Schmidt Sciences

Corinne Scown grew up running barefoot through Sacramento's smoky days. Now she's making sure her kids won't have to.

Through our VIFF program, she's turning agricultural biomass — the organic byproducts from farming — into cleaner air.

#WomenInScience
youtu.be/E-k36CbsCAo

AI is transforming how we work—but we don't yet know how, or where its effects will be felt most acutely. Today we announced over $3 million to support 19 field studies across eight countries to find out.

Learn more about the research: buff.ly/eVLCxiu

Packed splinter session at #AAS247 for the announcement of The Eric and Wendy Schmidt Observatory System—a modular, rapid-response network of four novel observatories designed to democratize access to the cosmos.

Read more about the initiatives here: www.schmidtsciences.org/focus-area-a...

More Astrophysics for More People ✨

Join us for a virtual #AAS247 session and a first look at The Schmidt Observatory System—a new network of ground and space-based initiatives designed to break the traditional limits of discovery.

📆 Jan 7 | 3-5:30pm MT / 5-7:30pm ET
Register here: buff.ly/kbbNFuB

Smithsonian Acquires Exceptionally Complete Skull of Iconic Dome-Headed Dinosaur The Rare Pachycephalosaurus Fossil Will Be Temporarily Displayed at the National Museum of Natural History During the Holiday Season

The iconic Pachycephalosaurus is heading to the @NMNH! 🦴

Schmidt Sciences co-founders Eric & Wendy Schmidt are proud to support this rare acquisition and the digitization of the National Fossil Collection to unlock data for the global community: buff.ly/1zRRUcO

JUST ANNOUNCED: Schmidt Sciences has awarded $11M to 23 teams globally for our Humanities and AI Virtual Institute (HAVI).

These projects bring AI to history, archaeology, literature, and film, unlocking new understandings of human culture.

Learn more: buff.ly/tvTUYwY

📣 We're Hiring!

At Schmidt Sciences, we envision a world where science is bold, collaborative and provides well-researched solutions for planetary challenges.

Check out our open roles: www.schmidtsciences.org/careers/

Marin Developing models together, openly

Marin introduces a new, fully open and collaborative technique for constructing state-of-the-art LLMs. This is a strategic move to re-engage academia and build transparent AI infrastructure for the public benefit. (🧵 2 of 2)

Learn more about this foundational shift in research: marin.community

Major milestone in open AI systems. AI2050 Senior Fellow @PercyLiang is directly challenging centralized LLM development with the launch of the Marin Project. (🧵 1 of 2)

Community Perspective - Linda Eggert - AI2050 The trolley problem is a well-known philosophical thought experiment: would you pull a lever to redirect a speeding trolley, sacrificing one person to save five?Would you feel differently about the…

What do we lose when AI makes life-changing decisions for us?

AI2050 Early Career Fellow Linda Eggert challenges delegation & explores how human rights must shape our tech future. Read her perspective on what's truly at stake: ai2050.schmidtsciences.org/community-pe...

Congratulations to AI2050 Senior Fellow Dr. Kelly Chibale for being honored as a Distinguished International Fellow by the @astmh.bsky.social, recognizing his contributions to tropical medicine, chemistry, drug discovery, and global health.

Schmidt Sciences Announces Its Latest Cohort Of AI2050 Fellows Schmidt Sciences has announced its AI2050 Fellows for 2025. This year’s cohort consists of 28 recipients, including 7 senior scholars and 21 early career investigators.

www.forbes.com/sites/michae...

Schmidt Sciences awards $18M to researchers working to ensure AI benefits society - Schmidt Sciences Media Contact: Carlie Wiener; cwiener@schmidtsciences.org                   NEW YORK—Schmidt Sciences announced today that 28 scholars studying how to fulfill AI’s potential to dramatically benefit…

We're excited to welcome 28 new AI2050 Fellows! This 4th cohort of researchers are pursuing projects that include building AI scientists, designing trustworthy models, and improving biological and medical research, among other areas.

This Halloween, step into the world of weird science.

Explore AI2050 Fellow Sam Kriegman’s work on xenobots — tiny living machines built from biological cells and the algorithms that invent them .

Learn more about Sam’s work as an AI2050 Fellow > buff.ly/lm8iTqn

Newly discovered ‘super-Earth’ offers prime target in search for alien life | Penn State University The discovery of a possible “super-Earth” less than 20 light-years from our own planet is offering scientists new hope in the hunt for other worlds that could harbor life, according to an…

Astronomers including Schmidt Sciences’ Arpita Roy & Guðmundur Stefánsson have discovered a “super-Earth” orbiting a nearby star 20 light-years away. GJ 251 c lies in the habitable zone — a prime target in the search for life beyond our solar system.

Read more: buff.ly/j8eSD3p

Community Perspective - Amanda Coston - AI2050 Predictive AI models are responsible for consequential decisions. They approve consumer loans, make treatment recommendations in healthcare, and even guide public policy. For Amanda Coston, this…

When AI shapes decisions in healthcare, finance, or policy, how do we know it’s working as intended?

AI2050 Fellow and @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social Assistant Professor Amanda Coston develops methods to make AI more transparent, accountable, and fair.

ai2050.schmidtsciences.org/community-pe...

BEHAVIOR Challenge Charts the Way Forward for Domestic Robotics | Stanford HAI With a first-of-its-kind competition for roboticists everywhere, researchers at Stanford are hoping to push domestic robotics into a new age of autonomy and capability.

To learn more about how Professor Li's vision is taking shape, check out the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI (HAI) recent article on BEHAVIOR, a remarkable step toward building embodied intelligence capable of performing everyday tasks:

Community Perspective - Fei-Fei Li - AI2050 Creating robots that can interact with the world just as humans do is many AI scientists’ dream—but for Fei-Fei Li, how we realize that goal is just as important as achieving it. As a pioneering AI…

How can we design AI that truly supports people?

AI2050 Fellow and Stanford Professor Fei-Fei Li is pioneering human-centered approaches to AI — from robots that assist in daily life to systems that enhance human dignity and well-being.

Read more: ai2050.schmidtsciences.org/community-pe...

Seeking Signs of Life on Venus Seeking Signs of Life on Venus: The first private mission to the morning star will explore the planet’s clouds.

Could life exist in the clouds of Venus?

The Morning Star mission, led by MIT’s @saraseager.bsky.social and supported by Schmidt Sciences, will send a probe to search for organic molecules in Venus’s atmosphere.

Read more about the mission: nautil.us/seeking-sign...
#WorldSpaceWeek #WSW2025

Creating a Cosmic Movie Creating a Cosmic Movie: How will astronomers make sense of a new era of nearly limitless data from the Rubin Observatory?

Turning cosmic data into discovery.

LINCC Frameworks, a Schmidt Sciences grantee, powers Rubin Observatory’s nightly 20TB sky survey—recently spotting 2,000+ new asteroids in just 10 hours.

This is science at scale.

Read the article: nautil.us/creating-a-c...

#WorldSpaceWeek #WSW2025

Excited to share the latest issue of Nautilus, created in partnership with Schmidt Sciences, which profiles just a handful of the many scientists we support in their pursuit of discovery. www.schmidtsciences.org/wp-content/u...

Community Perspective - Hima Lakkaraju - AI2050 If you’ve ever made a mistake, chances are, you’ve been asked to explain yourself. While people can easily understand how and why decisions led to something going wrong, Hima Lakkaraju’s research…

AI is shaping high-stakes decisions every day. But can it explain itself?

AI2050 Early Career Fellow and Assistant Professor at @harvard.edu, Hima Lakkaraju, is closing the gap between policy and practice for trustworthy AI.

Read more: ai2050.schmidtsciences.org/community-pe...

Schmidt Sciences awards $45M to narrow carbon cycle knowledge gap - Schmidt Sciences Globe-spanning interdisciplinary teams will dramatically improve climate modeling to drive better energy, environmental, economic decision making Contact: Carlie Wiener, cwiener@schmidtsciences.org…

We're investing $45M over 5 years to launch the Virtual Institute for the Carbon Cycle (VICC).

Four global teams will combine AI, advanced observations & modeling to close major carbon cycle gaps, strengthening climate projections worldwide.

🔗 buff.ly/8WVpM9s
WIRED coverage: buff.ly/YsLAcRZ

Community Perspective - Kai Wang - AI2050 While the prospect of working on unfamiliar, complex challenges, often with limited resources, might overwhelm most technologists, Wang isn’t intimidated. “It’s an opportunity to design AI solutions…

Kai Wang, an AI2050 Fellow at Georgia Tech, designs machine learning solutions for nonprofits tackling maternal health and migrant worker challenges. His approach: cultural context over algorithmic complexity.

Read more: ai2050.schmidtsciences.org/community-pe...

Our founder @wendyschmidt.bsky.social made @forbes.com's 2025 Sustainability Leaders list. Highlighting how Schmidt Sciences, @schmidtocean.bsky.social and @schmidtfellows.bsky.social advance climate research and discovery through interdisciplinary programs for global benefit: buff.ly/LUokevC

Community Perspective - Priya Donti - AI2050 As an academic researcher, Donti builds algorithms for grids powered by renewable energy, combining her long-held aspiration to work on climate solutions with her background in computer science. As a…

How can AI prevent grid failures in renewable energy?

Priya Donti, 2023 AI2050 Fellow, develops machine learning algorithms that balance unpredictable solar/wind power with demand in real-time.

Read the Q&A: ai2050.schmidtsciences.org/community-pe...

Community Perspective - Daniel Rock - AI2050 Rock asks how, and how much, AI technology will impact the many tasks that comprise a given job — each one may be affected to different extents, changing a job in more nuanced ways than completely…

How will AI reshape jobs—not just replace them?

Daniel Rock, 2023 AI2050 Early Career Fellow at Wharton, studies how AI transforms individual tasks within jobs and is building a model to track those shifts.

Read the Q&A: ai2050.schmidtsciences.org/community-pe...

Community Perspective - Gege Wen - AI2050 Q&A with Gege Wen, AI2050 Early Career Fellow

As renewable energy scales, the challenge is how to store and deploy it reliably. AI2050 Fellow Gege Wen is using AI trained on gas-storage experiments and CT scans of rock cores to advance subsurface energy storage.

Learn more: ai2050.schmidtsciences.org/community-pe...

East Antarctica slides into the spotlight as surface melt hotspot - Nature Climate Change Ice-sheet surface melting impacts sea level and ice dynamics. Now two studies provide a wake-up call for monitoring melt in Antarctica.

East Antarctica is emerging as a surface melt hotspot.

In Nature Climate Change, Schmidt Sciences’ Alexandra Boghosian spotlights new research revealing rising meltwater ponding driven by atmospheric shifts.

Read the article: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Community Perspective - Danish Pruthi - AI2050 Q&A with Danish Pruthi, AI2050 Early Career Fellow

Addressing the lack of geographical and cultural diversity in AI is crucial for creating robust and equitable technology.

Read our Q&A with 2023 AI2050 Early Career Fellow Danish Pruthi on "geocultural bias" in AI models and how he's working to solve it: ai2050.schmidtsciences.org/community-pe...