Newswise — An additional 11 cutting-edge scientists, writers, and thinkers have been added to the Quantum to Cosmos Festival lineup. Natalie Angier, Jaron Lanier and James Lovelock will join an existing roster that includes Stewart Brand, Michael Griffin and David Cory. All speakers will converge in Waterloo from October 15-25, 2009 for discussions, new ideas and connections that will be shared with the world on-site, online and on TV.
The speakers announced today are:
Natalie Angier - Author and Science Writer, New York Times
Ms. Angier is an author and a Pulitzer Prize winning science columnist for the New York Times. She is the President's Council of Cornell Women A.D. White Professor-at-Large. Her latest book entitled The Canon: A Whirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science is her guide to the fundamental concepts of modern science.
Neil Gershenfeld - Director, Center for Bits and Atoms, MIT
Dr. Gershenfeld is the Director of MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms, and has been named one of Scientific American's 50 leaders in science and technology. He is best known as a pioneer in personal fabrication - small-scale manufacturing enabled by digital technologies, which gives people the tools to build literally anything they can imagine.
Mark Gerstein - Professor, Yale University
Dr. Gerstein is the Albert L. Williams Professor of Biomedical Informatics and Professor of Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry and Computer Science at Yale University. He does research in the new field of bioinformatics, which involves applying quantitative approaches to problems in molecular biology. He is specifically interested in comparative genomics, expression analysis and macromolecular geometry.
Raymond Laflamme - Physicist, PI & Institute for Quantum Computing (UW)
Dr. Laflamme is the Director of the Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC), and an Associate Faculty member at Perimeter Institute. Amongst his most important theoretical results was inventing, with Emanuel Knill and Gerard Milburn, a radically new approach to quantum computing using linear optics.
Jaron Lanier - Computer Scientist, Author, Berkeley University
Mr. Lanier was a pioneer in, and popularized the term "Virtual Reality" (VR). His monthly column "Jaron's World" in Discover Magazine is devoted to his own wide ranging ideas and research that include computational approaches to the fundamentals of physics. His current appointments include Interdisciplinary Scholar-in-Residence, CET, UC Berkeley.
Hod Lipson - Director of CCSL, Cornell University
Dr. Lipson is the Director of Cornell University's Computational Synthesis Lab (CCSL) at the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. His research focuses on evolutionary robotics, design automation, rapid prototyping, artificial life, and creating 'self-aware' robots that can demonstrate some aspects of human creativity.
James Lovelock - Scientist
Dr. Lovelock is an independent scientist, author, researcher, environmentalist, and futurist. A recipient of the Geological Society's Wollaston Medal, Lovelock has created and developed many scientific instruments, some of which were designed for NASA's program of planetary exploration. He is also the originator of the Gaia theory, which postulates the Earth as a kind of superorganism.
Chris McKay - Scientist, NASA Ames Research Center
Dr. McKay is a planetary scientist with the Space Science Division of NASA Ames. His research focuses on the evolution of the solar system and the origin of life. He is playing a significant role in the planning of the MSL mission for 2011 andis also the deputy program scientist for Constellation - the NASA program for future human exploration of the Moon and Mars.
Robert (Bob) Richards - Founder and CEO, Odyssey Moon Ltd.
Dr. Richards is the Founder and CEO of Odyssey Moon Ltd., a commercial lunar enterprise based in the Isle of Man, and the first official registrant in the $30M Google Lunar X PRIZE competition. He is also the Director of Space Technology at Optech Incorporated of Canada, where he presided over the first commercial lidar scanner flown in space.
Margaret Somerville - Professor, McGill
Dr. Somerville is the Samuel Gale Professor of Law, Professor in the Faculty of Medicine, and Founding Director of the Centre for Medicine, Ethics and Law at McGill University. Among many honours and awards she holds the Order of Australia, a Fellowship of the Royal Society of Canada, and she is the first recipient of the UNESCO Avicenna Prize for Ethics in Science.
Eliezer Yudkowsky - AI Theorist
Mr. Yudkowsky is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) theorist who also writes on the topic of human rationality. He cofounded the Singularity Institute for AI, devoted to research and advocacy on the topics of Artificial General Intelligence, self-improving AI, and superintelligence. Yudkowsky was one of the founding directors of the World Transhumanist Association.
For a full list of Quantum to Cosmos festival speakers, as well as details of the festival's extensive program featuring more than 50 events, please visit www.q2cfestival.com.
About the Quantum to Cosmos Festival
For 10 exciting days this October, Perimeter Institute's Quantum to Cosmos: Ideas for the Future (Q2C) will take a global audience from the strange world of subatomic particles to the outer frontiers of the universe. Q2C will transcend traditional festivals by streaming events live and on demand, offering virtual interaction with exhibits, and providing special opportunities for students and teachers. TVO, Ontario's public educational media organization, is the Presenting Media Partner for the Q2C Festival.
The Q2C Festival is produced for Perimeter Institute by Title Entertainment Inc.
About Perimeter Institute
Canada's Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics is an independent, non-profit, scientific research and educational outreach organization where international scientists cluster to push the limits of our understanding of physical laws and develop new ideas about the very essence of space, time, matter and information. The centre provides a multi-disciplinary environment to foster scientific collaboration in research areas of cosmology, particle physics, quantum foundations, quantum gravity, quantum information, superstring theory, and related disciplines. PI also provides a wide array of award-winning outreach resources and public lectures for students, teachers and the general public to share the joy of research, discovery and innovation. In partnership with the Governments of Ontario and Canada, PI continues to be a successful example of private and public collaboration in science research and education.
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