Astrophysics
Amedeo Balbi (b. 1971 in Rome) holds an undergraduate degree in Physics and a doctorate in Astronomy, and is a researcher at the University of Rome Tor Vergata. He also has worked at U. C. Berkeley on the team of Prof. George Smoot (Nobel Prize for Physics, 2006), taking part in the MAXIMA experiment. In 2010 his article “The Limits of Cosmology” won third prize in the “What is Ultimately Possible in Physics” contest organized by the Foundational Questions Institute (FQXi). He is currently involved in the ESA’s Planck mission and is a member of the International Astronomical Union and the Foundational Questions Institute (FQXi). He primarily investigates problems that lie at the intersection of fundamental physics and cosmology, such as the primordial universe and the nature of dark matter and dark energy. He has published over seventy articles in international scientific journals, as well as dozens of articles for conferences and edited volumes. In recent years, alongside research and teaching, he has become active in working to spread scientific knowledge among the general public, through books, articles, public lectures and appearances on radio and TV. Since 2006 he has kept one of the most popular science blogs in Italy, keplero.org.