This story spotlights some of the projects WoodNext has funded in the physical sciences. Science is one of our core areas of focus and we fund an array of natural and social science disciplines. Below, we highlight several recent grants in astrophysics and geology.
Astrophysics
WoodNext supports projects related to space science, from research to programs that train future generations interested in the cosmos. We are growing our portfolio of astrophysics projects: we support research on dark energy at the University of Texas McDonald Observatory and we just made a major grant to the California Institute of Technology to support a potential breakthrough in quantum mechanics via the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO). Below we highlight a grant we made in 2023 that is showing exciting results in our understanding of the universe.
University of Colorado, Boulder Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP)
WoodNext funded a mission study led by John Mather, winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics, for a project that has the potential to provide groundbreaking insights into the rate of the universe’s expansion, as well as to increase our understanding of dark energy. The mission aims to improve the absolute radiance calibration of stars—that is, the accurate capture of how much light intensity a star is radiating—by a factor of 5. This will enable currently impossible differentiation between models of the expansion rate of the universe. The enhanced calibration will enable other scientific investigations, such as the properties of exoplanets orbiting other stars.
Geology
University of Southampton Research on Earth’s Climate Cycles
Groundbreaking research at the University of Southampton supported by WoodNext has been recognized as a runner-up in the journal Science’s 2024 “Breakthrough of the Year”. The discovery of waves in the mantle—one of the internal layers of the earth—is an essential missing element in understanding plate tectonics. Mantle waves potentially account for previously inexplicable inner-continental plateaus in Brazil, India, and South Africa, among others. This achievement sheds light on dynamic processes that might be happening further away from the edges of tectonic plates than previously thought. It underscores the transformative role philanthropy can play in advancing innovative research that answers fundamental questions about our planet.
