Public Lecture Series

Even the greatest scientists have made some serious blunders. "Brilliant Blunders" concerns the evolution of life on Earth, of the Earth itself, of stars, and of the universe as a whole.

In this talk, astrophysicist Dr. Mario Livio will explore and analyze major errors committed by such luminaries as Charles Darwin, Linus Pauling, and Albert Einstein. Dr. Livio will scrutinize the various types of blunders and attempt to explain how they happen. Blunders are not only inevitable, argues Dr. Livio, but also an integral component of the process of science.

How well can we predict our future climate? If the flap of a butterfly’s wings can change the course of weather a week or so from now, what hope trying to predict anything about our climate a hundred years hence? In this talk I will discuss the science of climate change from a perspective which emphasises the chaotic (and hence uncertain) nature of our climate system. In so doing I will outline the fundamentals of climate modelling, and discuss the emerging concept of inexact supercomputing, needed - paradoxically perhaps - if we are to increase the accuracy of predictions from these models. Indeed, revising the notion of a supercomputer from its traditional role as a fast but precise deterministic calculating machine, may be important not only for climate prediction, but also for other areas of science such as astrophysics, cosmology and neuroscience.

By creating an ultra-clean underground location with a highly reduced radioactive background, otherwise impossible measurements can be performed to study fundamental physics, astrophysics and cosmology. The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) was a 1,000 tonne heavy-water-based neutrino detector created 2 km underground in a mine near Sudbury, Canada. SNO has used neutrinos from 8B decay in the Sun to observe one neutrino reaction sensitive only to solar electron neutrinos and others sensitive to all active neutrino flavors. It found clear evidence for neutrino flavor change that also requires that neutrinos have non-zero mass. This requires modification of the Standard Model for Elementary Particles and confirms solar model calculations with great accuracy. The 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics and the 2016 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics were awarded for these measurements. Future measurements at the expanded SNOLAB facility will search for Dark Matter particles thought to make up 26% of our Universe and rare forms of radioactivity that can tell us further fundamental properties of neutrinos potentially related to the origin of our matter-dominated Universe.

The ordinary atoms that make up the known universe, from our bodies and the air we breathe to the planets and stars, constitute only 5 percent of all matter and energy in the cosmos. The remaining 95 percent is a recipe of 25 percent dark matter and 70 percent dark energy, both nonluminous components whose nature remains a mystery.

In her March 2 public lecture, Katherine Freese will recount the hunt for dark matter, from the discoveries of visionary scientists like Fritz Zwicky, the Swiss astronomer who coined the term "dark matter" in 1933, to the deluge of data today from underground laboratories, satellites in space, and the Large Hadron Collider.

Neutron stars are a celestial gift to scientists. These incredibly dense collapsed stars act as very precise cosmic beacons that help shed light on some of the most challenging problems in modern physics.

In her Feb. 3 talk at Perimeter Institute, astrophysicist Victoria Kaspi will explore these strange objects, explain how astronomers are using them to study issues ranging from the origins of the universe to the very nature of matter, and even let the audience hear the cosmic symphony they create.

Emerging techniques and technologies, drawn from many fields of science and medicine, are allowing us to peer inside the human body with unprecedented sensitivity and to probe the fundamental processes of life – in real time. TRIUMF’s Life Sciences Division is making such studies possible with isotopes, short-lived elements that are harnessed and incorporated into next generation pharmaceuticals designed to provide incredible insight into the complex systems that make up life. With its specialized expertise and facilities in particle accelerator targets, isotope production, and radiochemistry, TRIUMF – Canada’s national laboratory for particle and nuclear physics and accelerator-based science – has unique capabilities in this area.

In his talk, Dr. Paul Schaffer, Associate Laboratory Director of TRIUMF’s Life Sciences Division, will explore how he and his team use accelerators to develop tools and techniques to advance the field of nuclear medicine. He’ll share leading-edge developments and discuss the promise advanced medical isotopes hold for disease diagnostics and therapeutics, as well as talk about his team’s award-winning efforts to produce a secure supply of critical medical isotopes.

Atomic clocks are the most precise timekeepers ever built. If you could keep an advanced atomic clock running long enough, it would neither gain nor lose a single second over the entire lifespan of the universe. With the availability of spectrally pure lasers and the ability to precisely measure optical frequencies, it appears the era of optical atomic clocks has begun. Advances in atomic clocks are expected to be important in a range of emerging technological applications, including quantum computers. Dr. David Wineland, 2012 Nobel Laureate in Physics, will explore the theoretical and technological know-how needed to build these ultra-precise timepieces during his Perimeter Institute Public Lecture on Wednesday, Nov. 4. 

Fundamental physics has reached a turning point. The most powerful experiments ever devised are revealing the structure of the universe with unprecedented clarity. On the largest scales – the whole visible universe – and the tiniest, we are discovering remarkable simplicity, which our theories do not yet explain. In between, things are complex. But here too, new technologies are allowing us to access the quantum frontier, opening up new high-precision probes of the fundamental laws of nature and revolutionary new technologies. We stand on the threshold of breakthroughs, both theoretical and experimental, which could change our picture of the world and the development of our society.

Niels Bohr was Nobel-winning physicist – a pioneer of quantum theory – but his influence extended far beyond his own research. He was a gifted teacher who established one of the 20th century’s most important centres for physics, and was instrumental in the development of physics worldwide. He became a statesman following the Second World War, calling for international cooperation to avoid nuclear conflict. Bohr’s legacy – in science, humanitarianism, and family – spans generations, as his grandson will illustrate during a special public lecture webcast at Perimeter Institute. Dr. Vilhelm Bohr, a researcher at the National Institute on Aging in Maryland and Chairman of the Niels Bohr Archive in Copenhagen, will provide unique insights into his grandfather’s multifaceted personality, as well as the important influence of Niels Bohr’s father, wife, and brother.

String Theory LEGOs for Black Holes

Four decades ago, Stephen Hawking posed a paradox about black holes and quantum theory that still challenges the imaginations of theoretical physicists today. One of the most promising approaches to resolving the "information paradox" (the notion that nothing, not even information itself, survives beyond a black hole's point-of-no-return event horizon) is string theory, a part of modern physics that has wiggled its way into the popular consciousness.

Dr. Amanda Peet, a physicist at the University of Toronto, will describe how the string toolbox allows study of the extreme physics of black holes in new and fruitful ways. Dr. Peet will unpack that toolbox to reveal the versatility of strings and (mem)branes, and will explore the intriguing notion that the world may be a hologram.

The Most Wanted Particle

In what promises to be a smashing public lecture, Jon Butterworth will give a personal account of what it is like to work on the largest experiment ever built, the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. He will recount the excitement and tension surrounding the quest, under unprecedented media and public attention, to find the famous Higgs boson. Butterworth, a physics professor at University College London (UCL), will explain the motivation and importance of the Higgs search, discuss his specific research at CERN’s ATLAS detector, and speculate on the exciting breakthroughs that still await in the world of high-energy physics.

Water Stress:
Seeking Solutions in the
Unusual Properties of Water

Water is ubiquitous, but the availability of fresh water is limited. Today, one in six people is under “water stress,” meaning that they have no access to clean water. It is one of the many paradoxes of water. This essential liquid, which in many ways is so commonplace, is also very peculiar. Water behaves differently than other materials in more than 70 ways. These anomalies not only keep our bodies in balance, but secure the thermal stability of our planet as well. Whereas most liquids contract when cooled, water does the opposite – it expands as temperature drops, which, among other effects, allows fish to survive the winter. What’s more, water diffuses more quickly as a system becomes denser – the opposite behaviour to most other fluids.

In her Perimeter Institute Public Lecture, physicist Dr. Marcia C. Barbosa will examine how we can better understand this precious resource that is both incredibly abundant on Earth, yet dangerously scarce to millions of people. Decoding the strange properties of water, Barbosa argues, may be essential to resolving the widespread problem of water stress.