In memoriam: Philip Anderson

Philip Anderson, a theoretical physicist who wrote rules that dictate the strange behavior of condensed matter and lent his deep intuition to problems beyond physics, died on March 29, 2020.

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SFI responds to COVID-19

With the rapid global spread of the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, the Santa Fe Institute has suspended all public events and scientific meetings. Check here for live updates.

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Working group chases wild ideas on domestication

What would life on Earth be were it not for the domestication of plants and animals? An SFI working group, "Re-evaluating the Origins and Trajectories of Domestication," running March 9-11, explores "the nature of relationships between human groups and lots of different plants and animals."

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EVENT CANCELLED Community Lecture: Life is What?

Event Cancelled In this SFI Community Lecture on March 24, Sara Walker, an astrobiologist and theoretical physicist interested in the origin of life, will guide us through approaches aimed at developing a new theory for understanding life.

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Decarbonizing the energy supply

Shifting from carbon-emitting energy sources to renewable ones will be an essential part of addressing climate change, but the path to a renewable power grid is uncharted. A February 26-28 working group explores how New Mexico might best approach the transition to renewable energy sources, and what lessons could be useful for other regions.

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Working group to study aging in single-celled organisms

What does it mean to grow old? Many fields have offered answers, but none of them provides a universal theory. According to former SFI Postdoc Jacopo Grilli (International Centre for Theoretical Physics), we understand the when but not the how of aging: when the components of an organism fail, but not the causes of these failures or if the process serves an evolutionary purpose. This February, a diverse international working group will meet at SFI to find a fresh take on the problem.

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Wealth inequality and social network structure

An NSF-funded research project is exploring the effects of network structure on wealth inequality. In February over 40 anthropologists, economists, and others will review their research so far and chart new directions.

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