The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has announced the 23 recipients of its annual fellowship, best known as the “Genius Grant.” These awards—$625,000 to each winner, no strings attached—to are meant to give a financial boost to creative and promising artists, writers, scholars and scientists, helping these people continue their work. Here’s a look at seven winners who are focused on the sciences.
Among the ranks of the 2016 MacArthur fellows are two computer scientists, a microbiologist, a chemist, and researchers whose work combines biology with physics, engineering, and geology. Their work is making it easier for us to invent new chemicals, diagnose and treat illness, understand the limits of what a computer can do, and study how microbes gobble up greenhouse gases or become resistant to drugs.