FQxI

Gerard ’t Hooft is now uneasy about how the idea is used. “People run away doing mysterious things with it,” he says, and he is now working on a deterministic basis for quantum theory.
He also received a Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics this year.
qspace.fqxi.org/news/165296/...

Peter Coles founded the Open Journal of Astrophysics in 2016 after realising that his university was spending enough on journal subscriptions to hire two more lecturing staff. It offers free peer review for arXiv papers + saved the community > half a million $USD.
qspace.fqxi.org/articles/278...

Physicist Jenny Nielsen @startigerjln.bsky.social has proposed a new 9-D topological unified field theory on the complex Hopf fibration.

Join the discussion on QSpace forums here → forums.fqxi.org/d/4306

Many of our members have considered whether AI could become conscious, and if it did, how could we even tell? Susan Schneider, one of FQxI's Scientific Advisory Panel, has proposed an Artificial Consciousness Test (ACT) designed to address that.
@sigalsamuel.bsky.social
www.vox.com/future-perfe...

"Physics writes equations, humanities talk about emotions. But the world is one” says Carlo Rovelli.
Sean Carroll's Bayesian approach relies on computer scientist and philosopher Judea Pearl's breakthrough that taught AI systems to distinguish correlation from causation.
@seanmcarroll.bsky.social

FQxI's Nicole Yunger Halpern, a quantum physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Maryland (UMD), in College Park, has been honored with an Early Career Scientist Award, presented every three years.

Peer review gatekeeping may be unnecessary for good science. In eLife, editors publish papers first, then add reviews after.
READ MORE: qspace.fqxi.org/articles/272...

[SWIPE —>]
Physicist Eduardo Guendelman just published research that tackles one of string theory's biggest issues: the swampland problem.

Read more: qspace.fqxi.org/news/165301/...

[SWIPE -->]
In science, few problems are tougher than explaining consciousness. Robert Lawrence Kuhn’s “A landscape of consciousness“ is a comprehensive review of theories.

Find out more: qspace.fqxi.org/news/165289/...
@closertotruth.bsky.social

Win $53,000 for writing about quantum biology. Open to everyone worldwide - no science degree needed. No age restrictions either.

Deadline: Sept 29, 10am ET.

Details: qspace.fqxi.org/competitions...

If black holes truly erased quantum information, empty space itself would radiate at an impossibly high temperature, around 10³² K. Clearly, that's not happening, so something deeper must be wrong.
MORE INFO: qspace.fqxi.org/articles/165...

Could Israel's bombing trigger a nuclear accident in Iran? Attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities have already triggered at least one internal radiation leak, but should we be concerned that Israeli bombing could cause a larger nuclear accident?

Attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities have already triggered at least one internal radiation leak, but should we be concerned that Israeli bombing could cause a larger nuclear accident?

DESI and ACT show different results. DESI’s map of 15M galaxies suggests dark energy driving cosmic expansion could be fading over time (2.8–4.2σ signal) @berkeleylab.lbl.gov ACT’s CMB measurements still fit the ΛCDM model with constant dark energy.
qspace.fqxi.org/podcasts/124/2025.06.01

Now Open: The 2025 FQxI Essay Competition
In partnership with the Paradox Science Institute (www.paradoxscience.org)

How Quantum is Life?

💰 $53,000 prize pot
📅 Submissions open: June 23 – September 29, 2025
🌍 Open to all. No institutional affiliation required

qspace.fqxi.org/competitions...

Einstein’s Λ may need revisiting. Niayesh Afshordi (Perimeter Institute) points to fresh DESI results. Berkeley Lab and UC Santa Cruz report a 3σ signal, indicating only ~0.3 % odds of statistical fluke and hinting that dark energy could be changing.
qspace.fqxi.org/podcasts/124...
#DarkEnergy#DESI

Scientists always assumed the cosmological constant was, well, constant. DESI's new data suggests otherwise. Dark energy could be gradually evolving, weakening over time.

LISTEN TO OUR FULL PODCAST ON THIS: qspace.fqxi.org/podcasts/124/2025.06.01

#Science #DarkEnergy #DESI

Thrilled to launch our new #EssayCompetition with paradoxscience.org
How Quantum is Life?

🧬 Prize: US$53,000 🔬

Submit deep, original essays: qspace.fqxi.org/competitions...

🗓️ Opens: June 23, 2025
⏳ Deadline: Sept 29, 2025
🏆 Winners: Dec 15, 2025
#HowQuantumIsLife

We’re very excited to partner with the Paradox Science Institute (www.paradoxscience.org) on a new essay competition.⁠
⁠
Any guesses on the theme?⁠
Closest answer gets a shoutout when we reveal! ⬇⁠
Full details on June 10th. Get ready.⁠
⁠
#EssayCompetition #BigQuestions #ParadoxScienceInstitute

An exciting opportunity is just around the corner. Think thoughtful, challenging, and possibly 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐞-𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠⁣.⁠
Stay tuned—you won’t want to miss this. 👀
⁠
#ComingSoon

Reduction and Emergence in Physics and Cosmology Workshop in the context of the CAS Research Focus

Excited to announce our upcoming workshop: Reduction and Emergence in Physics and Cosmology at LMU Munich on May 16, 2025. We’ll explore how modern physics challenges traditional reductionist views, with insights from George Ellis and LMU scholars. Details here: www.cas.lmu.de/de/veranstal...

Take Nature’s AI research test: find out how your ethics compare What’s your view on using AI for peer review and for writing research papers?

www.nature.com/immersive/d4...

Where exactly does the quantum world end and concrete reality begin?

Quantum effects like superposition and entanglement have long been seen in single particles, but physicists are on a quest to find out just how big an object can be before it loses its quantumness

Science!
Like #ScienceFiction, there are different flavours. So, when asked which of my #Shortstories in "A Short History of the Future" (@northodoxpress.bsky.social) might appeal to the fundamental physicists, I could only...
Write a blog piece for @fqxi.bsky.social!
qspace.fqxi.org/news/165300/...

If you have a pizza with radius z and thickness a, its volume is pi*z*z*a.

I really don't think this news has made sufficient shock waves.
Dr Katherine Calvin, NASA Chief Scientist Trump-Musk just fired, is the highest ranking American on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the IPCC. She is co-chair of Working Group 3 on mitigation. This is a climate attack.

[2/2] How to Start Your Own Journal: Quantum
⁠
Q&A with Lídia del Rio and Marcus Huber, the founders of the Quantum Journal.
FULL STORY: qspace.fqxi.org/articles/268...
#Quantum #Journal #ResearchScience

[1/2] How to Start Your Own Journal: Quantum
⁠
Q&A with Lídia del Rio and Marcus Huber, the founders of the Quantum Journal.
FULL STORY: qspace.fqxi.org/articles/268...
#Quantum #Journal #ResearchScience

7. How to write consistently boring scientific literature.

“Hell – is sitting on a hot stone reading your own scientific publications”
Erik Ursin, fish biologist

Thanks @fattebertj.bsky.social

Open Access
nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....

6. How to Write Clearly

www.harmonize.com/probe/Bullet...

5. How to write an excellent review article

bsky.app/profile/scin...