Imagine if you had to come up with a concept that explains what everything in the universe is made of.Could there be a more complicated assignment? To describe the stuff that comprises everything we know -- every galaxy and star and planet and person and protoplasm and dust mite? To boil all those complex, myriad things down into a basic set of ingredients and rules, that apply across the board? If someone asked you to do that, you’d say it was impossible, right?So it might surprise you to know that scientists have already done it. They’ve come up with an answer to the question of what fundamental particles and forces underpin almost everything in the universe (gravity is the only exception), and what governs the behavior of those ingredients. And it might surprise you even more to know that that answer has been around now for 50 years. It’s a pretty good answer too – so good, in fact, that this answer, this theory, has survived every attempt by scientists to challenge it and prove that it isn’t correct. This theory was so ahead of its time that, only now, in the 21stcentury, are we able to design and build machines that can test the theory’s most extreme predictions. And those predictions are holding up. The tests show that every one of the theory’s predictions about the universe’s ingredients and forces are accurate. The theory has a 50-year-long winning streak.We’re going to explore this remarkable theory, known as the Standard Model, in today’s episode. Our guest is one of the best people in the world to help us understand what the Standard Model is, how it came to be, why it’s important, and where we’re headed next. Dr. Glenn Starkman is an internationally known theoretical physicist. His research interests include searching for habitable planets, probing the shape of the universe, looking for miniature black holes, and extending and testing Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity. He also serves as the Distinguished University Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Case Western Reserve University. And he directs the university’s Center for Education and Research in Cosmology and Astrophysics, and the Institute for the Science of Origins.

And by the way, he thinks the name “Standard Model” is pretty boring. He suggests replacing it with “The Absolutely Amazing Theory of Almost Everything.”To celebrate the accomplishments of the Standard Model on its 50thanniversary, Dr. Starkman has organized a four-day symposium here in Cleveland, from June 1-4, 2018, called “The Standard Model at 50 Years.” Its all-star lineup of scientific speakers includes eight Nobel laureates in physics, including Dr. Steven Weinberg, whose landmark 1967 research forms the cornerstone of the Standard Model.

To register to attend the symposium's free public lecture, by Nobel Prize-winning physicist Dr. David Gross, or to live-stream the entire symposium, go to artsci.case.edu/smat50/