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Sara Imari Walker
Sara Imari Walker is an American theoretical physicist and astrobiologist with research interests in the origins of life, astrobiology, physics of life, emergence, complex and dynamical systems, and artificial life. Walker is currently Deputy Director of the Beyond Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science at Arizona State University, Associate Director of the ASU-SFI Center for Biosocial Complex Systems and an associate professor at Arizona State University (ASU). She is a co-founder of the astrobiology social network SAGANet.org, and on the board of directors for Blue Marble Space a nonprofit education and science organization. She has appeared on multiple media sources, such as "Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman", to communicate science to the public. Education and background Walker was born and raised in Connecticut. She studied at the Florida Institute of Technology where she graduated cum laude earning a B.S. in Physics in 2005. She received a Ph.D. in Physics and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Astrobiology
Astrobiology, and the related field of exobiology, is an interdisciplinary scientific field that studies the origins, early evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe. Astrobiology is the multidisciplinary field that investigates the deterministic conditions and contingent events with which life arises, distributes, and evolves in the universe. Astrobiology makes use of molecular biology, biophysics, biochemistry, chemistry, astronomy, physical cosmology, exoplanetology, geology, paleontology, and ichnology to investigate the possibility of life on other worlds and help recognize biospheres that might be different from that on Earth. The origin and early evolution of life is an inseparable part of the discipline of astrobiology. Astrobiology concerns itself with interpretation of existing scientific data, and although speculation is entertained to give context, astrobiology concerns itself primarily with hypotheses that fit firmly into existing scientific ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capital is Hartford and its most populous city is Bridgeport. Historically the state is part of New England as well as the tri-state area with New York and New Jersey. The state is named for the Connecticut River which approximately bisects the state. The word "Connecticut" is derived from various anglicized spellings of "Quinnetuket”, a Mohegan-Pequot word for "long tidal river". Connecticut's first European settlers were Dutchmen who established a small, short-lived settlement called House of Hope in Hartford at the confluence of the Park and Connecticut Rivers. Half of Connecticut was initially claimed by the Dutch colony New Netherland, which included much of the land between the Connecticut and Delaware Rivers, although the firs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theoretical Physicists
The following is a partial list of notable theoretical physicists. Arranged by century of birth, then century of death, then year of birth, then year of death, then alphabetically by surname. For explanation of symbols, see Notes at end of this article. Ancient times * Thales (c. 624 – c. 546 BCE) * Pythagoras^* (c. 570 – c. 495 BCE) * Democritus° (c. 460 – c. 370 BCE) * Aristotle‡ (384–322 BCE) * Archimedesº* (c. 287 – c. 212 BCE) * Hypatia^ªº (c. 350–370; died 415 AD) Middle Ages * Al Farabi (c. 872 – c. 950) * Ibn al-Haytham (c. 965 – c. 1040) * Al Beruni (c. 973 – c. 1048) * Omar Khayyám (c. 1048 – c. 1131) * Nasir al-Din Tusi (1201–1274) * Jean Buridan (1301 – c. 1359/62) * Nicole Oresme (c. 1320 – 1325 –1382) * Sigismondo Polcastro (1384–1473) 15th–16th century * Nicolaus Copernicusº (1473–1543) 16th century and 16th–17th centuries * Gerolamo Cardano (1501–1576) * Tycho Brahe (1546–1601) * Giordano Bruno (1548– ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Foundational Questions Institute
The Foundational Questions Institute, styled FQXi, is an organization that provides grants to "catalyze, support, and disseminate research on questions at the foundations of physics and cosmology." It was founded in 2005 by cosmologists Max Tegmark and Anthony Aguirre, who hold the positions of Scientific Directors. It has run four worldwide grant competitions (in 2006, 2008, 2010, and 2013), the first of which provided US$2M to 30 projects. It also runs yearly essay contests open to the general public with $40,000 in prizes awarded by a jury panel and the best texts published in book format. FQXi is an independent, philanthropically funded non-profit organization, run by scientists for scientists, with a Scientific Advisory Board including John Barrow, Nick Bostrom, Gregory Chaitin, David Chalmers, Alan Guth, Martin Rees, Eva Silverstein, Lee Smolin, and Frank Wilczek. The $6.2 million seed funding was donated by the John Templeton Foundation, whose goal is to reconcile science an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Science Education
Science education is the teaching and learning of science to school children, college students, or adults within the general public. The field of science education includes work in science content, science process (the scientific method), some social science, and some teaching pedagogy. The standards for science education provide expectations for the development of understanding for students through the entire course of their K-12 education and beyond. The traditional subjects included in the standards are physical, life, earth, space, and human sciences. Historical background The first person credited with being employed as a science teacher in a British public school was William Sharp, who left the job at Rugby School in 1850 after establishing science to the curriculum. Sharp is said to have established a model for science to be taught throughout the British public school system.Bernard Leary, 'Sharp, William (1805–1896)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reports On Progress In Physics
''Reports on Progress in Physics'' is a monthly peer review, peer-reviewed scientific journal published by IOP Publishing. The editor-in-chief as of 2022 is Subir Sachdev (Harvard University). Scope The focus of this journal is invited review articles covering all branches of physics. Each review will typically survey and critique a particular topic, or developments in a field. Introductions of articles are intended for a broad readership, beyond the specialist or expert. In addition to the traditional review article two other formats are available: ''Reports on Progress'' (about 20 pages) and ''Key Issues Reviews'' (about 10 pages).Scope IOP. Retrieved on Sep. 5, 2016 Abstracting and indexing ''Reports on Progress in Physics'' is abstracted and indexed in the following databases:[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philosophical Transactions Of The Royal Society A
''Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences'' is a fortnightly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the Royal Society. It publishes original research and review content in a wide range of physical scientific disciplines. Articles can be accessed online a few months prior to the printed journal. All articles become freely accessible two years after their publication date. The current editor-in-chief is John Dainton. Overview ''Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A'' publishes themed journal issues on topics of current scientific importance and general interest within the physical, mathematical and engineering sciences, edited by leading authorities and comprising original research, reviews and opinions from prominent researchers. Past issue titles include "Supercritical fluids - green solvents for green chemistry?", "Tsunamis: Bridging science, engineering and society", "Spatial transformations: from f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Information Theory
Information theory is the scientific study of the quantification (science), quantification, computer data storage, storage, and telecommunication, communication of information. The field was originally established by the works of Harry Nyquist and Ralph Hartley, in the 1920s, and Claude Shannon in the 1940s. The field is at the intersection of probability theory, statistics, computer science, statistical mechanics, information engineering (field), information engineering, and electrical engineering. A key measure in information theory is information entropy, entropy. Entropy quantifies the amount of uncertainty involved in the value of a random variable or the outcome of a random process. For example, identifying the outcome of a fair coin flip (with two equally likely outcomes) provides less information (lower entropy) than specifying the outcome from a roll of a dice, die (with six equally likely outcomes). Some other important measures in information theory are mutual informat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boolean Network
A Boolean network consists of a discrete set of boolean variables each of which has a Boolean function (possibly different for each variable) assigned to it which takes inputs from a subset of those variables and output that determines the state of the variable it is assigned to. This set of functions in effect determines a topology (connectivity) on the set of variables, which then become nodes in a network. Usually, the dynamics of the system is taken as a discrete time series where the state of the entire network at time ''t''+1 is determined by evaluating each variable's function on the state of the network at time ''t''. This may be done synchronously or asynchronously. Boolean networks have been used in biology to model regulatory networks. Although Boolean networks are a crude simplification of genetic reality where genes are not simple binary switches, there are several cases where they correctly convey the correct pattern of expressed and suppressed genes. The seemi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Langevin Equation
In physics, a Langevin equation (named after Paul Langevin) is a stochastic differential equation describing how a system evolves when subjected to a combination of deterministic and fluctuating ("random") forces. The dependent variables in a Langevin equation typically are collective (macroscopic) variables changing only slowly in comparison to the other (microscopic) variables of the system. The fast (microscopic) variables are responsible for the stochastic nature of the Langevin equation. One application is to Brownian motion, which models the fluctuating motion of a small particle in a fluid. Brownian motion as a prototype The original Langevin equation describes Brownian motion, the apparently random movement of a particle in a fluid due to collisions with the molecules of the fluid, m\frac=-\lambda \mathbf+\boldsymbol\left( t\right). Here, \mathbf is the velocity of the particle, and m is its mass. The force acting on the particle is written as a sum of a viscous force ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Origins Of Life And Evolution Of Biospheres
''Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal established in 1968 covering astrobiology and origins of life research. It is the official journal of the International Society for the Study of the Origin of Life. The journal's scope includes research on the origin, evolution, distribution, and future of life on Earth and beyond. Some examples of areas of interest are: prebiotic chemistry and the nature of Earth's early environment, self-replicating and self-organizing systems, the RNA world hypothesis and of other possible precursor systems, and the problem of the origin of the genetic code. According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', the journal has a 2016 impact factor The impact factor (IF) or journal impact factor (JIF) of an academic journal is a scientometric index calculated by Clarivate that reflects the yearly mean number of citations of articles published in the last two years in a given journal, as i ... of 1.000. Abstracting ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Homochirality
Homochirality is a uniformity of chirality, or handedness. Objects are chiral when they cannot be superposed on their mirror images. For example, the left and right hands of a human are approximately mirror images of each other but are not their own mirror images, so they are chiral. In biology, 19 of the 20 natural amino acids are homochiral, being L-chiral (left-handed), while sugars are D-chiral (right-handed). Homochirality can also refer to enantiopure substances in which all the constituents are the same enantiomer (a right-handed or left-handed version of an atom or molecule), but some sources discourage this use of the term. It is unclear whether homochirality has a purpose; however, it appears to be a form of information storage. One suggestion is that it reduces entropy barriers in the formation of large organized molecules. It has been experimentally verified that amino acids form large aggregates in larger abundance from an enantiopure samples of the amino acid than fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
