Paul Davies is a theoretical physicist, cosmologist, astrobiologist and best-selling author. He is Regents’ Professor at Arizona State University, where he directs the Beyond Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science — a cosmic think tank that tackles the “big questions” of existence, from the origin of the universe to the origin of life and the nature of time.
Davies also directs a National Cancer Institute research program that tackles cancer from a physics perspective. Among his research accomplishments, Davies helped explain how black holes radiate energy, what caused the ripples in the cosmic afterglow of the big bang, and why life on Earth may have come from Mars.
Dr Charley Lineweaver is a Senior Fellow, Planetary Science Institute at the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics at ANU. His current research projects include exoplanet statistics, the recession of the Moon, cosmic entropy production, major transitions in cosmic and biological evolution and phylogenetic trees.