100 Years of Gravitational Waves

with Rai Weiss | Nobel Laureate, Physicist | Professor of Physics, Emeritus, MIT

Nobel Laureate Rai Weiss is best known as one of the original creators of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO). Join him as he explores the history of this amazing project and the technology that made it a reality.

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Accelerate, Collide, Detect

with Barry Barish | Nobel Laureate, Physicist | Professor of Physics, Emeritus, Caltech

Particle physics is a vibrant field entering into a period of profound discoveries. Nobel Laureate Barry Barish explores particle physics and examines the future of particle accelerators for pushing the limits of physics.

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Big Brains, Small Brains

with Suzana Herculano-Houzel | Neuroscientist | Associate Professor of Psychology, Associate Director for Communications, Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University

Pioneer Suzana Herculano-Houzel discusses the challenges and solutions of comparing brain size and function across species, and shares her groundbreaking insights into the uniqueness, or lack thereof, of the human brain.

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Brain Machine Interfaces

with Miguel Nicolelis | Neuroscientist | Professor of Neuroscience, Duke School of Medicine

Pioneering neuroscientist Miguel Nicolelis investigates how brains encode information. His groundbreaking work shows that animals and humans can use their electrical brain activity to control neuroprosthetic devices with Brain Machine Interfaces.

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Einstein’s Astrophysical Messengers

with Gabriela González | Physicist | Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Louisiana State University; Former Spokesperson, LIGO Scientific Collaboration

Gabriela González guides you through the experiments LIGO uses to search for gravitational waves. This course explores the detection processes that led to the first and recent trailblazing discoveries.

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Endless Universe: Beyond the Big Bang

with Paul Steinhardt | Physicist | Professor of Physics, Princeton University

Paul Steinhardt is one of the biggest critics of the inflationary model. He claims that inflation is "immune" to experiment and discusses a radical alternative to this long-standing paradigm.

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Exploring Our Humanity

with Lee Berger | Rolex National Geographic Explorer of the Year, Paleoanthropologist | Phillip Tobias Chair of Paleo-Anthropology, University of the Witwatersrand

Explorer and paleoanthropologist Lee Berger is best known for his discoveries of Homo naledi and Australopithecus sediba, two human-like ancestors. Join him on this exploration as he explains the science behind these unprecedented findings.

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Exploring the Warped Universe

with Nergis Mavalvala | Physicist, MacArthur Fellow | Curtis and Kathleen Marble Professor of Astrophysics and Dean of the School of Science, MIT

On September 14, 2015, LIGO first detected gravitational waves. Join physicist Nergis Mavalvala as she takes you on an incredible journey from LIGO's humble beginnings to its groundbreaking discovery.

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Foundations of Understanding and Combating Cancer

with Harold Varmus | 1989 Nobel Laureate, Oncologist | Professor of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine

Nobel Laureate Harold Varmus illuminates the importance of genes and mutations to the development and treatment of cancer. Learn how precision medicine reveals new treatments and explore immunotherapy and how CRISPR is advancing research.

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Free Will and Neuroscience

with Alfred Mele | Philosopher | Professor of Philosophy, Florida State University

Has neuroscience all but disproved the existence of free will? Philosopher Alfred Mele argues that free will is still alive and well as he critically analyzes experimental data.

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From Chemistry to Life

with Dimitar Sasselov | Astronomer | Phillips Professor of Astronomy and Director, Origins of Life Initiative, Harvard University

What are scientists looking for when searching for alien life? Astronomer and the founding director of Harvard’s Origins of Life Initiative Dimitar Sasselov examines the physical and chemical phenomenon of life to find the answers.

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From Chemistry to Living Materials: Matter & Sound

with Markus Buehler | Material Scientist | Professor of Engineering, MIT

Professor Markus Buehler discusses how scientists can design new proteins that can revolutionize materials engineering, through manipulating vibrations that have been changed from matter into sound and from sound back into matter.

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Fundamental Lessons from String Theory

with Cumrun Vafa | Breakthrough Prize Winner, Physicist | Professor of Mathematicks and Natural Philosophy, Harvard University

Breakthrough Prize winner Cumrun Vafa, with world-renowned string theorist Andrew Strominger, developed a way to calculate black hole entropy. Follow Vafa as he guides you through the incredible things we have learned since string theory’s inception.

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History and Mysteries of The Universe

with Max Tegmark | Physicist, AI Researcher | Professor of Physics, MIT

Max Tegmark, cosmologist and Professor of Physics at MIT, delivers a comprehensive look at the study of our universe, examining both the origin of our cosmos and the infinite questions waiting to be answered.

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How Black Holes Became Real

with Priyamvada Natarajan | Astrophysicist | Professor of Astronomy and Physics, Yale University

Professor Priyamvada Natarajan explains the science of supermassive black holes from their birth to how they impact the development of their galaxies. Explore the cutting-edge research being done to better understand these phenomena.

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Illuminating Black Holes

with Veronika Hubeny | Theoretical Physicist | Professor of Physics, University of California, Davis

Theoretical physicist Veronika Hubeny explores the fundamental nature of spacetime using the gauge/gravity duality in order to develop a deeper understanding of black holes and their mysterious links to quantum information theory.

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Inflationary Cosmology

with Alan Guth | Breakthrough Prize Winner, Kavli Prize Laureate, Cosmologist | Professor of Physics, MIT

Breakthrough Prize and Kavli Prize Laureate, Alan Guth is renowned for his discovery of inflationary cosmology, which for decades has been the dominant paradigm for the origin of the universe.

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Mathematics, The Language of Nature

with Edward Frenkel | Mathematician | Professor of Mathematics, UC Berkeley

Join mathematician Edward Frenkel as he discusses how the elegant mathematical formulation of symmetry has been used throughout math and physics and could, through the Langlands program, give rise to a grand unified theory of mathematics.

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Nature’s Constituents

with Maria Spiropulu | Physicist | Shang-Yi Ch’en Professor of Physics, Caltech

With the discovery of the Higgs particle, the Standard Model came closer to being a complete theory. Maria Spiropulu examines the theory, and looks at the future of particle physics.

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New Ideas About Dark Matter

with Justin Khoury | Physicist | Professor of Physics, University of Pennsylvania

Physicist Justin Khoury explores how quantum effects in dark matter could produce non-Newtonian gravitational force within and between galaxies, ultimately providing a hypothesis for how the observed structure of the universe might have arisen.

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Oceans in Peril

with Sylvia Earle | Oceanographer, Marine Biologist | President, Chairman, Mission Blue

Explore the challenges facing our oceans today, and why we should care. From industrial fishing to pollution to climate change, the damage to the seas risks becoming irreversible. Learn how we can still make a difference.

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Space, Time, and Einstein

with Brian Greene | Physicist, Author | Co-founder, World Science Festival; Professor of Physics and Mathematics at Columbia University

Join a visual and conceptual introduction to Einstein's spectacular insights into space, time, and energy. For a mathematical introduction, check out Special Relativity.

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Special Relativity

with Brian Greene | Physicist, Author | Co-founder, World Science Festival; Professor of Physics and Mathematics at Columbia University

Special Relativity upended our understanding of space, time, and energy. You only need algebra to grasp this math-based introduction. For a conceptual introduction, check out Space, Time, and Einstein.

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Synthetic Biology’s Industrial Revolution

with Drew Endy | Synthetic Biologist | Bioengineering Professor, Stanford University

Synthetic biology gives us the power to redesign biological systems from scratch, providing them with capabilities not found in nature. In this course, Drew Endy discusses how synthetic biology can reshape the global economy, as well as life itself.

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The Accelerating Universe

with Adam Riess | Nobel Laureate, Astrophysicist | Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University

Nobel Laureate Adam Riess walks you through his team's incredible discovery of dark energy and our accelerating universe. Explore one of the biggest mysteries in modern cosmology.

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The Biology of Consciousness

with Christof Koch | Neuroscientist | Chief Scientist, MindScope Program, Allen Institute for Brain Science

How can we experimentally probe consciousness? Neuroscientist Christof Koch guides you through the research he conducts at the Allen Institute for Brain Science.

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The Dark Side of the Universe

with Michael Turner | Theoretical Astrophysicist | Bruce V. & Diana M. Rauner Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago, Senior Strategic Advisor, The Kavli Foundation

In 1998, theoretical cosmologist Michael Turner coined the term "dark energy." Since then, he has worked to combine cosmology and particle physics to understand the origin and evolution of the universe.

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The Monster at the Heart of our Galaxy

with Andrea Ghez | 2020 Nobel Laureate, Astrophysicist | Professor of Physics and Astronomy, UCLA

2020 Nobel Laureate and astrophysicist Andrea Ghez explains how supermassive black holes warp space time and the role they play in the formation and evolution of our galaxy.

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Universe or Multiverse?

with Andrei Linde | Kavli Prize Laureate, Cosmologist | Professor of Physics, Stanford University

Theoretical physicist and Kavli Prize winner Andrei Linde was responsible for proposing the ideas of an inflationary multiverse and eternal inflation. Join Linde’s course on the evolution of these ideas and what the future of cosmology holds.

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