Vera is a professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Southern California. As a cosmologist, she studies the entire universe as a physical system. In doing so, she explores the nature of dark matter, dark energy, and the birth of the universe. Vera is the project leader of a new $4M grant from the John Templeton Foundation that will bring together astrophysicists, computer scientists, artists, and philosophers in a new research hub to explore the nature of dark matter and the early universe. She joins the podcast to discuss dark matter, collaboration among scientists, observatories, and more. 

What are the strangest objects in the universe? It's almost certainly black holes, objects that are so powerful that even light cannot escape them.  To learn more, check out our podcast episode with Shep Doelman, whose team produced the first-ever images of a black hole.

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