Researchers using data from the Planck satellite, a spacecraft measuring the cosmic microwave background (CMB), say they’ve recently observed a hint (at 99.2 percent confidence) of parity violation on cosmic scales. If confirmed, this result would have profound implications, not just for cosmology but for all of fundamental physics. In this lecture, Keating will review the basis for the claimed hint of so-called ‘Chern-Simons’ cosmic birefringence. He will outline steps scientists are taking to definitively confirm (or falsify) this provocative claim using future CMB experiments like the Simons Array and the Simons Observatory. Keating will also discuss lessons from the 9 Nobel Prize winning physicists detailed in his new book, Think Like a Nobel Prize Winner, which comes out the day after this seminar!