from being resolved."

Theoretical physicist Leonard Susskind of Stanford University in California, who also did not take part in Hawking's research, suggests there may be another solution to the conundrums that black holes pose.

For instance, work by Susskind and Juan Maldacena of the Institute for Advanced Study hint that a phenomenon known as quantum entanglement might link two black holes via a wormhole (a shortcut connecting points distant in space and time). This line of thought might serve as the foundation for research that could settle the firewall controversy, Susskind said.

The bottom line: The mysteries surrounding black holes are far from resolved.Abstract

The seminar will analyze the political economy of two fields of agricultural policy in India: fertilizer supply and electricity supply for groundwater irrigation. Subsidizing fertilizer and electricity supply has been an important component of the policy interventions that launched the Green Revolution in India. The subsidies for these two inputs have become subject to increasing concerns regarding their distributional implications, their fiscal feasibility and the environmental problems they are associated with: imbalanced use of nutrients, and overuse of groundwater.

Regina Birner is a Senior Research Fellow at IFPRI. She is leading IFPRI’s research program on “Governance for Agriculture and Rural Development.” Her research focuses on the political economy of agricultural policy-making, and on governance reforms that aim at improving agricultural and rural service provision. Prior to joining IFPRI, she