KITP News Archive

Scientific discoveries are increasingly in the news, but are increasingly complex while their impact on our lives is profound. The need for communicating science across the intellectual spectrum is imperative, and increasingly ideas from science are integrated into film, fiction, plays and other non-scientific writing. In 2002 the Templeton Lectures were presented at the KITP to packed audiences, and in 2005 the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation sponsored the prestigious conference Science Theater Audience Reader (STAR): Theoretical Physics in Drama and Narrative. Playwrights, actors, literature and drama scholars, novelists, biographers and science journalists explored the means by which science concepts are conveyed to the public in a variety of media. Among conference participants were Alan Lightman. Rebecca Goldstein, Peter Galison, Lauren Gunderson, Dennis Overbye and Anthony Zee.

Professor Bonnie Bassler presents "How Bacteria Talk to Each Other"
[Flyer] [Public lecture page]

An explosion—observable in theory, but never seen on the night sky–emerged a little over two years ago from calculations carried out by a team of astrophysicists, including KITP permanent member Lars Bildsten and postdoctoral fellow Nevin Weinberg, as well as UCSB physics graduate student Ken Shen and Bildsten's long-time Dutch collaborator Gijs Nelemans of Radboud University in Nijmegen. Those calculations enabled the team to predict the existence, in distant galaxies, of a new kind of exploding star or "supernova" that would— when detected—be fainter than most observed supernovae and would rise and fall in brightness in only a few weeks.

Preparing your contest entry? check here for past submissions. All entries due 12 noon on December 8, 2010.

Decisions for the programs for the 2012-2013 academic year will be made in February 2011.  Submit a proposal suggestion now.  We need your ideas!
[Letter from the Director] 

Physicist Jean Carlson catalyzes first ever collaboration between NSF-funded institutes associated with UCSB and engaged in research at the edge of two distinctive scientific fields.

UC Santa Barbara astrophysicist Lars Bildsten, a permanent member of the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, has been awarded the Wayne Rosing, Simon and Diana Raab Chair in Theoretical Astrophysics in recognition of his pioneering contributions to the discipline.

[Full Story]

First Incumbent of Susan F. Gurley Chair Discusses Ideas That Animate His Research.

But what rivets theorists’ attention is its electrons behaving like neutrinos.

Program on 'Low Dimensional Electron Systems' looks at phenomena with the potential to transform our three-dimensional world.

EIGHT scientists whose discoveries have dramatically expanded human understanding in the fields of astrophysics, nanoscience and neuroscience have been recognized with the award of the million-dollar Kavli Prizes.

New research perspective sees wildfire as global phenomenon indicative of feedback mechanism whereby widespread fire is both effect and cause of accelerating climate change.

(Santa Barbara, Calif.) - Astrophysicists at UC Santa Barbara are the first scientists to identify two white dwarf stars in an eclipsing binary system, allowing for the first direct radius measurement of a rare white dwarf composed of pure helium. The results will be published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. These observations are the first to confirm a theory about a certain type of white dwarf star.

Cloud physics is the largest source of uncertainty in the short term in predicting the climate.

Professor Adam Burrows presents “The New Century of Exoplanets”

[Flyer] [Public lecture page]

Boldly innovative program probes "Physics of Climate Change."

In the 1990's, astronomers discovered the first planets outside the solar system. Since then, in what has become a torrent, more than 360 planets have been found, and the pace of discovery is quickening.
[Conference Page]

Not only do we have a new look, we also have a new site structure. You may find that some things have moved, but this will give you an opportunity to explore the site. Report Problems

Professor Paul Nurse presents “The great Ideas of biology”
[Flyer] [Public lecture page]