Adam Frank

Professor of astrophysics, science commentator, and popular author University of Rochester

  • Rochester NY

Frank is a leading expert on how stars form and how they die, as well as civilizations before humans

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1 min

Adam Frank Takes a Deep Dive into the Possibilities of Water on Uranus, Neptune

Adam Frank recently interviewed with national media about the potential for water to exist on the farthest planets in our solar system, Uranus and Neptune. Is it true that where there's water, the possibility for life often follows? Does this study mean that humans or other developed life forms could some day inhabit these neighboring planets? What about microbes? What do these vast oceans look like and how deep are they? “We’ve been asking the question about life in the universe for more than 2,000 years and we’re finally on the cusp of getting data that will tell us one way or the other."

Adam Frank

2 min

Countdown to the eclipse

The countdown is on for the total solar eclipse on April 8 and Adam Frank, professor of astrophysics, science commentator, and popular author, is available to comment on: Earth's eclipses are the result of a cosmic accident! No other world has such a relatively large moon. Our Moon is the result of a titanic collision with a Mars sized planet more than 4 billion years ago. Earth is likely the only planet that experiences a solar corona/ring of fire during a total eclipse. That's because the size of the moon and the size of the sun appear to be roughly the same from Earth. The moon is slowly drifting away from the Earth so the kind of eclipses we experience are also an accident in time. Were not possible before, won't be possible later. Eclipses must have been terrifying for early humans. Learning to predict them helped establish the possibility for science. Today eclipses can be a way to help people understand and appreciate the sciences. The science surrounding the eclipse is the same science that gives us vaccines and helps us understand climate change (science is science). The "devil comet" may be visible during the eclipse. The comet passes by Earth every 71 years. The comet, which glows green and red, gets its nickname from outbursts that take on the shape of horns. Adam Frank is a frequent on-air commentator for live interviews and segments in national media outlets. He also regularly contributes to written publications, including The Washington Post, The Atlantic, The New York Times, and Scientific American. In 2021 he received the Carl Sagan Medal, which recognizes and honors outstanding communication by an active planetary scientist to the general public. It is awarded to scientists whose efforts have significantly contributed to a public understanding of, and enthusiasm for, planetary science. His most recent book is The Little Book of Aliens (Harper Collins, 2023).

Adam Frank

Areas of Expertise

Extraterrestrial Life
Space Discoveries
Life on Other Planets
Civilizations and climate change
Theoretical Astrophysics
Physics and Astronomy
Evolution of Stars and Planets
Science and Religion
Space Travel
US Space Program
Meteoroids

Social

Biography

Professor Frank's research is in the general area of theoretical astrophysics, and in particular the hydrodynamic and magneto-hydrodynamic evolution of matter ejected from stars. His scientific studies are funded by the National Science Foundation, NASA and the Department of Education.

Current research topic include jets from Young Stellar Objects, bipolar outflows from evolved stars such as Planetary Nebulae and Massive stars. Investigations are carried out though the use of large scale numerical simulations.

Frank is also active member of the department's Plasma Physics program, which is part of the University's interdisciplinary program in High-Energy Density Plasmas. In collaboration with faculty at the University's Laboratory for Laser Energetics (an Inertial Confinement Fusion facility), he is conducting plasma astrophysical research on topics such as magnetic diffusion in interstellar clouds and the evolution of solar magnetic flux tubes.

Professor Frank is also actively involved in science outreach as a popular science writer. He has contributed articles to Discover and Astronomy magazines. He received the science-writing prize from the Solar Physics Division of the American Astronomical Society in 1999. In 2024, he was an inaugural winner of the Berggruen Institute's International Prize Essay Competition.

He received his PhD in Physics (1992) from University of Washington. He held postdoctoral and visiting scientist positions at Leiden University and the University of Minnesota. In 1995, he was awarded a Hubble Fellowship. He joined the University as an Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy in 1996. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2000 and to Professor in 2004. He received a University Bridging Fellowship in 2005.

Education

University of Washington, Seattle

Ph.D.

Physics

1992

University of Washington, Seattle

M.S.

Physics

1990

University of Colorado, Boulder

B.A.

Physics

1984

Selected Media Appearances

Adam Frank Talks MSNBC Through the Live Footage of NASA/SpaceX Splashdown Off the Florida Coast

MSNBC  tv

2025-03-18

“This is a triumph of American science to see the ongoing development of commercial space programs, which is so important for the future of humanity if we’re really going to become a space-faring civilization," Frank says.

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FAA Investigating SpaceX's Latest Rocket Failure

CNN  tv

2025-03-08

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: The FAA is investigating the latest explosion of a SpaceX Starship. The live stream shows fiery debris falling from the sky after it broke up shortly after launch Thursday. The vehicle is central to Elon Musk's goal of heading to Mars. It's launched twice this year, and twice it's blown up. So, you can see where that could be a real problem.

Let's discuss this with astrophysics professor Adam Frank from the University of Rochester. He also written the book, "The Little Book of Aliens."

Adam, what happened here? Thanks for being here. Tell us what happened.

ADAM FRANK, ASTROPHYSICS PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER: Yes. Well, this was not what any of us were hoping for. The Starship is not only important for getting to Mars eventually, which is a much larger project, but getting to the moon. It's a big part of NASA's project to try and get to the moon, you know, hopefully by 2027 or so. And so, this is the second time that the Starship has exploded before it even - I mean, before it even got to places or parts of the mission that it had gotten to before.

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Adam Frank: Alien Civilizations and the Search for Extraterrestrial Life | Lex Fridman Podcast #455

Rex Fridman podcast  online

2024-12-23

Conversation with astrophysicist Adam Frank, all about aliens, alien civilizations, and the search for extraterrestrial life.

Timestamps:
0:00 - Introduction / 1:58 - Planet formation / 7:08 - Plate tectonics / 14:30 - Extinction events / 18:41 - Biosphere / 21:39 - Technosphere / 25:53 - Emergence of intelligence / 32:06 - Drake equation / 36:20 - Exoplanets / 39:04 - Habitable zones / 42:06 - Fermi Paradox / 51:04 - Alien civilizations / 1:00:32 - Colonizing Mars / 1:12:48 - Search for aliens / 1:29:13 - Alien megastructures / 1:35:19 - Kardashev scale / 1:40:32 - Detecting aliens / 1:47:14 - Warp drives / 1:53:21 - Cryogenics / 1:56:39 - What aliens look like / 2:05:24 - Alien contact / 2:16:29 - UFO sightings / 2:28:14 - Physics of life / 2:54:05 - Nature of time / 3:10:29 - Cognition / 3:14:53 - Mortality

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Selected Articles

The Anthropocene Generalized: Evolution of Exo-Civilizations and Their Planetary Feedback

Astrobiology

A. Frank

2018

We present a framework for studying generic behaviors possible in the interaction between a resource-harvesting technological civilization (an exo-civilization) and the planetary environment in which it evolves. Using methods from dynamical systems theory, we introduce and analyze a suite of simple equations modeling a population which consumes resources for the purpose of running a technological civilization and the feedback those resources drive on the state of the host planet. The feedbacks can drive the planet away from the initial state the civilization originated in and into domains that are detrimental to its sustainability. Our models conceptualize the problem primarily in terms of feedbacks from the resource use onto the coupled planetary systems. In addition, we also model the population growth advantages gained via the harvesting of these resources. We present three models of increasing complexity: (1) Civilization-planetary interaction with a single resource; (2) Civilization-planetary interaction with two resources each of which has a different level of planetary system feedback; (3) Civilization-planetary interaction with two resources and nonlinear planetary feedback (i.e., runaways). All three models show distinct classes of exo-civilization trajectories. We find smooth entries into long-term, “sustainable” steady states. We also find population booms followed by various levels of “die-off.” Finally, we also observe rapid “collapse” trajectories for which the population approaches n = 0. Our results are part of a program for developing an “Astrobiology of the Anthropocene” in which questions of sustainability, centered on the coupled Earth-system, can be seen in their proper astronomical/planetary context. We conclude by discussing the implications of our results for both the coupled Earth system and for the consideration of exo-civilizations across cosmic history.

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The Silurian Hypothesis: Would it be possible to detect an industrial civilization in the geological record?

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics

A. Frank

2018

If an industrial civilization had existed on Earth many millions of years prior to our own era, what traces would it have left and would they be detectable today? We summarize the likely geological fingerprint of the Anthropocene, and demonstrate that while clear, it will not differ greatly in many respects from other known events in the geological record. We then propose tests that could plausibly distinguish an industrial cause from an otherwise naturally occurring climate event.

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The formation and evolution of wind-capture discs in binary systems

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

M. Huarte-Espinosa, J. Carroll-Nellenback, J. Nordhaus, A. Frank, E. G. Blackman

2013

We study the formation, evolution and physical properties of accretion discs formed via wind capture in binary systems. Using the adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) code AstroBEAR, we have carried out high-resolution 3D simulations that follow a stellar mass secondary in the corotating frame as it orbits a wind producing asymptotic giant branch (AGB) primary. We first derive a resolution criteria, based on considerations of Bondi–Hoyle flows, that must be met in order to properly resolve the formation of accretion discs around the secondary. We then compare simulations of binaries with three different orbital radii (Ro = 10, 15, 20 au). Discs are formed in all three cases, however, the size of the disc and, most importantly, its accretion rate decreases with orbital radii. In addition, the shape of the orbital motions of material within the disc becomes increasingly elliptical with increasing binary separation. The flow is mildly unsteady with ‘fluttering’ around the bow shock observed. The discs are generally well aligned with the orbital plane after a few binary orbits. We do not observe the presence of any large-scale, violent instabilities (such as the flip-flop mode). For the first time, moreover, it is observed that the wind component that is accreted towards the secondary has a vortex tube-like structure, rather than a column-like one as it was previously thought. In the context of AGB binary systems that might be precursors to pre-planetary nebula (PPN) and planetary nebula (PN), we find that the wind accretion rates at the chosen orbital separations are generally too small to produce the most powerful outflows observed in these systems if the companions are main-sequence stars but marginally capable if the companions are white dwarfs. It is likely that many of the more powerful PPN and PN involve closer binaries than the ones considered here. The results also demonstrate principles of broad relevance to all wind-capture binary systems.

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