Closer To Truth

Are There Extra Dimensions?

Extra dimensions beyond length, width, height seem the stuff of science fiction. What would extra dimensions be like? Is time the fourth dimension? Could deep reality be so strange? And, anyway, why would we care?
This episode features interviews with Lawrence Krauss, Michio Kaku, David Gross, Nima Arkani-Hamed, Juan Maldacena, and Roger Penrose.
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Manil Suri on How to Build the Universe with Math

Mathematician Manil Suri talks about about his insightful new book, The Big Bang of Numbers: How to Build the Universe Using Only Math. He explores if math describes the universe or creates it, what "nothing" means to a mathematician, and if all mathematically consistent systems create universes. We also tackle arithmetic, geometry, algebra, patterns, physics, and much more.
Manil Suri is a distinguished university professor in mathematics at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He is the author of three award-winning novels, The Death of Vishnu, The Age of Shiva, and The City of Devi.
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Why is Consciousness Baffling?

How does consciousness weave its magical web of inner awareness-appreciating music, enjoying art, feeling love? Even when all mental functions may be explained, the great mystery—what it "feels like" inside—will likely remain.
This episode features interviews with Charles Tart, Roger Walsh, Raymond Kurzweil, Hubert Dreyfus, Alva Noë, Henry Stapp, and George Lakoff.
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What is Philosophy of the Breakthrough Process?

Scientific Breakthroughs are discoveries or theories that are milestones and touchstones, signposts and short-cuts, surprises and revelations. How to get at the nature or essence of the Breakthrough process?
Featuring interviews with Jim Holt, John Horgan, Michio Kaku, David Wallace, and David Chalmers.
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Nicholas Humphrey on Sentience: The Invention of Consciousness

Neuropsychologist Nicholas Humphrey discusses his new book, Sentience: The Invention of Consciousness. He tackles the hard problem, Phenomenal Consciousness vs. Cognitive Consciousness, and Identity Theory, while providing insight into his theory of consciousness and the experiments conducted throughout his career. He also shares his thoughts on if AI will ever be conscious and if consciousness could have evolved somewhere else in the universe.
 
Nicholas Humphrey, Emeritus Professor of Psychology at the London School of Economics, studies the evolution of intelligence and consciousness. He was the first to demonstrate the existence of "blindsight" in monkeys, and he has also studied mountain gorillas with Dian Fossey in Rwanda, proposed the celebrated theory of the "social function of intellect," and investigated the evolutionary background of religion, art, healing, death-awareness and suicide. His new book, Sentience: The Invention of Consciousness, is available for purchase now.
 
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Is Time Travel Possible?

Some scientists take time travel seriously. Should you? What does time travel reveal about the nature of space and time and the laws of physics under extreme conditions?
This episode features interviews with Michio Kaku, J. Gott, Kip Thorne, Fred Wolf, and Seth Lloyd.
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Jill Tarter on Alien Intelligences, Extraterrestrial Technology, and SETI

Jill Tarter, former Director of the Center for SETI Research, talks to host Robert Lawrence Kuhn about the search for alien life, alien technology and technosignatures, the Fermi Paradox, risks from encountering alien civilizations, and the future of SETI and mankind.
Jill Tarter is the former Director of the Center for SETI (Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence) Research at the SETI Institute. She earned her Bachelor of Engineering Physics Degree with Distinction from Cornell University and a MS and a PhD in Astronomy from the University of California, Berkeley.
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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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Sean Carroll on the Biggest Ideas in the Universe

Sean Carroll talks about about his terrific new book, The Biggest Ideas in the Universe: Space, Time, and Motion. He also dives into the importance of equations in popular science writing, conservation, Noether’s Theorem, the mechanics of space, the nature of time, black holes, gravity, and many other topics.
After many years at Caltech, Sean is now at Johns Hopkins University - the Homewood Professor of Natural Philosophy - a joint appointment between physics and philosophy. His research focused on cosmology, field theory, and gravitation, quantum mechanics (origin of probability, emergence of space and time), and statistical mechanics (entropy and the arrow of time, complexity, emergence and causation). He is host of the popular Mindscape podcast.
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Is Death Final?

Is there life after death? Death is the ultimate defeat. No matter our successes, we are all doomed to suffer the final failure. But some claim that death is not final. Can the defeat be defeated?
In this episode, Robert Lawrence Kuhn speaks with Gregory A. Boyd, John Hick, Deepak Chopra, Warren Brown, and Eric Steinhart.
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