The Institute Letter Spring 2023

Uncover how climate change and climate migration were exploited for profit at the Qatar World Cup. Explore how the combination of ancient DNA analysis with archaeological and historical approaches is revolutionizing knowledge of prehistoric population change. Trace “lost” scholars within the Institute’s archives. Fall into Alice’s rabbit hole and explore how individuals, as avatars, form communities in 3D virtual worlds. Follow a Baroque bust as it journeys from Rome to IAS and back again. Consider what it looks like to live in and beyond climate crisis. Read the latest research news covering everything from black holes to galaxy clusters; an excerpt from the IAS reading list; and interviews with scholars Sophie Lund Schrøder (Natural Sciences) and K-Sue Park (Social Science).

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Based on her firsthand experience of shadowing workers on construction sites in Qatar, Natasha Iskander, Member (2022–23) in the School of Social Science, reveals how climate change and climate migration were exploited for profit at the 2022 World Cup. She highlights that climate change has a face, and that its consequences are made through specific economic and organizational practices.

Reflecting on preliminary results obtained from a seven-year HistoGenes project, Patrick J. Geary, Professor Emeritus in the School of Historical Studies, describes how advances in the field of paleogenom­ics are not only revolutionizing the study of paleolithic hominids but are also allowing scholars to answer questions about much more recent history, previously inaccessible using traditional historical and archae­ological sources.

Lia Medeiros, current Member in the School of Natural Sciences, has led a group of researchers from the Event Horizon Telescope collaboration in producing a groundbreaking new image of the M87 black hole, using machine learning algorithm PRIMO to achieve the full resolution of the array for the first time.