Adam Frank
Adam Frank was a contributor to the NPR blog 13.7: Cosmos & Culture. A professor at the University of Rochester, Frank is a theoretical/computational astrophysicist and currently heads a research group developing supercomputer code to study the formation and death of stars. Frank's research has also explored the evolution of newly born planets and the structure of clouds in the interstellar medium. Recently, he has begun work in the fields of astrobiology and network theory/data science. Frank also holds a joint appointment at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics, a Department of Energy fusion lab.
Frank is the author of two books: The Constant Fire, Beyond the Science vs. Religion Debate (University of California Press, 2010), which was one of SEED magazine's "Best Picks of The Year," and About Time, Cosmology and Culture at the Twilight of the Big Bang (Free Press, 2011). He has contributed to The New York Times and magazines such as Discover, Scientific American and Tricycle.
Frank's work has also appeared in The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2009. In 1999 he was awarded an American Astronomical Society prize for his science writing.
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This year, Americans saw a strangely warm winter, a ridiculously hot summer and extreme drought conditions. As Hurricane Sandy advances on the East Coast, folks may be wondering if climate change has come to pass. Let's see what science can tell us.
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The vast web of geometries traced out in light shows you cities as a kind of infestation. They're like living networks spreading across the planet.
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There are days can't be set down on a calendar a year in advance. Their appearance is a testament to the fact that we are more than rational, calculating machines lifted above the natural world.
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The second law of thermodynamics is a kind of warning to cities and civilization. No matter how clever we are, disorder, waste and pollution will always follow from our work organizing societies into cities.
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Astrophysicist Adam Frank doesn't usually read self-help books, but something about Walker Percy's existential optimism in Lost In The Cosmos actually changed his outlook on life. Do you have a favorite self-help book? Tell us in the comments below.
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Astrophysicist Adam Frank says that private rocket ships will launch a sure future for Americans.
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As we head into the holiday season this might be a good moment to reflect on the roots of our collective consumer delusion.
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If these results are correct then we would have to go back and start rebuilding pretty much all of modern foundational physics.