Closer To Truth

Frank Wilczek on the Future of Science (Part 1)

Theoretical physicist and mathematician Frank Wilczek discusses humankind's place and purpose, what is and what could be in science, and the laws of physics.
 
Wilczek's latest book, Fundamentals: Ten Keys to Reality, is available for purchase now.
 
Frank Wilczek is a theoretical physicist, author, and intellectual adventurer. He has received many prizes for his work, including a Nobel Prize in Physics in 2004 and the Templeton Prize in 2022. Wilczek has made seminal contributions to fundamental particle physics, cosmology, and the physics of materials. His current theoretical research includes work on Axions, Anyons, and Time Crystals, concepts in physics which he named and pioneered.

Can Art Clarify The Mind-Body Problem?

What’s the relationship between the mental activity of our minds and the physical actions of our brain? It’s called The Mind-Body Problem. To many, it’s a perennial problem in philosophy of mind. Can art provide fresh insight?
 
Featuring interviews with Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, Chris Stewart, Gordon Graham, Nathan A. Jacobs, Anjan Chatterjee, and Raymond C. Tallis.
 
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Sara Manning Peskin on the Deepest Mysteries of our Brains

Neurologist Sara Manning Peskin discusses her book, A Molecule Away From Madness: Tales of the Hijacked Brain, about how the very molecules that allow us to exist can also sabotage our minds.
 
Dr. Peskin recounts gripping tales of unruly molecules and the diseases that form in their wake. A college student cannot remember if she has eaten breakfast; by dinner, she is strapped to a hospital bed, convinced she is battling zombies. A man planning to propose marriage instead becomes violently enraged, gripped by body spasms so severe that he nearly bites off his own tongue. One after another, poor farmers in South Carolina drop dead from a mysterious epidemic of dementia.
 
From to Alzheimer's Disease to hallucinations, A Molecule Away from Madness is an unputdownable journey into the deepest mysteries of our brains.
 
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What are Scientific Breakthroughs in Physics?

Science explores how the world works. Breakthroughs drive science, challenging conventional wisdom, changing ways of thinking. Physics is foundational. What are Breakthroughs in physics? What characterizes Breakthroughs in physics?
 
Featuring interviews with Robbert Dijkgraaf, Edward Witten, Karen Uhlenbeck, and Sabine Hossenfelder.
 
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Did the Universe Have a Beginning?

How did the universe begin? Some scientists claim that the universe did not have a beginning. Some theologians contend that the universe did not need a beginning. What do you believe?
 
Featuring interviews with Andreas Albrecht, Anthony Aguirre, Rodney Holder, Dirk Evers, and Leonard Mlodinow.
 
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How Does Deception Affect Human Behavior?

What can we learn when people deceive? There are all kinds of deception: from lying, duplicity, and disguises, to propaganda, disinformation, and deep fakes. Self-deception, too, offers insight. Why would evolution select for deceiving ourselves? Is deception bred into us, affecting all humans?
 
This episode features interviews with Joshua Greene, V.S. Ramachandran, Robert Trivers, and Max Tegmark.
 
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Tim Palmer on Doubt: From Quantum Physics to Climate Change

Tim Palmer discusses his new book, The Primacy of Doubt: From Quantum Physics to Climate Change, How the Science of Uncertainty Can Help Us Understand Our Chaotic World. In it, he challenges conventional wisdom on quantum mechanics, free will, and more.
 
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Tim Palmer is a Royal Society Research Professor in the department of physics at the University of Oxford. Trained as a mathematical physicist, he pioneered the development of operational ensemble weather and climate forecasting, which are now standard practice globally. He contributed to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.

Where Are They, All Those Aliens?

Most scientists assume that the universe must be populated with innumerable alien intelligences and civilizations—after all, we humans can't be so special. OK, so where are they, these "innumerable alien intelligences and civilizations"? How come there's zero evidence?
 
Featuring interviews with Jill Tarter, Douglas Vakoch, Frank Drake, Raymond Kurzweil, Francisco Ayala, Steven Dick, and David Brin.
 
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Ogi Ogas and Sai Gaddam on How Thinking Emerged from Chaos

Ogi Ogas and Sai Gaddam, neuroscientists and authors of Journey of the Mind: How Thinking Emerged from Chaos, discuss why consciousness exists, how consciousness works, and their unified theory of the mind.
Ogas and Gaddam's book is available for purchase now: https://rb.gy/9st8f
Ogi Ogas and Sai Gaddam both received their PhDs in computational neuroscience from Boston University, where they designed mathematical models of cognition.
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The Multiverse: What’s Real?

Is the multiverse real? What could be more startling than many universes – multiple universes, innumerable universes, perhaps an infinite number of universes? But does the multiverse really exist?
Featuring interviews with Max Tegmark, Laura Mersini-Houghton, Paul Davies, Andreas Albrecht, Alan H. Guth, Anthony Aguirre, and Carlo Rovelli.
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