FQxI

FQxI

@fqxi.org

Exploring the foundations of physics and cosmology with Zeeya Merali and @gabefitz.bsky.social, of the Foundational Questions Institute, FQxI, the physics think tank and funding agency.

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FQxI
@fqxi.org

Lucy James, one of FQxI’s new Foundational Fellows, is working on two of the fellowship’s projects, the arrow of time and multiverses. 🧪 ⚛️ Video by @gabefitz.bsky.social Paintings and prints: The Met, Rijksmuseum, Wellcome Collection (public domain)

FQxI
@fqxi.org

Is science getting less disruptive? On the FQxI podcast in 2023, @davesmaths.bsky.social explained why a truly new idea can take years or even decades to come together, and why that’s a problem when early-career researchers are pushed to publish fast. 🧪 ⚛️

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@fqxi.org

Here is a chart, redrawn from their paper. A plotting bug left almost a million papers off one of the study's charts (the dotted bar). The bar it dropped was a weirdly anomalous spike of papers at CD=1, the maximum and most disruptive category. Without it, the decline almost disappears.

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Gabe
@gabefitz.bsky.social

A survey last year (by @nafshordi.bsky.social and others) asked 1,675 physicists what happens to information that falls into a black hole. I went back to a 2012 FQxI.org article on it, and this time it gets an actual photo of a black hole (thanks, ehtelescope.bsky.social).

FQxI@fqxi.org

In 2012 anilananth.bsky.social wrote for us about whether black holes destroy information. The fourth slide shows what a recent 2025 survey of 1,675 people found. Survey via nafshordi.bsky.social. Carousel by @gabefitz.bsky.social

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@fqxi.org

The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics goes to Francis Halzen for "decisive contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin." www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physi... #NobelPrize #NobelPrizePhysics

nobelprize.orgNobel Prize in Physics 2026The Nobel Prize in Physics 2026 was awarded to Francis Halzen “for decisive contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin.”
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In 2007, FQxI member Garrett Lisi offered $100 to anyone who could find three sign errors in his online physics notes. There were no takers until recently, when an AI agent emailed. He tells the story on QSpace News: qspace.fqxi.org/news/165333/...

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FQxI members Vlatko Vedral and Roger Penrose are among authors of an experiment that has made the first direct measurement of the quantum phase of a freely falling object.

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@fqxi.org

We've set a guest challenge at the Moth Hack: make something that teaches a general audience about quantum computing or quantum mechanics, using one of Moth's Atlas Engines. The winner gets a £150 voucher. Entries are open online until 2 October.

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Is gravity quantum? It's one of the big open questions in physics. The Bose-Marletto-Vedral experiment, proposed by Chiara Marletto, Vlatko Vedral and colleagues, would test whether gravity alone can entangle two tiny masses.

FQxI
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The theoretical physicist Rafael Sorkin died on September 12, 2026, at his home in Kitchener, Ontario. He is best known as one of the main developers of causal set theory, an approach to the emergence of spacetime from discrete points. qspace.fqxi.org/news/165328/...

qspace.fqxi.orgFQxI News: Rafael Sorkin, 1945–2026The Foundational Questions Institute, FQxI, catalyzes, supports, and disseminates research on questions at the foundations of science, particularly new frontiers and innovative ideas integral to a…
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What happens if the universe is infinite? A quick thought experiment with physicist Anthony Aguirre.