of life. The upcoming Phoenix and Mars Science Lander missions by NASA will allow advanced instrumental study of sediment and ices on the surface of Mars. Instruments on orbiting spacecraft and robotic rovers find many lines of evidence for intermittent release of water to the surface of Mars, giving credibility to the search for an indigenous biosphere in the Martian subsurface. It may be too late to fully protect Mars from contamination by Earth organisms but improved decontamination and sterilization of spacecraft will help preserve natural conditions at sites with the highest potential for habitability.

Lisa M. Pratt is a professor in the Department of Geological Sciences at Indiana University and director of a NASA astrobiology team project titled Biosustaining Energy and Nutrient Cycles in the Deep Subsurface of Earth and Mars. She has collected water, rock, and natural gas samples at depths up to 2.5 miles beneath the surface in South African gold mines. Her astrobiology team recently collaborated with Finnish and Canadian researchers to drill a scientific borehole for long-term sampling of microbial communities from brines beneath the permafrost in arctic Canada. Pratt, who currently serves as a Phi Beta Kappa Fellows Lecturer, has published more than 70 papers in leading scientific journals, and her collaborative research with Tullis Onstott (Princeton University) on radiolysis of water as a source of energy for microbial growth has been highlighted worldwide. Her research is supported by the National Science Foundation, NASA, and the David and Lucille Packard Foundation.