The Vatican announced new nominations for the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, according to the Holy See Press Bulletin. Among the six members elected by Pope Francis for the Vatican City-based academy, physics Nobel-prize Andrea Mia Ghez and Didier Queloz and Google DeepMind co-founder and CEO Demis Hassabis stand out.
Ms. Ghez, 59, is a California-based astrophysicist, but born in New York City, “best known for her groundbreaking work on the center of our galaxy, which has led to the best evidence to date for the existence of a supermassive compact object, now generally recognized to be a black hole,” quoting her description on her website. She is one of only four women to have been awarded the Nobel Prize in physics, receiving it in 2020. Her research “on the orbits of stars at the center of the Milky Way” contributed to a new approach, currently studied and applied by her group to understand the physics of gravity near a black hole and the role that black holes play in the formation and evolution of galaxies.”
Mr. Queloz, 58 and Swiss, is a professor at ETH in Zurich. He received the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics for his contribution on the evolution of the universe and the discovery of the first exoplanet orbiting a sun-like star.
Mr. Hassabis, 47 and British, is Google DeepMind co-founder and CEO. Founded in 2010, the avant-garde company aims to combine neuroscience and machine learning with new developments in computer hardware to implement increasingly powerful general-purpose learning algorithms that will work toward creating artificial intelligence.
The Pontifical Academy of Sciences promotes “the progress of the mathematical, physical, and natural sciences, and the study of related epistemological questions and issues.” Its members are elected because of any religious reasons, but because of their excellence. For example, choosing an AI expert means Pope Francis is seeking for better information and related ethics on the theme.
