Experts
Lisa Randall
Physicist, Harvard University
Physicists have proposed that there could be dozens of dimensions in addition to the normal three we experience in daily life. But where are they? Read More
A conversation with the professor of theoretical physics at Harvard. Read More
“We live in an era where science is important to the decisions we make,” the Harvard physicist points out. Read More
Why the Harvard physicist recently tried her hand at writing a libretto. Read More
The Harvard physicist describes one of her most surprising moments of discovery. Read More
The Harvard scientist explains the daily work of a particle physicist and what problems lie at the cutting edge of her field. Read More
The Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland will test some of physicists’ most radical conjectures, from supersymmetry to extra dimensions of space. Read More
Because dark energy doesn’t dilute as the universe expands, it will ultimately speed up that expansion exponentially, turning the cosmos into a giant void. Read More
Many fear that if budget cuts need to be made, science will suffer, says Randall. Read More
A little scientific method couldn't hurt. Read More
A time of short-sighted greed. Read More
Restoring the Constitution, Randall says. Read More
The government, Randall says, needs to think in the long term. Read More
We know ourselves best so we generalize outwards, Randall says. Read More
Greed has been a major motivating factor, says Randall. Read More
Randall believes in effective theories. Read More
Randall's creative process is pretty random, she says. Read More
Randall, a physicist, wishes that science was a part of pop culture. It's just as important to understand certain basic elements of science as it is to understand certain basic elements of literature or art, she argues. "That should be as fundamental to our way of thinking. One thing that science can probably learn from art is getting people excited about ideas." Read More
The Harvard physicist explains the design and goals of the 27 kilometer-wide proton-smasher in Switzerland that physicist hope will unlock the secrets of the universe. Read More
Randall hopes people will start asking the broader questions. Read More
About Lisa Randall
Lisa Randall is professor of theoretical physics and studies particle physics and cosmology at Harvard University. Her research concerns elementary particles and fundamental forces and has involved the development and study of a wide variety of models, the most recent involving extra dimensions of space. She has made advances in understanding and testing the Standard Model of particle physics, supersymmetry, models of extra dimensions, resolutions to the hierarchy problem concerning the weakness of gravity and experimental tests of these ideas, cosmology of extra dimensions, baryogenesis, cosmological inflation, and dark matter. Professor Randall earned her PhD from Harvard University and held professorships at MIT and Princeton University before returning to Harvard in 2001.
She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a fellow of the American Physical Society, and is a past winner of an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Research Fellowship, a National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award, a DOE Outstanding Junior Investigator Award, and the Westinghouse Science Talent Search.
Her book Warped Passages: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions was included in the New York Times' 100 notable books of 2005. In 2008, Prof. Randall was among Esquire Magazine's "75 Most Influential People of the 21st Century". Randall was included in Time Magazine's "100 Most Influential People" of 2007 and was one of 40 people featured in The Rolling Stone 40th Anniversary issue that year. Prof. Randall was featured in Newsweek's "Who's Next in 2006" as "one of the most promising theoretical physicists of her generation" and in Seed Magazine's "2005 Year in Science Icons".