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Explorations in Science and AI


Scientists are leaving academia for industry, here’s why it’s happening now
More scientists are leaving academia, trading tenure-track hurdles for the speed and flexibility of industry. For physicist Elizabeth Frank, that shift meant moving from mapping Mercury to mining the Moon — swapping publication bottlenecks for the fast, interdisciplinary problem-solving of space startups, and using AI to revive data gathered half a century ago.


Scientists are leaving academia for industry, here’s why it’s happening now
More scientists are leaving academia, trading tenure-track hurdles for the speed and flexibility of industry. For physicist Elizabeth Frank, that shift meant moving from mapping Mercury to mining the Moon — swapping publication bottlenecks for the fast, interdisciplinary problem-solving of space startups, and using AI to revive data gathered half a century ago.

Bryné Hadnott
Aug 27


Colin Hunter
Jul 22


FirstPrinciples
Jul 9


Adam Becker
Nov 15, 2024


Scientists are leaving academia for industry, here’s why it’s happening now
More scientists are leaving academia, trading tenure-track hurdles for the speed and flexibility of industry. For physicist Elizabeth Frank, that shift meant moving from mapping Mercury to mining the Moon — swapping publication bottlenecks for the fast, interdisciplinary problem-solving of space startups, and using AI to revive data gathered half a century ago.

Bryné Hadnott


Adam Becker
Latest Articles


How the Sloan Foundation picks scientific winners
Sloan Foundation president Adam Falk is stepping down this year after seven years leading the iconic organization. He spoke with FirstPrinciples about how the foundation’s philosophy has given it an outsized impact on scientific progress.

Matt von Hippel
Jun 18


Prediction isn’t understanding: AI’s evolution and the soul of science
From rule-based ‘expert systems’ to neural networks, AI has long chased the dream of scientific reasoning. But while today’s models are good at pattern matching and can generate code or summarize academic papers, they struggle with the heart of scientific discovery: structured reasoning.

FirstPrinciples
Jun 11


Engineering the implausible? Paper explores stable Dyson spheres and ringworlds
Artificial structures surrounding an entire star were thought to be impossible. A new calculation shows that they could be supported by the gravity of a second star.

Matt von Hippel
May 29


An excerpt from Battle of the Big Bang: The New Tales of Our Cosmic Origins
Astrophysicist Niayesh Afshordi and science communicator Phil Halper explore theories—from black holes birthing universes to the end of cosmic singularities—in a sweeping narrative that challenges the Big Bang orthodoxy.

FirstPrinciples
May 22


The Conjecture That Gravity Might Always Be Weak
In 2006, a group of physicists proposed a bold idea: that gravity must be the weakest force in any consistent theory of quantum gravity. Almost twenty years later, this so-called Weak Gravity Conjecture remains unproven, but the research it inspired continues to raise deep questions.

Matt von Hippel
May 15


Janna Levin’s creative cosmos: navigating multiple dimensions in science and art
Even Janna Levin, once dubbed the “chillest astrophysicist alive,” is abuzz with energy about “magical” collaborations, both scientific and artistic.
Colin Hunter
May 7


Quantum Gravity: The Quest to Unify Physics' Fundamental Forces
For more than a century, physicists have struggled with an uncomfortable truth: the two pillars of modern physics fundamentally contradict each other.

FirstPrinciples
Apr 30


Rise of the machine cosmologists
Scientists are using artificial intelligence and machine learning to tackle dark matter and other cosmic puzzles.

FirstPrinciples
Apr 24


Why science literacy could be the most important skill you never learned
In an era of misinformation, understanding science is essential for informed decision-making. True scientific literacy goes beyond reading or quick online searches—it empowers individuals to think critically, evaluate evidence, and discern credible information from misleading claims.

Ethan Siegel
Apr 15
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