Daniel Whiteson
Birth nameDaniel Ofir Whiteson
Birth dateJune 17, 1975 (age 51)
CitizenshipUnited States of America
United Kingdom[1]
FieldsParticle physics
WorkplacesUniversity of California, Irvine
Alma materRice University (BA, 1997)
University of California, Berkeley (PhD, 2003)
Thesis urlhttps://inspirehep.net/files/a97ed41591a854994053309b73fec027
Thesis year2003
Doctoral advisorMark Strovink[1]
Websitehttps://sites.uci.edu/daniel/
SpouseKatrine Whiteson (m.)

Daniel Ofir Whiteson (born June 17, 1975) is an American experimental particle physicist and professor of Physics and Astronomy at University of California, Irvine (UCI). He earned a bachelor's degree in physics and computer science from Rice University in 1997 and graduated with a PhD in physics from University of California, Berkeley in 2003. Whiteson joined the ATLAS experiment at CERN's Large Hadron Collider in 2007 and is a fellow of the American Physical Society. Whiteson is a co-creator of Elinor Wonders Why, an animated educational television show on PBS Kids. He co-hosts a podcast with biologist Kelly Weinersmith titled Daniel and Kelly's Extraordinary Universe.

Early life and education

Daniel Ofir Whiteson[2] was born on June 17, 1975.[1] Whiteson graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in physics and computer science from Rice University in 1997 and received a PhD in physics from University of California, Berkeley in 2003.[1][3]

Career

Whiteson is a professor of Physics and Astronomy at UCI.[4][5] He is also the Vice-chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at UCI.[1][3]

Whiteson is a particle physics researcher. In 2007, he joined the ATLAS experiment at CERN's Large Hadron Collider. Whiteson, along with other researchers, introduced an AI technique for high-dimensional statistical inference in ATLAS that allows for more precise measurement of the width of the Higgs boson.[6][7]

In November 2013, Whiteson and Michael Mulhearn, a physicist at University of California, Davis, had the idea of using phones to detect ultra high energy cosmic rays. Whiteson and Mulhearn created an app called CRAYFIS, which stands for Cosmic Rays Found in Smartphones. The app uses the CMOS chip inside phone cameras to detect high energy particles left over by ultra high energy cosmic rays. This data is then analyzed to learn more about the cosmic ray that produced those high energy particles.[8][9]

Media ventures

In 2008, Whiteson started working with cartoonist Jorge Cham. Whiteson and Cham have written two books together, We Have No Idea: A Guide to the Unknown Universe in 2018 and Frequently Asked Questions About the Universe in 2021.[10][11][12] Whiteson, along with Cham, is a co-creator of Elinor Wonders Why, an animated educational television show on PBS Kids. Whiteson chose PBS Kids specifically to reach the children of low-income families.[4][5]

In September 2018, Whiteson and Cham debuted a science podcast called Daniel and Jorge Explain the Universe.[13] The podcast ended in October 2024, and Whiteson started a new podcast called Daniel and Kelly's Extraordinary Universe, hosted by Whiteson and biologist Kelly Weinersmith.[14][15]

Do Aliens Speak Physics? And Other Questions about Science and the Nature of Reality, a book by Whiteson and Andy Warner, was released in 2025. Warner is a cartoonist and illustrated the book.[16][17]

Awards and honors

Whiteson was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 2016 for "leadership in searches for new physics and early studies of top quark mass and cross-section at the Tevatron Collider and Large Hadron Collider, both experimental and phenomenological, particularly searches for dark matter; for innovative applications of ideas from machine learning; and for nontraditional efforts in outreach."[18]

In 2010, Whiteson was awarded a Sloan Research Fellowship.[19]

Personal life

He is married to Katrine Whiteson, an associate professor of molecular biology and biochemistry at UCI.[20]

Selected publications

Articles

Books

  • We Have No Idea: A Guide to the Unknown Universe. By Jorge Cham and Daniel Whiteson. New York City: Riverhead Books, 2017.
  • Frequently Asked Questions About the Universe. By Jorge Cham and Daniel Whiteson. New York: Riverhead Books, 2021.
  • Do Aliens Speak Physics? And Other Questions about Science and the Nature of Reality. By Daniel Whiteson and Andy Warner. W. W. Norton and Company, 2025.

See also

References

  1. ^ Whiteson, Daniel. "Daniel Whiteson". Archived 2024-12-22 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-06-26.
  2. ^ "Greybook". greybook.cern.ch. Archived 2025-08-21 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-08-21.
  3. ^ "Physics - Daniel Whiteson". Physics. Archived 2018-11-09 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-06-27.
  4. ^ "New Animated STEM Series ELINOR WONDERS WHY Premieres on PBS KIDS September 7, 2020". PBS. 2020-07-30. Archived 2025-02-06 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-06-26.
  5. ^ O'Mahony, Jeremiah (2019-10-24). "Daniel Whiteson: Equipping Kids to Answer Their Own Questions". Society of Physics Students. Retrieved 2025-06-27.
  6. ^ "Daniel Whiteson | UCI". UCI School of Physical Sciences. Archived 2022-04-04 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-06-27.
  7. ^ Bell, Brian (2025-05-01). "UC Irvine scientists among winners of Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics". University of California. Archived 2025-05-24 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-06-27.
  8. ^ Palca, Joe (2015-03-27). "Want To Do A Little Astrophysics? This App Detects Cosmic Rays". NPR. Archived 2025-06-20 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-06-26.
  9. ^ "Smartphone network could track incoming cosmic rays, UCI-led research finds". UC Irvine News. 2014-10-13. Archived 2024-11-04 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-06-26.
  10. ^ Kwon, Diana (2017-05-09). "Understanding the unknown universe". Symmetry. Archived 2025-03-23 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-06-27.
  11. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions About the Universe". sites.uci.edu. Archived 2025-06-18 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-06-27.
  12. ^ Tasoff, Harrison (2017-12-15). "'We Have No Idea' Book Explores Science's Greatest Unknowns: Q&A with the Authors". Space.com. Archived 2025-05-17 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-06-27.
  13. ^ "A Cartoonist and Physicist Team Up to Explain the Universe in New Science Podcast". mentalfloss.com. 2018-09-25. Archived 2019-02-09 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2019-02-08.
  14. ^ "So long, and thanks for all of the chocolate! D&J Explain the Universe is no longer making new episodes. But you're invited to join Daniel and Kelly on their new podcast! @DandKUniverse.". No. 1843687858709901373. 2024-10-08. Retrieved 2024-10-27.
  15. ^ "Podcast". sites.uci.edu. Retrieved 2025-06-26.
  16. ^ Whiteson, Daniel & Warner, Andy (2025-11-04). Do Aliens Speak Physics?: And Other Questions about Science and the Nature of Reality. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-1-324-06465-7.
  17. ^ Ouellette, Jennifer (2025-11-13). "What if the aliens come and we just can’t communicate?". Ars Technica. Archived 2025-12-04 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-12-04.
  18. ^ "Division of Particles and Fields Fellowship". www.aps.org. Archived 2025-08-07 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-12-04.
  19. ^ "Vanderwal, Whiteson awarded Sloan Research Fellowships – UC Irvine News". UC Irvine News. 2010-02-19. Archived 2025-07-18 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-12-04.
  20. ^ Rivenburg, Roy (2024-05-31). "A literal gut check: Scientist studies how intestinal microbiomes affect human health". UC Irvine News. Archived 2025-03-19 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-06-26.