School of Natural Sciences

A recent article in The Independent highlights a striking new astronomical discovery by a team led by Nadia Zakamska, Member in the School of Natural Sciences: a “mystery object” several times the mass of Jupiter or larger, orbited by a giant metallic wind cloud.

A group of astronomers, including Nadia Zakamska, frequent Member in the School of Natural Sciences, and James Owen, NASA Hubble Fellow (2014–17) in the School, have achieved unprecedented detection of vaporized metals within a dusty, gaseous cloud during rare stellar occultation. Their work utilized the Gemini South telescope.

Five past scholars from the School of Natural Sciences have been named as recipients in the American Astronomical Society (AAS) 2026 Awards and Prizes for “outstanding achievements in research and education.” Their research spans a wide range of topics, including the formation, structure, and evolution of galaxies, as well as the study of relativistic deflection.

Building on decades of effort, Lizhong Zhang, Member (2023–24) in the School of Natural Sciences; James Stone, Professor in the School; and a team of astrophysicists have achieved a major milestone: developing the most comprehensive model to date of luminous black hole accretion. Their breakthrough allows scholars to "observe" such black hole systems not through a telescope, but through a computer.

Building on decades of effort, Lizhong Zhang, Member (2023–24) in the School of Natural Sciences; James Stone, Professor in the School; and a team of astrophysicists have achieved a major milestone: developing the most comprehensive model to date of luminous black hole accretion. Their breakthrough allows scholars to "observe" such black hole systems not through a telescope, but through a computer.

According to a recent article from Quanta Magazine, researchers working at the frontier of quantum physics have uncovered a “puzzling conundrum.” The story began nearly three decades ago, when Juan Maldacena, Carl P. Feinberg Professor in the School of Natural Sciences, demonstrated that complex calculations in string theory could be dramatically simplified using concepts from particle physics through a “holographic” correspondence. 

Chen Ning Yang (杨振宁), Faculty (1955–66) and Member (1949–54) in the Institute for Advanced Study’s School of Mathematics/Natural Sciences, passed away on October 18, 2025 at the age of 103. At the Institute, he produced a body of work which redefined how scientists conceptualize the fundamental symmetries of the universe. 

Lauren K. Williams, von Neumann Fellow (2017) in the Schools of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, has been named a 2025 MacArthur Fellow. The award recognizes Williams’s influential and wide-ranging research that bridges algebraic combinatorics, geometry, and physics.