Renowned astronomer, Dr. Jill Tarter, SETI Institute co-founder and pioneering SETI researcher, will be honored with the inaugural Tarter Award for Innovation in the Search for Life Beyond Earth at the SETI Institute’s 40^th Anniversary celebration on November 20, 2024, in Menlo Park, CA. This new award recognizes individuals whose projects or ideas significantly advance humanity’s search for extraterrestrial life and intelligence. The Tarter Award honors contributions across science, technology, education, art, philosophy, law and ethics that support SETI’s mission to search for life and intelligence beyond Earth.

“Anyone who has had the privilege of knowing Jill, knows one thing about her—she never, never gives up the fight for what she believes in,” said Jim Bildner who serves on the Tarter Award Selection Committee.  “And the quest to search for life beyond our planet exists in no small part due to her tireless efforts over decades. And yes, as the inspiration to Carl Sagan for his character Ellie Arroway played by Jody Foster in Contact, she has inspired thousands of women to pursue their dreams in science and astronomy. In a world full of challenges, Jill shows us the power of one human life to make a difference in the lives of others."

Suicide, a leading global health concern, ranks fourth among young people. Although many studies have reported temporal variations in suicide risk, most are limited to Western countries. Addressing this gap, researchers from Korea and Japan in collaboration with other countries conducted a multi-country multi-city study to investigate variations in suicide risk based on the day of the week and national holidays, revealing key insights that could help form effective and targeted suicide prevention action plans.

Recently, an innovative collaboration between Prof. Wang Shuming's group at Nanjing University and Assis. Prof. Hu Guangwei's team at Nanyang Technological University has resulted in the publication of a comprehensive review article titled "Ultrafast Metaphotonics" in Ultrafast Science, a partner journal of Science. This article introduces an exciting new interdisciplinary field that combines ultrafast optics and metamaterials, focusing on two pivotal research areas: the generation and modulation of ultrafast optical signals using metamaterials, and the ultrafast control of metamaterial devices.