Adam Frank is the Helen F. and Fred H. Gowen Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Rochester. An astrophysicist and astrobiologist, Frank’s computational research group at the University of Rochester has developed advanced supercomputer tools for astrophysical gas dynamics and magnetogasdynamics. These codes were used to study topics such as the formation of stars and the evolution of exo-planet atmospheres. 

Much of his current work focuses on how life and planets evolve together. For this work he is the Principal Investigator of NASA’s first program to study the planetary-scale “technosignatures” that exo-civilizations may produce. He also works in “Physics of Life” research exploring the role of semantic information in the evolution of agency and autonomy. In this work he is also interested in the limits of computational models for life and sentience.

Frank has been a regular on-air commentator for NPR’s All Things Considered and CNN. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, The Atlantic and other media outlets and currently he co-runs the 13.8 blog on BigThink.com. Frank was the science consultant for Marvel’s Doctor Strange and was the 2020 winner of the Carl Sagan Medal from the American Astronomical Society. He is the author of five books, including most recently, The Little Book of Aliens and The Blind Spot. How Science Cannot Ignore Human Experience (co-authored with Marcelo Gleiser and Evan Thompson).