The Foundational Questions Institute (Anthony Aguirre)

The Foundational Questions Institute (FQXi) was mentioned in the comments of Mark's post about John Barrow's Templeton Prize. This is a new organization that is devoted to supporting innovative ideas at the frontiers of physics and cosmology. It is led by Max Tegmark of MIT and Anthony Aguirre of UCSC, two leading young cosmologists, backed up by an extremely prestigious Scientific Advisory Panel. Sounds like a great idea, but some of us have questions, primarily concerning the source of funding for FQXi -- currently the John Templeton Foundation. The Templeton Foundation is devoted to bringing together science and religion, which may or may not be your cup of tea. I'm already on the record as turning down money from them (see also this Business Week article) -- and believe me, turning down money is not part of my usual repertoire. But Max and Anthony and the rest are good scientists, ...