Topic: scientific work

Susanne Renner and Alan Cohen reflect on Bob Ricklefs’s contributions to ecology and evolutionary biology. The discussion considers biogeography, life-history research and the value of sustained, careful scientific work. Ricklefs is the subject of the tribute, rather than a participant in this recording.

Adam Brown reviews recent progress in training language models to perform scientific work and reasoning. The talk considers how the rapid growth of these capabilities could change theoretical-physics research, while distinguishing present achievements from speculation about the consequences of continuing progress.