Scientific Sense ®

Life-history evolution, The transition to modernity and chronic disease: mismatch and natural selection, and Molecular Evolutionary Medicine Prof. Stephen Stearns is a Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Yale University. Prof. Stearns specializes in life-history evolution, which links the fields of ecology and evolutionary biology, and in evolutionary medicine.

Galactic Settlement and the Fermi Paradox,  Planck Frequencies as Schelling Points in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, and the practicality and implications of Dyson Spheres. Prof. Jason Wright is a professor of astronomy and astrophysics at Penn State, a member of the Center for Exoplanets and Habitable Worlds, and director of the Penn State Extraterrestrial Intelligence Center. He works on a variety of problems related to stars, their planets, and life in the universe. His work in SETI includes searches for signs of the extraterrestrial industry via waste heat (e.g. Dyson Spheres). He is also a member of the Habitable Zone Planet Finder team.

Measuring Consumer Preferences for Video Content, The Impact of Mergers on Quality, How Much is Privacy Worth Around the World and Across Platforms?, The persistence of broadband user behavior, Mobile Attention, and the upcoming wave of antitrust investigations. Prof. Jeff Prince is a Professor and Chair of Business Economics and Public Policy at Indiana University. He is also the Chair of Strategic Management and Co-Director of the Institute for Business Analytics. He recently served as Chief Economist at the Federal Communications Commission.

What drives militant politics? Studies from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Western Africa, A case study in Kerala, the enigmatic Southern state of India, and the similarities between Pakistan, India, and the United States in scriptural literalism in religion and politics. Prof. Carol Christine Fair is a Professor in the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University. Her work is primarily focused on counter-terrorism and South Asian topics. She was a political officer with the United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan and a senior research associate at USIP's Center for Conflict Analysis and Prevention. She has served as a Senior Fellow at West Point's Combating Terrorism Center and a Senior Resident Fellow at the Institute of Defense Studies and Analysis. VOTE. MAKE OUR DEMOCRACY BETTER.

Cosmological parameters from SDSS and WMAP,  The construction and operation of the brand new Vera C. Rubin observatory, and Quasars Prof. Michael Strauss is the chair of the Department of Astrophysical Sciences at Princeton University. He uses large-scale imaging and spectroscopic surveys of the sky to “map the universe”, with a particular focus on studying the large-scale distribution of galaxies to address questions in cosmology and galaxy properties and evolution. He is also particularly interested in quasars, powered by supermassive black holes in the centers of galaxies.

Targeting small molecules with novel transport mechanisms in Cancer and Myocardial Infarction, Growing metal-organic nanotubes, and Selenomelanin for radiation protection. Prof. Nathan Gianneschi is a Professor of Chemistry, Materials Science & Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and Pharmacology at Northwestern University. He is the Associate Director of the International Institute for Nanotechnology at Northwestern. His research spans biomedical translational polymeric materials, mimicking biological materials, and advancing basic research in nanotechnology.

Links of Spatial Thinking to Achievement in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics?,  Using a discipline-focused lens to examine spatial thinking skills, and the Development of Children’s Gender-Science Stereotypes. Prof. David Uttal is a Professor of Education and of Psychology at Northwestern University.  His research focuses on STEM education, with a particular emphasis on the role of spatial thinking in STEM outcomes.  He directs the Spatial Intelligence and Learning Center at Northwestern.

The demographics, formation, migration, and behavior of black holes, what's at the heart of the Milky Way galaxy, and the Nobel prizes for Physics 2020. Prof. Jenny Greene is a Professor of Astrophysics at Princeton University. Her broad research interests include measurements of black hole masses, the connection between supermassive black holes and galaxies, stellar and gas kinematics of galactic nuclei, and diffused light in galaxy clusters. She serves on the Leadership Committee of the Prison Teaching Initiative at Princeton University.

Fluency and perceptions of decision making, Numerosity and allocation behavior, and the impact of number roundedness on framing Dr. Gaurav Jain is an assistant professor of marketing at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. His research examines how individuals make judgments, estimates, and decisions in the absence of complete information.

History of democracy, elections, and outcomes. Impact of social media, and what we could expect in upcoming US elections. Dr. Heidi Tworek, Associate Professor in International History and Public Policy, University of British Columbia and Senior Fellow, Centre for International Governance Innovation, and Dr. Dipayan Ghosh Co-Director of the Digital Platforms and Democracy Project at the Harvard Kennedy School