In the News


A number of our research projects have been picked up by various blogs and news organizations. It’s always fun to get the chance to talk to science journalists and through them, to the public. Here are some links to coverage of our work, which might help explain some of the topics we’re studying.


Coverage of the FIRE (Feedback in Realistic Environments) simulations:

FIRE simulations are featured in the nationally-released feature-length IMAX film “Voyage of Time” by Terrence Malick, narrated by Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. You can see the clips, together with narration by myself and Chris Hayward (who did all the real work to make these), by clicking here

FIRE simulations are also featured in the films “Star Men” (Director Alison E. Rose,  2015) symphonic film “Deep Field” (Composer/director Eric Whitacre, 2019). These have played at a variety of film festivals and special screenings, limited theatrical releases, and planetaria throughout the country.  

Recently our simulations have also been incorporated into “Stellarscape” an immersive multimedia performance synthesizing music, science, visual art, and technology. The performance includes live musicians, sensors, electronic music, and dance, all collaborating through interactive cinematography The result combines kinesthetic and acoustic sensing with astrophysical simulations of star formation in real time.

FIRE discovery of a way to make galaxies without dark matter:

Scientific American: Cosmic Simulations Show how Dark-Matter Deficient Galaxies Confront Goliath and Survive

UCI News: UCI Scientists Discover How Galaxies Can Exist without Dark Matter

Princeton University Press: Astrophysicists Find a Way to Form Dark-Matter Deficient Galaxies

Pomona College News: Pomona Professor Leads Research Into Galaxies Lacking Dark Matter

FIRE predictions for new types of dark matter:

Space.com: Dark matter atoms may form shadowy galaxies with rapid star formation

Phys.org: Dark matter can make dark atoms, say theoretical physicists

FIRE predictions for the origin of the Milky Way and tiny “dwarf” galaxies:

Sky & Telescope: The Alignment of the Milky Way’s Entourage, Explained

CNN: New stars found in the Milky Way were born outside of it

Phys.org: New collection of stars, not born in our galaxy, discovered in Milky Way

Sci-Tech Daily: Nyx: Stellar Stream of Stars Discovered in Milky Way That Originated in Another Galaxy

Science News: Stars Born in Outflows May Populate Halos of Milky Way-Like Galaxies

Universe Today: A Stellar Stream of Stars, Stolen from Another Galaxy

EarthSky: Milky Way could be catapulting stars into its outer halo

TheNextWeb: Meet the astrophysicist who found Nyx, a new family of stars beyond the Milky Way

PNAS: Dwarf galaxies pose new questions about dark matter and the early universe that models are struggling to answer

Medium: Dwarf galaxies pose a new problem for models of the early universe

Science Daily: New collection of stars, not born in our galaxy, discovered in Milky Way

Knowable: How Gas Fuels Galaxies and The Life and Breath of Galaxies

Physics Today: Supernovae, SuperComputers, and Galactic Evolution

Caltech News: Re-Creating our Galaxy on a Supercomputer (with video)

Youtube link to the video, and Additional videos and explanation

Popular Mechanics: Astronomers Created the Most Detailed Computer Model of the Galaxy

Discovery: How the Universe’s Age Could Tell Us How It Will End

Eureka alert: Reconciling dwarf galaxies with dark matter (with video)

Sky & Telescope: Missing Dwarf Galaxies Never Were

Science News: Possible perp found in mystery of Milky Way’s missing galaxy pals

Inside Wales: A Vast Stream of Flowing Stars Is Proof of The Milky Way’s Violent History

Eureka Alert: New collection of stars, not born in our galaxy, discovered in Milky Way

Interesting Engineering: Galaxy Simulations Solve Missing Satellites Mystery

American Astronomical Society Meeting 228, San Diego, Press Conference (click on “From Molecules to Galaxies”, FIRE conference begins at 14:00)

Tech Times: How a Texas Supercomputer Solved an Interstellar Mystery (or see version at the Texas Advanced Computing Center, with video & audio)

Universe Today: Using the ‘Missing Physics’ of Stellar Feedback to Accurately Simulate Galaxies from the Big Bang to Today

Sky & Telescope: Why Galaxies Delay Star Birth

iTechPost: Caltech Designs A Computer Simulation Of The Milky Way Galaxy

American Astronomical Society Meeting 224, Boston, 2014, Press Conference (click on “An Astronomical Assortment” under the Boston AAS 224, June 2014 header, FIRE conference begins at 14:10)

Space.com: Milky Way CSI: Were Galaxy 'Homicides' an Inside Job?

The Daily Galaxy: "Mystery of 'Missing Physics' in the Universe” - Solved by CalTech Astrophysicists

SciTechDaily: Study Shows Dark Matter Dominates Nearby Dwarf Galaxy Triangulum II (also picked up by 14u News)

Engadget: Supercomputer gives most accurate picture yet of star formation

The Daily: The Universe on a Computer: The Formation of Galaxies, Stars and Planets in a Violent Cosmos

HPC Wire: Supercomputer Research Reveals Star Cluster Born Outside Our Galaxy

Science Times: Evidence of Stars Born Elsewhere Suddenly Merged With the Milky Way

Science News: Milky Way Captured Few Dwarf Galaxies from Nearby Large Magellanic Cloud

DPA: Mapping the Milky Way: Supercomputers help discover new collection of 250 stars

The Independent: Scientists find Stream of Stars in our Galaxy that Appear to have Come from Somewhere Else

Science News: Astronomers Find Stellar Stream of Extragalactic Origin in the Vicinity of the Sun

Webby Feed: Is Our Milky Way Galaxy casting Stars towards its Outer Halo? – What Could Cause Such Phenomenon

Cosmos Magazine: Fossil Galaxy found deep in the Milky Way

Caltech: About our Simons Investigator Award

Bulletins of the American Astronomical Society: The Radcliffe Wave on FIRE: Hunting for Sinusoidal ISM Gas Structures in Simulated Milky Way Disks

FIRE shows binary stars may be critical for re-ionizing the Universe:

AstroBites: “Brilliant Binaries” Explain Re-Ionization

FIRE predicts new instabilities in galactic nuclei:

AstroBites: Waltz Across Galactic Nuclei: An Instability in the centers of Galaxies

FIRE shows that half of our Galaxy's gas supply may have been “stolen” from other galaxies:

Futurism: Milky Way’s Origins are Not what they Seem

BigThink: We are “Extragalactic Immigrants”

Science News for Students: Half the Milky Way may be Stolen Material

Sky & Telescope: Milky Way may be Made with Swapped Gas

Science Alert: Half our Bodies’ Atoms Could Have Come from Outside the Galaxy

Gizmodo: Half of Our Galaxy Might have Come from Other Galaxies

Seeker: As Much as Half the Milky Way Likely Came from Distant Galaxies

Science News: Half the MIlky Way Comes from Other Galaxies

FIRE predictions for super-luminous galaxies at high redshifts (the sub-millimeter galaxies):

Sky & Telescope: Making the Brightest, Rarest Galaxies

The Verge: Computer models reveal how the Universe’s biggest and brightest Galaxies Formed

Space.com: Mystery Solved? How the Universe’s Brightest-Ever Galaxies Formed

LA Times: Why were some ancient galaxies so bright?

Vice.com: Why the Brightest Galaxies Create 1,000 Times More Stars than Ours

Science: Why are Some Galaxies a Thousand Times Brighter than the Milky Way?

Popular Mechanics: We’ve finally discovered What’s Driving the Most Impossibly Bright Galaxies in the Universe

Additional FIRE coverage:

Before It’s News: Project FIRE Uses Star Feedback to Explain Less Massive Galaxies

Caltech News: Galaxies on FIRE: Star Feedback Results in Less Massive Galaxies (also at Science Daily)

Boing-Boing: Making Galaxies on a Supercomputer (also Scimplified blog, Nature World NewsIFL ScienceNeuz)

Northwestern News: Galaxies on FIRE: Stellar Feedback Explains Cosmologically Inefficient Star Formation

Northwestern News: Feedback-regulated Star formation and the FIRE Simulations

CITA News: The FIRE collaboration: Harnessing Computing to Observe Galaxy Formation over the Life-Span of the Universe

Science Daily: Dark Matter dominates in nearby Dwarf Galaxy

Daily Mail: Watch the Milky Way being Born in a Few Seconds

Daily Galaxy: Milky Way's Nearby Dark-Matter Hotspot

New Simulations Provide Clues to Galaxies Mass: picked up at YahooWebIndiaNewsPointZeeNewsBusiness StandardStranger than Science FictionBusiness InsiderDark Matter Dark EnergyCarnegie ObservatoriesScience Daily

Simons Foundation News: New Institute Pushes the Boundaries of Big Data

The Evolving Planet: Study Suggests Supernovas Destroyed Galaxies Near Milky Way

CWRU: "The Daily": “The Universe on a Computer: The Formation of Galaxies, Stars and Planets in a Violent Cosmos”

Science: Galaxy simulations are at last matching reality—and producing surprising insights into cosmic evolution

Quanta Magazine: The Universe Is Not a Simulation, but We Can Now Simulate It

American Scientist: Why Do Galaxies Start Out as Cosmic Pickles?

Science: The galaxy Builders


Coverage of the STARFORGE simulations of how stars form:

Sci-Tech Daily: STARFORGE: Stunning Simulation of Stars Being Born Is Most Realistic Ever 

Science News: Watch this beautiful, high-resolution simulation of how stars are born

Nature Astronomy: Feedback gets a stellar review

Astronomy Picture of the Day: STARFORGE, a Star Formation Simulation

Northwestern Now: Stunning simulation of stars being born is most realistic ever

Astrobits: The Recipe for Star Cluster Soup

The Independent: Scientists build ‘Starforge’, world’s most realistic simulation of stars being born

Yahoo News: University of Texas researchers discover answer to how stars form

Universe Today: In Wildly Different Environments, Stars End Up Roughly the Same

New Scientist: Watch the best ever simulation of stars being born in a cosmic cloud

Live Science: Watch this Simulation of Stars Being Born

Telescope Live: STARFORGE: A Spectacular Simulation of Stars Being Born

CNet: Astronomers create most realistic simulation of stars being born -- and it's beautiful

CNN: Watch this Trippy Simulation of Stars Being Born

CNN: This is what it looks like when a star is born

Extreme Tech: Stunning New Model Simulates Star Formation in Highest-Ever Resolution

Interesting Engineering: Birth of a Star: Scientists Create a Realistic Simulation

Nerdist: Watch a Supercomputer Simulation of a Star Forming

ZME Science: Scientists Find a New Way to Make Virtual Stars

Space.com: Watch this Stunning STARFORGE simulation of a star being born (also on Reddit), and Stars appear to regulate their own masses during formation

Science Alert: This Jaw-Dropping Simulation gives us our best look yet at baby stars being born

Daily Mail: A star is born! Stunning simulation is the first high-resolution model to show an entire gas cloud where stars are formed

Syfy Wire: Witness the wonders of star formation in this incredibly detailed 3D simulation

Newsweek: Video Shows What Happens When a Star Is Born, According to Scientists

Science Times: How are Stars Born? Computer Simulation Realistically Shows Breathtaking Stellar Formation

Daily Kos: Top Comments, Star Formation Edition

Phys.org: Exploring how stars determine their own masses

Sci News: Star Formation is Self-Regulatory Process, New Research Suggests

NSF Research News: Stars determine their own masses

Sky & Telescope interview with STARFORGE lead Mike Grudic: AAVSO "Superstar Astronomers" with Dr. Mike Grudić


Coverage of our work on the origin of the LIGO black holes:

Scientific American: Scientists Run Stellar Autopsies on Colliding Black Holes



Coverage of our predictions for Planet Formation
(and atmospheric dynamics):

Scientific American: Planet Formation? It’s a Drag (if that doesn’t work, try this alternate link)

"How the seeds of planets take shape,” covered by Caltech News, Phys.org, upCosmos.com

AAS Nova: When Is Moving Dust Unstable?

Andy Lloyd's Dark Star Blog: How Dust Clumps Together in Space



Coverage of our predictions of “Totally Metal Stars” and how Dust and Gas interact in Star Formation:

I recommend checking out this very descriptive and excellent writeup on the physics arXiv blog

SciShow Space YouTube Program (video)

A New Class of Stars is Made Entirely of Metal: picked up by io9, Fark, Slashdot, Reddit, Science Alert, Nautilus

Time: Millions of Stars May Be Made of Nothing But Metal

Beyond Earthly Skies: A New Class of Totally Metal Stars

Astrobites: Dust Does Not Follow Gas



Coverage of our work on the formation and growth of Super-Massive Black Holes:

“A Quasar in Every Galaxy?”: A writeup by Robert Irion in a special issue of Sky & Telescope, available here and here

An interview with me on Korean radio (TBS eFM’s “This Morning”), discussing our work on black holes in the context of the recent movie “Interstellar,” can be listened to here or searched for here

A television interview with me on this work aired on NHK Japan’s Series “Cosmic Front NEXT,” in the episode “Mysers of Ancient Supermassive Black Holes” (Aired July 2, 2015). Due to rights issues, the interview can only be viewed by purchasing the DVD from NHK Japan’s website.

Science News: Lopsided Stellar Disks Help Black Holes Guzzle Gas

New Scientist: Warped Stars Feed Black Holes to Fatten them Up!

Physics.org: How Do Supermassive Black Holes Get So Big? 

A shout-out to our work in an excellent explanation of the growth of black holes on Tanya Urrutia’s blog

Science: Some additional interviewing and discussion of our work in the context of observations of galaxy clusters, in this Science Magazine news focus piece: “A Quest for Cosmic Karma”

Sydney News: A dormant volcano: the black hole at the heart of our galaxy

SciTech Daily: Millions of Supercomputer-Generated “Universes” Reveal How Black Holes Grow


Coverage of our work on the collisions between galaxies:


Simons Foundation News: Colliding Galaxies Move from the Lab to the Movies (with videos)

Science Magazine, News Focus: Coming Into Focus: A Universe Shaped by Violent Galaxies

Sky & Telescope: A companion to this is the set of simulation movies: “Galaxy Merger Movies” 



Miscellaneous Coverage:

Astrobites: An interview at AAS 228




© Philip Hopkins 2015