A September 22, 2026 email from the Perimeter Institute of Theoretical Physics (PI) in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada announced this upcoming event, Note: As usual tickets for the free in-person (there’s also a livestream) event are being made available early,
CBC IDEAS at Perimeter – Curiosity and the Cosmos
Wednesday, October 7, [2026] at 6 PM ET
Join us for a special recording of CBC Radio’s IDEAS, featuring groundbreaking Perimeter Institute researcher Asimina Arvanitaki.
Math may be the language of the universe, and brilliant minds and technology may have unlocked many of the secrets of the cosmos. But the pursuit of knowledge and insight always begins with the same thing: Curiosity.
In an adaptation of a talk Asimina Arvanitaki recently delivered in her native Greece, she will highlight the role curiosity has played in her own passion for science and in the history of scientific discovery. And in a wide-ranging chat with IDEAS host Nahlah Ayed, they’ll cover such subjects as the importance of fundamental research, the responsibility of scientists to the public, and the role of AI in scientific research.
If you’re unable to attend in person, a recording will be available on our YouTube channel.
Don’t miss out! Free tickets to attend this event in person will become available on Wednesday, September 23, [2026] at 9 am ET.
Here’s more from the event page,
Overview
Math may be the language of the universe, but every discovery begins with something simpler: curiosity.
Important
- This public talk will begin at 6:00 PM. Your ticket will be valid until 5:45 PM. This ensures all guests have enough time to enter the Theatre and be seated by our ushers.
- The talk will be livestreamed via our YouTube channel with a recording of the talk available following the event.
- Our ushers seat guests beginning from the front rows of the Theatre toward the back.
Title
CBC IDEAS at Perimeter: Curiosity and the Cosmos
Description
Math may be the language of the universe, and brilliant minds and technology may have unlocked many of the secrets of the cosmos. But the pursuit of knowledge and insight always begins with the same thing: Curiosity.
Join us for a special recording of CBC Radio’s IDEAS, featuring groundbreaking Perimeter Institute researcher Asimina Arvanitaki. In an adaptation of a talk she recently delivered in her native Greece, Asimina will highlight the role curiosity has played in her own passion for science and in the history of scientific discovery. And in a wide-ranging chat with IDEAS host Nahlah Ayed, they’ll cover such subjects as the importance of fundamental research, the responsibility of scientists to the public, and the role of AI in scientific research.
About CBC IDEAS
IDEAS is a deep-dive into contemporary thought and intellectual history. Anchored in a powerful legacy and expansive archive spanning over five decades, its topics are boundless. The nature of consciousness. The history of toilets. The roots and rise of authoritarianism. Near death experiences. No idea is off-limits.
Each episode cracks open a concept to see how it’s played out over place and time—and uncovers why it still matters today.
About the Speakers
Host
Nahlah Ayed has been the host of CBC IDEAS since 2019. Since then, she has conducted dozens of interviews on-stage and off with some of Canada’s—and the world’s – most prominent thinkers.
A bestselling author and award-winning veteran of foreign reporting, Nahlah was previously based in the Middle East where she spent nearly a decade covering the region’s many conflicts. And later, while based in London, she covered some of the biggest stories of our time: the rise of authoritarianism, the return of war to Europe, and the worldwide refugee crisis.
A former parliamentary reporter for The Canadian Press, Nahlah is a graduate of Carleton University’s Master of Journalism program. She also holds a Master’s degree in interdisciplinary studies (Philosophy, English and Science) and a Bachelor of Science in genetics from the University of Manitoba.
Guest
Asimina Arvanitaki (PhD Stanford University, 2008) is the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Aristarchus Chair in Theoretical Physics at Perimeter Institute, where she has been a faculty member since 2014.
Asimina is a particle physicist whose work has focused on designing novel experiments that search for new phenomena and new forces of nature. She has shown, for example, how atomic clocks—the most precise time-keeping devices to date that are used to define the second and are responsible for the GPS that we all use—can be used to detect dark matter, the unknown mass component of our Cosmos that is responsible for the existence of galaxies.
She has also shown how black holes, such as those recently detected at the LIGO experiment, can be used to diagnose the presence of new particles. For her work, she was co-awarded the 2017 New Horizons in Physics Prize by the Breakthrough Prize Foundation. Recently, Asimina has received notable accolades, including the 2023 Loeb Lectures in Physics at Harvard University and the 2022 CAP-TRIUMF Vogt Medal from the Canadian Association of Physicists.
Tickets
Tickets are free and must be reserved through Eventbrite, as there is no on-site box office.
TICKETS ARE VALID UNTIL 5:45 PM THE DAY OF THE EVENT.
Tickets for the in person event are still available as of September 23, 2024 at 11:45 hrs PT.