Uploaded September 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Humanity can observe more of the universe than ever before. In the last year, we’ve detected signatures of cosmic events almost unimaginably distant and old. Yet much of the universe remains hidden — some parts unknown because we don’t yet understand how to see them, and others forever hidden beyond cosmic horizons.
This talk will be a tour through the hints we have of the still-hidden workings of the universe, and of our best ideas to uncover them. This exploration requires reframing the way we build theories, including quantum theories, and embracing our role as imperfect observers. In doing so, we might convince the universe to give up the deepest secrets of its fundamental structure.
About the Speaker
Sarah Shandera is a Professor of Physics and the Director of the Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos at Penn State. She received her PhD in physics from Cornell University in 2006 and held postdoctoral positions at Columbia University’s Institute for Strings, Cosmology, and Astroparticle Physics and at Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics before joining the faculty at Pennsylvania State University in 2011..
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Perimeter Institute (charitable registration number 88981 4323 RR0001) is the world’s largest independent research hub devoted to theoretical physics, created to foster breakthroughs in the fundamental understanding of our universe, from the smallest particles to the entire cosmos.
Humanity can observe more of the universe than ever before. In the last year, we’ve detected signatures of cosmic events almost unimaginably distant and old. Yet much of the universe remains hidden — some parts unknown because we don’t yet understand how to see them, and others forever hidden beyond cosmic horizons.
This talk will be a tour through the hints we have of the still-hidden workings of the universe, and of our best ideas to uncover them. This exploration requires reframing the way we build theories, including quantum theories, and embracing our role as imperfect observers. In doing so, we might convince the universe to give up the deepest secrets of its fundamental structure.
About the Speaker
Sarah Shandera is a Professor of Physics and the Director of the Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos at Penn State. She received her PhD in physics from Cornell University in 2006 and held postdoctoral positions at Columbia University’s Institute for Strings, Cosmology, and Astroparticle Physics and at Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics before joining the faculty at Pennsylvania State University in 2011..
📅 Stay in the loop: Sign up for our newsletter: landing.perimeterinstitute.ca/newsletter-signup
🔬 Support science: Donate to Perimeter: perimeterinstitute.ca/info/donors
Follow Perimeter Institute:
Facebook: facebook.com/pioutreach
Instagram: instagram.com/perimeterinstitute
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/perimeter-institute
Perimeter Institute (charitable registration number 88981 4323 RR0001) is the world’s largest independent research hub devoted to theoretical physics, created to foster breakthroughs in the fundamental understanding of our universe, from the smallest particles to the entire cosmos.
