Adam Frank
Astrophysicist
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.
Astronomers in 2017 caught an image of a supermassive black hole in a galaxy far, far away. Doing it in our own galaxy is a huge milestone.
Every timekeeping device works via a version of a pendulum — even the atomic clocks that are accurate to nanoseconds.
Realism in science cannot be completely unmoored from human experience. Otherwise, realism ends up tortured with unreal paradoxes.
A new paper combines two concepts from the edges of astrophysics: Dyson Spheres and black holes. A Type III civilization could combine them.
Time for a status check before watching "Moon Knight."
The relationship between these two ways of thinking about the world deserves deeper exploration.
The James Webb Space Telescope could help scientists learn about the cosmic dark ages and how they ended.
Earth is not a benign mother. We have begun to witness what happens when it unleashes its fury.
From a desert oasis to the Rocky Mountains, being filled with awe makes me a better scientist.
Is the multiverse real? It's one of the hottest questions in all of theoretical physics. We invited two astrophysicists to join the debate.
The Kardashev scale ranks civilizations from Type 1 to Type 3 based on energy harvesting.
Please stop calling our Sun an "average star." It is philosophically dubious and astronomically incorrect.
In scientific theories, the Multiverse appears as a bug rather than as a feature. We should squash it.
Besides offering an incredibly cool way to get stuff into space, SpinLaunch promises to reduce the cost of a launch by 20-fold.
We are generally taught that there is an arc of history — an inevitable path of progress that leads to modern society. Maybe it isn't true.
In movies and TV shows, aliens look like pointy-eared humans. Is this realistic? If evolution is predictable, then it very well might be.
Venus has far more carbon dioxide in its atmosphere than Earth, which turned our sister planet into an inferno. But how did it get there?
Even if you or I will never actually visit these distant worlds, we now know they exist. They should fill us with wonder.
Science is a method of inquiry about nature, while scientism is philosophy. And scientism is no longer up to the challenge of meeting the most pressing issues of our day.
We should all pause to appreciate the awe-inspiring beauty of the Universe.
There are a few possible solutions to the problem of interstellar travel, but they largely remain within the realm of science fiction.
Tighten your ‘thopter seatbelts and get those worm-hooks ready: we're going to unpack the hype surrounding Dune, both the book and the movie.
Technology has advanced at a blinding pace in the past 150 years. That won’t always happen.
The book Buddha Takes the Mound delivers an engaging and sophisticated account of Buddhism’s worldview through the prism of baseball.
Nebulae are beautiful, but so is the process of science.
Isaac Asimov's "Foundation" series helped inspire the field of social physics, which uses math to understand crowd behavior.
Civilization is facing an existential threat from climate change. Will we humans make it? Does anyone in the universe make it?