OUTLOOK science masterclass

Profile l Astrophysicist at Lawrence Berkeley George F. Smoot National Lab, University of California, Berkeley, since 1974 l Born in Yukon, Florida in 1945 l His family was closely connected with Thinking in aeons the law – both grandfathers and his cousin and uncle were judges. However, his father John Mather and George Smoot won the Nobel Prize 2006 in Physics for their work on cosmic switched from law to engineering in the background radiation. Smoot measured the temperature variation (anisotropy). early 1950s l Achieved dual BSc in mathematics and How important is an interdisciplinary approach physicists saw what biologists were doing and physics at MIT in 1966 in addressing urgent scientific questions, and what they could learn, many were put off by l Was awarded a doctorate in particle how can we foster such collaborations? the lack of rigor and the shallow understand- physics at MIT in 1970, then moved to This is vitally important and crucial to the ing. Biological systems are so complex and so Berkeley progress of modern science. There are a poorly observed and measured that biologists l Proposed to NASA that a Differential number of ways to do this. The approach that had to be satisfied by a high level and rough Microwave Radiometer be added to the I prefer and am trying is to create a centre understanding of what they were studying, planned COBE (Cosmic Bachground adressing interesting science problems requir- while physicists are trained for rigor and Explorer) satellite in 1974, and launced in ing interdisciplinary skills and knowledge and precision. 1989 with a mandate to Some physicists, however, stayed and began l “The Universe is Announced findings of COBE at the address these issues. doing biology, but there was little sign of bring- American Physical Society in 1992 in a quasi-static It is important to ing biological techniques into physics. Due to equilibrium so have both the incen- the advances that physical science tools and that much of tives - financial and approaches are allowing in biology, the depth on the history of development and evolution. its history is approved research and rigor of biology is steadily progressing. I tried saying one might think this about the irrelevant.” directions (official, The biologists at the lunch were more pessi- Universe, but many times the Universe is in peer, and public) — mistic about the rate of progress and under- a quasi-static equilibrium so that much of its and the proximity including coffee/discussion standing than the physicists. This might be a history is irrelevant. “Weren’t there many bio- areas so that personal contacts are made and function of the biologists’ closeness to the dif- logical systems that have reached an optimum, incidental discussions arise that often lead to ficult issues. e.g. photosynthesis, or specifically the ATP other avenues of investigations and ideas. One thing that discourages these biologists energy-transfer process, so that the historical is that so much of biology seems to depend path was not so critical?” They agreed, although What is the future of the Standard Model only for a limited number of cases. if the elusive Higgs boson and the even At this stage and for the foreseeable s g more elusive neutrinoless double-beta future, I think that biology will con- decay are discovered? tinue to apply the tools and techniques meetin I am looking forward to the completion of experimental physics but not so of the old standard model of particle much the approach and tools of theo- laureate physics with the discovery of the Higgs, retical physics. but I look forward with much more lindau

./ anticipation and eagerness to going Aside from as a Nobel laureate, how do c g, beyond the standard model and discov- you want the world to remember you? ering dark matter and, hopefully, extra I do not think the world will remember

flemmin dimensions. The dark matter could be any of us. When you work in cosmology, the lightest supersymmetric particle (a you think with a perspective of billions beautiful but untested extension of the of years. How standard model) or the energy used “How many many people going into a ‘small’ extra dimension (the people do we do we remem- lowest rung possible in the so-called remember from ber from 1,000 Kaluza-Klein tower). There are many, 1,000 years years ago? potentially very intriguing discoveries ago?” How m any that could teach us about the world and from 10,000 expand our ideas. years ago? How many from 1 million years ago? etc. So now the question is Can theoretical physics help identify more like that about Ozymandias [from guiding principles in biology? Percy Shelley’s poem]. After a thousand At Lindau there was a lunch involving or so years nothing is left of the great three physics Nobel laureates and three works but a few broken relics. What will biology-related laureates at which we be left in a billion years? tried to see what we could learn from The point is not about being remem- each other, including techniques that bered or about doing science to win a could be cross-applied. One participant Nobel prize — you do science because commented that historically biologists you want to be a scientist. Likewise, you have sought out physicists for their live your life in a way you think is good tools and algorithms. However, when and good for you.

S12 | NATURE | VOL 467 | 14 OCTOBER 2010