EU Philosophy of Astronomy & Cosmology
@eu-phil-cosmo.bsky.social
Events, publications & news about the philosophy of astronomy & cosmology, especially within the EU. Posts by the UPAC research group, uu.nl/upac X: @EU_phil_cosmo Mastodon: @EU_phil_cosmo@hcommons.social
The recording of the UPAC colloquium held on May 12th, in which Nichole Levesley (University of Cambridge) gave a talk titled: "Limits of Knowledge in Early Universe Cosmology", has just been posted on our YouTube! youtu.be/4pTiq6OEh0E
UPAC Colloquium May 2026 - Limits of Knowledge in Early Universe Cosmology
YouTube video by Utrecht Philosophy of Astronomy & Cosmology
youtu.be
New paper on epistemic opacity in black hole imaging arxiv.org/abs/2607.02110
Black Boxes in Black Hole Imaging
We investigate the epistemic opacity of computer simulations and machine learning methods in the context of black hole imaging. We argue that there are forms of opacity-including opacity resulting fro...
arxiv.org
The next UPAC colloquium speaker session will be held tomorrow (9 June 2026, 15h30-17h00), we will be hosting Beatrice Bonga (Radboud University), who will give the talk: "Beyond the Basics: the Messy Reality of Gravitational Wave Ringdowns". For more information, visit: uu.nl/upac-colloquium
Security verifications
uu.nl
The next UPAC colloquium reading session will take place today (26 May 2026, 16h00-17h00), we will be discussing the article: “The poor man’s accelerator” by Gauvain Leconte-Chevillard, doi.org/10.1007/s112... More info: www.uu.nl/upac-colloqu...
“The poor man’s accelerator”, or how the primordial universe became a testing ground for particle physics - Synthese
Synthese - Among physicists and cosmologists, it is common practice to refer to the “cosmic laboratory” to describe how the study of the universe offers important insights into the...
doi.org
For those of you who missed our recent Philosophy of Spin-2 Gravity Workshop, all the talks can now be seen in full on the UPAC YouTube Channel! (thread 1/6) www.youtube.com/@UPAC_UU/vid...
Utrecht Philosophy of Astronomy & Cosmology
youtube.com
The next UPAC colloquium speaker session will be held tomorrow (12 May 2026, 15h30-17h00), we will be hosting Nichole Levesley (University of Cambridge), who will give a talk about the "Limits of Knowledge in Early Universe Cosmology". For more information, visit: uu.nl/upac-colloquium
Security verifications
uu.nl
Tuesday 19 May the Descartes Colloquium will be in the theme of: 'Foundations of physics from quantum mechanics to cosmology.' Featuring Anastasiia Lazutkina addressing Evidence in Cosmology and Philip Goyal on the Quantum Reconstruction Programme! More info at: www.uu.nl/en/events/de...
Security verifications
uu.nl
For the next UPAC colloquium Work in Progress session tomorrow (28 Apr 2026, 16h00-17h00), we will be discussing a draft by Aaron Collavini (Uni. of Udine) & Christian Mariani (USI Lugano) titled "On the viability of primitive ontology for cosmological theories" More info at: uu.nl/upac-colloquium
UPAC Colloquium
Learn more about the weekly, hybrid UPAC Colloquium series.
uu.nl
The Philosophy of Spin-2 Gravity workshop yesterday was a great success! Once again it brought together minds from philosophy and physics into a lively discussion. A wonderful conclusion to the four COSMO-MASTER workshops organised by UPAC.
The recording of the UPAC colloquium held on April 7th, in which Anastasiia Lazutkina (University of Wuppertal) gave a talk titled: "How evidence is made: Measuring the cosmic background radiation before discovering it", can now be found online! youtu.be/9P2wRBug6jY
UPAC Colloquium April 2026 - How evidence is made: Measuring the CMB before discovering it
YouTube video by Utrecht Philosophy of Astronomy & Cosmology
youtu.be
The next UPAC colloquium reading session will take place next Tuesday (14 Apr 2026, 16h00-17h00), where we will be discussing the article "(Re)Assessing Galaxy Clusters with Cosmological Models" by Tianzhe Cozette Shen, doi.org/10.1017/psa.... . More info: www.uu.nl/upac-colloqu...
(Re)Assessing Galaxy Clusters with Cosmological Models: Scales, Anisotropies, and Scientific Explanation | Philosophy of Science | Cambridge Core
(Re)Assessing Galaxy Clusters with Cosmological Models: Scales, Anisotropies, and Scientific Explanation - Volume 92 Issue 5
doi.org
Final call for our upcoming COSMO-MASTER Spin-2 Gravity workshop! The workshop will bring together physicists and philosophers to discuss spin-2 gravity. Registration deadline on April 15; both in-person and online attendance are possible. More information: www.uu.nl/en/research/...
Philosophy of Spin-2 Gravity Workshop
Information about the Philosophy of Spin-2 Gravity Workshop
uu.nl
The next UPAC colloquium speaker session will be held tomorrow (7 Apr 2026, 15h30-17h00); Anastasiia Lazutkina [University of Wuppertal] will give a talk on "How evidence is made: Measuring the cosmic background radiation before discovering it". For more information, visit: uu.nl/upac-colloquium
UPAC Colloquium
Learn more about the weekly, hybrid UPAC Colloquium series.
uu.nl
For the next UPAC colloquium Work in Progress session tomorrow (23 Mar 2026, 16h00-17h00), we will be discussing a draft by Andrés Vázquez Quijano (UNAM) titled "The Epistemic Effect of Ad hoc Hypotheses: Signaling and Management of Risk and Ignorance" More info at: uu.nl/upac-colloquium
UPAC Colloquium
Learn more about the weekly, hybrid UPAC Colloquium series.
uu.nl
The next UPAC colloquium speaker session will be held tomorrow (10 Mar 2026, 15h30-17h00), we will be hosting James Ladyman [University of Bristol], who will give a talk on "The open-closed system distinction and cosmology". For more information, visit: uu.nl/upac-colloquium
UPAC Colloquium
Learn more about the weekly, hybrid UPAC Colloquium series.
uu.nl
The next UPAC colloquium reading session will take place tomorrow (3 Mar 2026, 16h00-17h00), where we will be discussing the article "Λ and the limits of effective field theory" by Adam Koberinski and Chris Smeenk, www.cambridge.org/core/journal... More info: uu.nl/upac-colloquium
Λ and the Limits of Effective Field Theory | Philosophy of Science | Cambridge Core
Λ and the Limits of Effective Field Theory - Volume 90 Issue 2
cambridge.org
The recording of the UPAC colloquium on February 10th, in which Rami Jreige (University of Bristol) gave a talk titled: "The Interpretation Problem of Direct Dark Matter Detection Experiments", can now be found on the UPAC YouTube channel! youtu.be/_rA-vY0-hPA?...
UPAC Colloquium February 2026 - Interpretation Problem of Direct Dark Matter Detection Experiments
YouTube video by Utrecht Philosophy of Astronomy & Cosmology
youtu.be
For the next UPAC colloquium Work in Progress session tomorrow (24 Feb 2026, 16h00-17h00), we will be discussing a draft by Aude Corbeel (University of Amsterdam) titled "Teleportation in the Lab: Analogue Gravity on a Quantum Computer?" More info at: uu.nl/upac-colloquium
UPAC Colloquium
Learn more about the weekly, hybrid UPAC Colloquium series.
uu.nl
The next UPAC colloquium speaker session will be held tomorrow (10 Feb 2026, 15h30-17h00), we will be hosting Rami Jreige [University of Bristol], who will give a talk on "The Interpretation Problem of Direct Dark Matter Detection Experiments". For more information, visit: uu.nl/upac-colloquium
UPAC Colloquium
Learn more about the weekly, hybrid UPAC Colloquium series.
uu.nl
The next UPAC colloquium will take place on next week's Tuesday (3 Feb 2026, 16h00-17h00), where we will be discussing the article “The First Three Minutes: Cosmology, Astrophysics, and Particle Physics” by Siyu Yao, siyuyaogy.github.io/SY_Big%20His... More info at: uu.nl/upac-colloquium
UPAC Colloquium
Learn more about the weekly, hybrid UPAC Colloquium series.
uu.nl
Workshop: philosophy of spin-2 gravity & gravitational waves Utrecht, 22 April 2026 www.uu.nl/en/research/...
Philosophy of Spin-2 Gravity Workshop
Information about the Philosophy of Spin-2 Gravity Workshop
uu.nl
For the next UPAC colloquium Work in Progress session tomorrow (27 Jan 2026, 16h00-17h00), we will be discussing a draft by Caspar Jacobs (Leiden University) & Niels Martens (Utrecht University) titled "The Nomic Status of Fundamental Constants of Nature" More info at: uu.nl/upac-colloquium
UPAC Colloquium
Learn more about the weekly, hybrid UPAC Colloquium series.
uu.nl
The recording of the UPAC colloquium on January 6th, in which Siska de Baerdemaeker (Stockholm University) gave a talk titled: "Modeling (Dark Matter in) the Milky Way", can now be found online! youtu.be/g25lfXn2Cyw?...
UPAC Colloquium January 2026 - Modeling (Dark Matter in) the Milky Way
YouTube video by Utrecht Philosophy of Astronomy & Cosmology
youtu.be
What are PhD candidates working on the history, philosophy, and foundations of physics in the Netherlands doing these days? Find out at the next HPP-NL graduate meeting, taking place on the 30th of January in Amsterdam! More info at: hpp-nl.nl/2nd-hpp-nl-g...
2nd HPP-NL Graduate Meeting
On Friday January 30, 2026, the second HPP-NL Graduate Meeting will take place at the beautiful new UvA University Library. The goal of this meeting is to get to know fellow PhD candidates working on ...
hpp-nl.nl
The next UPAC colloquium will take place on next week's Tuesday (13 Jan 2026, 16h00-17h00), where we will be discussing the article "Controversy on the Materiality and Structure of Spacetime" by Rafael-Andrés Alemañ-Berenguer, link.springer.com/article/10.1... More info: www.uu.nl/en/research/...
Client Challenge
link.springer.com
With the end of 2025 getting close, there is no better time than now to catch up with the UPAC colloquium speaker sessions! Recordings of the talks can be found on our YouTube channel. For example from this last semester, there are talks on: (thread 1/4) www.youtube.com/@UPAC_UU
Utrecht Philosophy of Astronomy & Cosmology
youtube.com
New preprint on inflation, dark energy & the spacetime-matter dichotomy. arxiv.org/abs/2512.10775
Deflating the Spacetime-Matter Dichotomy
In this paper we analyse scalar-tensor theories-specific instances of which include mainstream inflation and dark energy models-in light of the spacetime-matter dichotomy. We argue that it is difficul...
arxiv.org
Call for abstracts for the 3rd History and Philosophy of Cosmology conference, in Athens conferences.uoa.gr/event/117/
History and Philosophy of Cosmology Conference - H&PCC 2026
The COSMOS Network is pleased to announce the 3rd History & Philosophy of Cosmology Conference, to be held 6–9 July 2026 at the University of Athens. Keynote Speakers Helen Meskhidze (University of Ci...
conferences.uoa.gr
Beautifully illustrated science communication piece on black hole imaging, by Peter Galison et al. (Best viewed on a laptop/tablet.) planetaryvision.antikythera.org
Planetary Vision
The Event Horizon Telescope: It took a planet to see a black hole.
planetaryvision.antikythera.org