Episodes
Wednesday May 03, 2023
Michio Kaku on Quantum Supremacy
Wednesday May 03, 2023
Wednesday May 03, 2023
Theoretical physicist Michio Kaku discusses his new book, Quantum Supremacy: How the Quantum Computer Revolution Will Change Everything. He explores how quantum computing may eventually illuminate the deepest mysteries of science and solve some of humanity’s biggest problems, like global warming, world hunger, and incurable disease.
Purchase the book today: https://bit.ly/3oT67vi
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Wednesday Apr 26, 2023
Hilary Lawson on Closure
Wednesday Apr 26, 2023
Wednesday Apr 26, 2023
English philosopher Hilary Lawson discusses his book, Closure: A Story of Everything, a text that develops a comprehensive system of non-realist metaphysics.
Hilary Lawson is a philosopher and award-winning broadcaster who founded The Institute of Art and Ideas to bring philosophy and intellectual ideas into public discourse. He has been hosting IAI TV’s philosophy and global politics debate strands since 2010.
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Wednesday Apr 19, 2023
Are There Extra Dimensions?
Wednesday Apr 19, 2023
Wednesday Apr 19, 2023
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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Wednesday Apr 12, 2023
Manil Suri on How to Build the Universe with Math
Wednesday Apr 12, 2023
Wednesday Apr 12, 2023
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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Wednesday Apr 05, 2023
Why is Consciousness Baffling?
Wednesday Apr 05, 2023
Wednesday Apr 05, 2023
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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Wednesday Mar 29, 2023
What is Philosophy of the Breakthrough Process?
Wednesday Mar 29, 2023
Wednesday Mar 29, 2023
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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Wednesday Mar 22, 2023
Nicholas Humphrey on Sentience: The Invention of Consciousness
Wednesday Mar 22, 2023
Wednesday Mar 22, 2023
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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Wednesday Mar 15, 2023
Is Time Travel Possible?
Wednesday Mar 15, 2023
Wednesday Mar 15, 2023
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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Wednesday Mar 08, 2023
Jill Tarter on Alien Intelligences, Extraterrestrial Technology, and SETI
Wednesday Mar 08, 2023
Wednesday Mar 08, 2023
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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Wednesday Mar 01, 2023
What are Scientific Breakthroughs in Physics?
Wednesday Mar 01, 2023
Wednesday Mar 01, 2023
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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