Quantum physics is the golden child of modern science. It is the basis of our understanding of atoms, radiation, and so much else – from elementary particles and basic forces to the behaviour of materials. But for a century it has also been the problem child of science: it has been plagued by intense disagreements among its inventors, strange paradoxes, and implications that seem like the stuff of fantasy.

Join us for a conversation about weird planets, the search for life in the universe, and how the language of science can help tell stories about human relationships.

Full-day workshop hosted by the Dunlap Institute at the University of Toronto

Watch the livestream here: https://livestream.com/itmsstudio/events/8636855

Prof. Anny Cazenave: Climate Change, Ocean Warming, Land Ice Melt and Sea Level RiseProf. Donna Strickland: Generating High-Intensity Ultrashort Optical Pulses

Pulsars, born after the splendid explosion of massive stars, are the most compact objects in the visible universe. Sitting on Earth, we receive regular pulses of light from pulsars. The accuracy of the period between pulses can sometimes rival that of an atomic clock. Pulsar studies have won two Nobel prizes: one for their discovery, and one for the first indirect evidence of gravitational waves. In this talk, Dongzi Li will explain how the compact nature and the excellent periodicity of pulses help make previously difficult studies feasible.

Explore the universe with members of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. Telescopes will be set up to provide amazing views of the Moon, the planets and more! (Rain date is May 15th).

Join poet Laboni Islam for a special tour of The Moon: A Voyage Through Time, an exhibition that looks at the moon through the lens of art, science, and spirituality.

Graduate student Ari Silburt will be presenting about "Distant Earths". In recent years with the launch of the Kepler Space Telescope there has been a rapid explosion in the number of planets discovered outside our solar system. For the first time ever we are able to explore questions such as “how many habitable planets are out there?”, and “where should we look for life?”. This talk will outline what the next steps are for finding life elsewhere in the universe as well as highlight a few of the noteworthy habitable exoplanets discovered to date.

What if I tell you that the world in the smallest imaginable scales has nothing to do with what we know? Bosons versus FermionsDuncan O'Dell  (Professor, Department of Physics & Astronomy, McMaster University)