The Big Challenges
During the entire 20th century, physical sciences have advanced to such a degree that we can extrapolate how they can be applied, even in a fairly distant future. Even if we leave open the (likely) possibility of spectacular new discoveries and inv....
More details | Watch nowFrontiers of Physics
David discusses a few of the questions facing fundamental physics that might be answered before the 100th Lindau meeting in 2050.
More details | Watch nowThe Looming World Shortage of Helium
The worldÍs supply of Helium gas comes primarily from alpha decay in rocks. The most abundant supply is in the American Southwest where it is trapped with methane is natural gas wells. That supply is estimated to last a mere 25 years. It took 4.7 bi....
More details | Watch nowThe History of the Universe, from the Beginning to the Ultimate End
John summarizes the history of the universe, from the Big Bang through the formation of galaxies and the Solar System, and the history of the Earth and some of the special factors enabling the formation of life. Our future will be hot as the Sun ge....
More details | Watch nowWhat is Quantum Optics?
The image of light waves as oscillating electromagnetic fields explains virtually all the phenomena of traditional optics. An awareness that these waves are somehow subdivided into quanta has however been with us since the early 20th century. The....
More details | Watch nowThe Development of Particle Physics
Particle physics mainly developed after World War II. It has its roots in the first half of the previous century, when it became clear that all matter is made up from atoms, and the atoms in turn were found to contain a nucleus surrounded by electro....
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Using our most advanced techniques and instruments we sift through study the cosmic microwave background as a relic of the early universe to understand the events surrounding the birth and subsequent development of the Universe. A precision inspect....
More details | Watch nowWhat Can We Do with Laser Frequency Combs?
The spectrum of a frequency comb, commonly generated by a mode-locked femtosecond laser consists of several hundred thousand precisely evenly spaced spectral lines. Such laser frequency combs have revolutionized the art measuring the frequency of l....
More details | Watch nowModel Synthesis for Ceramics: Superconductors, Magnets and Others
The discovery of superconductivity in hole doped La2CuO4 was motivated by the interest to find this phenomenon in an oxide. After the discovery near 35 K, copper oxides with transition temperatures of up to 131 K at normal pressure were found, i.e.....
More details | Watch nowSuperposition, Entanglement, and Raising Schrödinger’s Cat
In 1935, Erwin Schrödinger, one of the inventors of quantum mechanics, illustrated his discomfort with the theory by pointing out that its extension to the macroscopic world could lead to bizarre situations such as a cat being simultaneously alive a....
More details | Watch nowControlling Photons in a Box and Exploring the Quantum to Classical Boundary
The founders of quantum theory assumed in 'thought experiments' that they were manipulating isolated quantum systems, obeying the counterintuitive laws which they had just discovered. Technological advances have recently turned these virtual experi....
More details | Watch nowPowering the Future
Some seeds of what to do in the climate/energy controversy are contained in what will be. In this talk I shall ask everyone to jump over contemporary politics and make a mental journey to a time, several centuries from now, when nobody uses carbon-....
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