Adam Frank
Adam Frank was a contributor to the NPR blog 13.7: Cosmos & Culture. A professor at the University of Rochester, Frank is a theoretical/computational astrophysicist and currently heads a research group developing supercomputer code to study the formation and death of stars. Frank's research has also explored the evolution of newly born planets and the structure of clouds in the interstellar medium. Recently, he has begun work in the fields of astrobiology and network theory/data science. Frank also holds a joint appointment at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics, a Department of Energy fusion lab.
Frank is the author of two books: The Constant Fire, Beyond the Science vs. Religion Debate (University of California Press, 2010), which was one of SEED magazine's "Best Picks of The Year," and About Time, Cosmology and Culture at the Twilight of the Big Bang (Free Press, 2011). He has contributed to The New York Times and magazines such as Discover, Scientific American and Tricycle.
Frank's work has also appeared in The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2009. In 1999 he was awarded an American Astronomical Society prize for his science writing.
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We asked an astronomer to listen to Brian Eno's reissued Apollo: Atmospheres & Soundtracks,which features brand new music, to answer the question: "What do we think space should sound like?"
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These works make apparent how singular an achievement America's moon landing was — and show that half a century later we're still grappling to understand its long-term meaning.
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David Wallace-Wells' The Uninhabitable Earth and Nathaniel Rich's Losing Earth offer valuable perspectives on climate change — if we're committed to being adult enough to face the future.
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Take five minutes of your day, watch this amazing video of the birth of a new island in Tonga, and let its story and science knock you to the floor, says astrophysicist Adam Frank.
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Inside every plant there is an insanely complex molecular engine that turns sunlight into food — and across billions of years, photosynthesis shaped the history of the entire planet, says Adam Frank.
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Movies and TV have taught us that the way to find life elsewhere is to directly detect purposeful signals from intelligences on other worlds. But a new era has begun, says astrophysicist Adam Frank.
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On Saturday, people from around the country will take to the streets in the March for Science. Organizers say that the point of the March is not to make science political, but to highlight the reality of science to politicians, as a guide in policymaking, in which science is an uncharted issue.
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On a day where we as a nation will make a very important collective decision, Carl Sagan's speech serves to help remind us of our place in the universe, says astrophysicist Adam Frank.
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You may have heard the news that astronomers found a planet four light years away from Earth. But did you really hear the news? It could be home to billions in the deep future, says Adam Frank.
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Space is so crazy big that it should make you realize most of the day-to-day stuff we sweat just doesn't matter — and that is a very good thing, says astrophysicist Adam Frank.
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NPR science blogger and astrophysicist Adam Frank argues infrastructure must change in order to develop new, environmentally friendly forms of transportation.
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Just in time for the official start of summer, NPR's Adam Frank heads outside to better understand the summer solstice. The secret, he says, is in the sunsets.