Into The Impossible

Host of Into The Impossible Professor Brian Keating, David Spergel, Janna Levin, Sara Seager, Wendy Freedman, & Nobel Prize winner Adam Riess debate the hottest topics in modern astronomy while celebrating the Hubble Space Telescope’s 30th birthday! An all-star (get it??) party featuring observations of Hubble’s ‘greatest hits’, courtesy of Wyoming Stargazing Association! Plus we debated the greatest mysteries in the Universe including: What is the nature of Dark Matter? How did the Universe begin? How will it end? Is there life beyond earth? What is the nature of Dark Matter and Dark Energy? What is causing the Hubble Tension and how will it be resolved? Brian Keating’s most popular Youtube Videos: Eric Weinstein: https://youtu.be/YjsPb3kBGnk?sub_confirmation=1 Jim Simons: https://youtu.be/6fr8XOtbPqM?sub_confirmation=1 Noam Chomsky: https://youtu.be/Iaz6JIxDh6Y?sub_confirmation=1 Sabine Hossenfelder: https://youtu.be/V6dMM2-X6nk?sub_confirmation=1 Sarah Scoles: https://youtu.be/apVKobWigMw

Join me for a very special discussion with Sir Roger Penrose, co-winner of the 2020 Nobel Prize in physics. We will discuss Conformal Cyclic Cosmology, Black Holes, and of course, Nobel Prizes! GET OUR SLIDES: https://kingsumo.com/g/vn03wc/sir-roger-penrose-on-the-into-the-impossible-podcast-slides Sir Roger Penrose is co-winner of the 2020 Nobel Prize in physics. We discuss Conformal Cyclic Cosmology, Black Holes, and of course, Nobel Prizes! Roger is a mensch. He always makes time for me and provided one of the first and most enthusiastic “blurbs” for my book, Losing the Nobel Prize. He has always been so generous with his time, even after winning the Nobel Prize when demands for his attention are relentless. You may also enjoy this video recorded at UC San Diego in late- 2018 “Hawking Points in the CMB Sky“, based loosely on his precursor book, “Cycles of Time: Conformal Cyclic Cosmology, Hawking Points in the CMB Sky“. Get Cycles of Time: https://amzn.to/2JCdKl7 Sir Roger Penrose and I will discuss his l

Marwa A.ElDiwiny, an early stage researcher PhD, working on modelling and simulating self-healing soft materials for industrail applications at VUB. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Seth Godin is a prolific writer, thinker, and self-declared “non-guru” guru to millions around the world. He invented email marketing. He started the AltMBA program. He has written 20 books, including the Practice. He thinks deeply about the way ideas spread whether these be née notions in quantum physics, science fiction, entrepreneurship, leadership, and–most of all- marketing. He’s worked with Nobel Prize winners, industry titans and even Sir Arthur C. Clarke. Seth’s past books include Linchpin, Tribes, The Dip, Purple Cow, and What to do When it’s Your Turn (And it’s Always Your Turn). Buy The Practice: Shipping Creative Work: https://amzn.to/3k2BNpY Seth has founded several companies, including Yoyodyne and Squidoo. His blog is one of the most popular in the world. In 2013, Godin was inducted into the Direct Marketing Hall of Fame. He is the host of AKIMBO podcast: https://www.akimbo.link and has his world famous blog at https://seths.blog Brian Keating’s most popular Youtube Videos: Eric Weinstein: htt

Betraying the Nobel: Secrets, Corruption, and the World’s Most Prestigious Prize! This was a fascinating interview for me to conduct, with a ‘sister-in-arms” who is rallying the world to restore Alfred Nobel’s lofty vision for the Peace Prize. Unni wrote The Mystery of the Lone Wolf Killer and comes back with a powerful shot across the bow of the Nobel Peace Prize: BETRAYING THE NOBEL! I was honored to write a blurb for the book, saying “The Nobel Peace Prize is perhaps the most closely held monopoly of its kind, charged by Alfred to be the ‘conscience of the world.’ Yet Turrettini’s impeccably researched, masterfully argued case against the prize is airtight: the prize teems with invidious corruption, politicization, secrecy, opacity, and unaccountability. Hope endures that the award may someday live up to Nobel’s alturistic aspirations—but only if the Peace Prize Committee hearkens to Turrettini’s clarion call for reform.” In our interview you’ll learn: Why Alfred Nobel might not object to Donald Trump winn

Race and diversity issues in STEM can no longer be ignored. Professor Gentry Patrick is a neurobiologist and the Director of Mentorship and Diversity at UC San Diego. As a kid from Compton, he didn’t have an easy road, but he is committed to making sure future generations have it easier than he did. We discussed the importance of diversity in science and academia and the unfair burden placed on people of color in those spaces. We also talk about failures, storytelling, and what Gentry looks for in a graduate student. Subscribe to my mailing list to receive show notes for this episode: https://briankeating.com/mailing_list.php 00:00:00 Introduction. 00:06:27 The importance of mentorship on Gentry’s trajectory. 00:12:22 Increasing diversity in academia. 00:21:07 Gentry’s childhood as a geeky kid in Compton. 00:32:27 Showcasing science as a part of society and culture. 00:41:25 What Gentry looks for in a graduate student. 00:48:16 Gentry explains his neurobiology research and why it fascinates him. 00:56:

The GREATEST Debate: How two astronomers changed the way humanity debates By April 1920, the Spanish flu had claimed 50,000,000 lives. The first World War ended only 17 months earlier. A polarizing presidential election was underway. On April 26, 1920, in Washington DC, two contestants took the stage in a debate that would alter the cosmos forever. Was this contest the 1920 presidential debate? No, this battle was literally for universal domination, not a mere skirmish between presidential contenders Warren Harding and James Cox. Only the wonkiest history buffs recall who won 1920’s presidential debates. But every astronomer knows the two scientists sparring on that April evening at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, taking sides in astronomy’s “Great Debate”: Heber Curtis, director of the Allegheny Observatory, versus Mt. Wilson Observatory astronomer Harlow Shapley. The Debate’s outcome could not have been more consequential; the span of the entire universe was at stake. This epic contest concerned

In 1990, Sean Carroll’s, George Field and Roman Jackiw wrote an epochal paper that had a tremendous impact on physics, and in particular, on me and my career as a young graduate student in the 1990’s. Recently, evidence for the parity violating effect from Cosmic Microwave Background observations by Planck was announced in Physical Review Letters: https://journals.aps.org/prl/accepted/b0070Yf9I0214c6835b00d89342658c8255c84496 Sean will discuss the background physics behind this effect and the implications for physics if the PRL is confirmed by upcoming polarimeters or otherwise convincing evidence is found. I will discuss some of the experimental challenges to making such a measurement and prospects for upcoming experiments such as CLASS, BICEP Array, SPT3G, Simons Array, ACT, LiteBIRD, Simons Observatory, and CMB Stage 4 to make a definitive, high confidence level claim. While you’re waiting for the livestream to start here is some homework 1) Subscribe to Sean’s Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCR

When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer BY WALT WHITMAN When I heard the learn’d astronomer, When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me, When I was shown the charts and diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them, When I sitting heard the astronomer where he lectured with much applause in the lecture-room, How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick, Till rising and gliding out I wander’d off by myself, In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time, Look’d up in perfect silence at the stars. Watch Emily’s TEDx https://youtu.be/DGfBzkCay5M To be an astronomer is to journey to some of the most inaccessible parts of the globe, braving mountain passes, sub-zero temperatures, and hostile flora and fauna. Not to mention the stress of handling equipment worth millions. It is a life of unique delights and absurdities … and one that may be drawing to a close. Since Galileo first pointed his telescope at the heavens, astronomy has stood as a fount of human creativity and discovery, but soon

Why are politics and society becoming more polarized? How does misinformation, disinformation, bigotry, and hatred spread? How are decisions really made? Dr. Gad Saad has answers and we get to many of them in this fast-moving discussion. We also discuss his personal philosophy, religion, and his roles as both an accomplished academic and a renowned public communicator. Dr. Gad Saad is Professor of Marketing at Concordia University (Montreal, Canada), and former holder of the Concordia University Research Chair in Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences and Darwinian Consumption (2008-2018). He has held Visiting Associate Professorships at Cornell University, Dartmouth College, and the University of California–Irvine. Dr. Saad received the Faculty of Commerce’s Distinguished Teaching Award in June 2000, and was listed as one of the ‘hot’ professors of Concordia University in both the 2001 and 2002 Maclean’s reports on Canadian universities. Saad was appointed Newsmaker of the Week of Concordia University in five cons

  I delighted in this remarkable opportunity to chat with Carl Hagen , a man who, as much as anyone alive was responsible for discovering the so-called Higgs Mechanism”. I found Carl fascinating and very similar to his lifelong friend and colleague, my former quantum mechanics Professor at Brown University, Gerry Guralnik. The so called “GHK Paper” co-authored by Gerry, Carl and Tom Kibble is regarded as perhaps the most important and accurate description of the mechanism by which massive particles like the electron ‘acquire’ their masses. Carl and I agree — the Nobel Prize is not the real reward — doing the science is. But nevertheless, the process by which the history of science is recorded often is by reference to those who win Nobel Prizes. This, in my opinion at least, is the most pernicious and sometimes cruel aspect of the Nobel Prizes…Let me know what you think is the best and worst aspect of the Nobel Prizes in the comments. Brian Keating’s most popular Youtube Videos: Eric Weinstein: https://youtu.

  Paul Halpern’s latest book is “Synchronicity: The Epic Quest to Understand the Quantum Nature of Cause and Effect.” Paul joins me to discuss the book as well as big topics like quantum entanglement and the meaning of life. Hear about how he balances his physics research, writing projects, and love for the outdoors. He also wrote a book about the science of “The Simpsons” as well as fifteen other popular science books. Find Paul Halpern on the web: http://phalpern.com. Subscribe to my mailing list to receive show notes for this episode: https://briankeating.com/mailing_list.php 00:00 Introduction 05:56 Carl Jung and Wolfgang Pauli’s transformative relationship. 13:13 Balancing science and history to appeal to the masses. 18:40 How do physicists think about time? 25:29 Finding the meaning of life through physics. 32:10 Is it time to stop quantum entanglement experiments? 40:32 Quantum physics risks being seen as a pseudoscience. 47:35 What ethical will does Paul Halpern plan to leave behind? 51:15 Wh

  A discussion with Rabbi Wolpe, Max Webb Senior Rabbi, Sinai Temple, Los Angeles. Subscribe to Sinai Temple’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmwpoCGsU7wIgcF0E6licEg Subscribe to my Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/DrBrianKeating?sub_confirmation=1 Find Rabbi Wolpe on Facebook: www.facebook.com/rabbiwolpe And on the web: https://sinaitemple.org Brian Keating’s most popular Youtube Videos: Eric Weinstein: https://youtu.be/YjsPb3kBGnk?sub_confirmation=1 Jim Simons: https://youtu.be/6fr8XOtbPqM?sub_confirmation=1 Noam Chomsky: https://youtu.be/Iaz6JIxDh6Y?sub_confirmation=1 Sabine Hossenfelder: https://youtu.be/V6dMM2-X6nk?sub_confirmation=1 Sarah Scoles: https://youtu.be/apVKobWigMw Stephen Wolfram: https://youtu.be/nSAemRxzmXM Host Brian Keating: ‍♂️ Twitter at https://twitter.com/DrBrianKeating Instagram at https://instagram.com/DrBrianKeating Buy my book LOSING THE NOBEL PRIZE: http://amzn.to/2sa5UpA Subscribe for more great content https://www.youtube

  Juan Maldacena joined me to discuss his fascinating new paper on human traversable wormholes and other topics in fundamental physics. Join in the chat to participate! We discussed the Multiverse, Black Holes, Wormholes, SETI, Life on Einstein Lane, Interstellar the Movie, and even God! We chatted about his recent paper “HUMANLY TRAVERSABLE WORMHOLES” https://arxiv.org/abs/2008.06618 which is based, in part, on this earlier paper: “Traversable wormholes in four dimensions” https://arxiv.org/abs/1807.04726 When you sign up for my newsletter, I’ll send you links to download two explanatory talks on these papers. Please join my mailing list; just click here http://briankeating.com/mailing_list.php We also discussed an interesting economic analog to the Higgs Mechanism first elaborated by Dr. Pia Malaney and Dr. Eric Weinstein, explaining gauge theory and electromagnetism. See Juan’s paper “The symmetry and simplicity of the laws of physics and the Higgs boson” here: https://arxiv.org/pdf/1410.6753.pdf . You wil

  A conversation with MIT Professor Sara Seager and The Verge Journalist Loren Grush, with Prof. Brian Keating. Loren Grush writes: “Deep within the acidic clouds of Venus, astronomers have detected a tantalizing gas never found on the planet before — a gas that, remarkably, could be a sign of life on the hellish world. The gas’s presence isn’t enough to say for sure that Venus hosts life forms, but the fact that it exists in the planet’s clouds indicates that something is going on there that we don’t fully understand.” Read the press release: https://news.mit.edu/2020/life-venus-phosphine-0914 Watch the press release from MIT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCXF8FUux74 Read Loren’s coverage of the announcement: https://www.theverge.com/21428796/venus-gas-life-sign-discovery-phosphine-biosignature Project Website: https://venuscloudlife.com “The gas in question is a nasty one called phosphine, a toxic and explosive molecule with a lingering odor of garlic and dead fish. Astronomers discovered the pu

  Alexander Heyne is the creator of Modern Health Monk, a popular YouTube channel devoted to helping people learn healthy habits and manifest a happy life. Alex is also the author of “Master the Day: Eat, Move and Live Better With The Power of Daily Habits.” He joins me to talk about the book, growing his audience, and how journaling can help us all get and stay healthy. Subscribe to my mailing list to receive show notes for this episode: https://briankeating.com/mailing_list.php 00:00 Introduction 06:50 Preparing for the wedding instead of the marriage. 11:15 How to form habits for long-term happiness. 16:05 Improving yourself by 1% each day goes a long way. 22:59 Alex’s experience with Chinese healing. 27:07 How does technology fit into Chinese medicine? 32:16 What did Alex think was impossible until he did it? 33:40 What object or knowledge would Alex put on his monolith? Alexander Heyne has a doctorate in Classical Chinese Medicine. He is dedicated to helping people identify and manifest their g

  Moiya McTier is in the final year of her PhD in astrophysics at Columbia, but she is already a science communication star. With a background in folklore, she is an accomplished storyteller working to bring more science into science fiction. Moiya joins me on the INTO THE IMPOSSIBLE podcast to discuss her research on the Milky Way, her upcoming popular science book, and how her background influences her career choices. Subscribe to my mailing list to receive show notes for this episode: https://briankeating.com/mailing_list.php 00:00 Introduction 06:42 Combining science and folklore into science fiction. 14:10 Moiya explains her research on the Milky Way. 19:51 How a unique childhood encouraged creativity. 26:20 Can anyone be an effective science communicator? 33:14 World building is “the art of playing God.” 39:11 Equity and diversity in science and science fiction. 45:38 What ethical will does Moiya plan to leave behind? 47:49 What object or knowledge would Moiya put on her monolith? Moiya McTie

  Watch my previous conversation with David from April 2020: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HXf22FVVXk?sub_confirmation=1 Watch David’s recent talk at Google: https://youtu.be/eBqeIKx93A8 Brian Keating’s most popular Youtube Videos: Eric Weinstein: https://youtu.be/YjsPb3kBGnk?sub_confirmation=1 Jim Simons: https://youtu.be/6fr8XOtbPqM?sub_confirmation=1 Noam Chomsky: https://youtu.be/Iaz6JIxDh6Y?sub_confirmation=1 Sabine Hossenfelder: https://youtu.be/V6dMM2-X6nk?sub_confirmation=1 Sarah Scoles: https://youtu.be/apVKobWigMw Stephen Wolfram: https://youtu.be/nSAemRxzmXM Brian Keating’s most popular Youtube Videos: Eric Weinstein: https://youtu.be/YjsPb3kBGnk?sub_confirmation=1 Jim Simons: https://youtu.be/6fr8XOtbPqM?sub_confirmation=1 Noam Chomsky: https://youtu.be/Iaz6JIxDh6Y?sub_confirmation=1 Sabine Hossenfelder: https://youtu.be/V6dMM2-X6nk?sub_confirmation=1 Sarah Scoles: https://youtu.be/apVKobWigMw Stephen Wolfram: https://youtu.be/nSAemRxzmXM Host Brian Keating: ‍♂️ Twit

  A conversation with @James Altucher about the explosive controversy surrounding his LinkedIn piece “NYC is DEAD”, the repercussions of which are still resonating around the globe! We begin by chatting about Jerry Seinfeld who inveighed against James in a shallow, but widely read Op-Ed in the NY Times. Judge for yourself — whose argument is more convincing and less full of ad hominem attacks? James harangued online by NYC Mayor DeBlasio: (https://twitter.com/jaltucher/status/1298079402983673857?s=20) https://youtu.be/0wpalJRusz8?t=1344 Seinfeld’s criticism: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/24/opinion/jerry-seinfeld-new-york-coronavirus.html or James’s piece — that drew Jerry’s ire: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/nyc-dead-forever-heres-why-james-altucher/ James’s response to Jerry Seinfeld https://nypost.com/2020/08/24/sorry-seinfeld-your-love-of-nyc-wont-change-the-facts-about-its-crisis/ We also discussed James’s phenomenal piece in LinkedIn about the persuasive power of Eminem: Eminem: https://www.youtube.c

  Rose Schindler survived Auschwitz and has shared her remarkable story with thousands of people over the course of 50 years. Her memories of the Holocaust have remained clear over the decades, but so has her mantra to never give up hope. Rose joins me on this special episode of the INTO THE IMPOSSIBLE podcast to talk about the book “Two Who Survived: Keeping Hope Alive While Surviving the Holocaust.” This memoir includes both her and her husband’s story. Subscribe to my mailing list to receive show notes for this episode: https://briankeating.com/mailing_list.php 06:34 The world changed in 1938. 12:16 Being a tomboy saved Rose’s life. 17:00 “If you give up hope, you’re lost.” 23:03 Lessons from the Holocaust need to be remembered. 27:06 A school project prompted Rose and Max to share their story. 34:16 Building a life in America. 42:35 Rose is still working on projects at age 90. Rose Schindler was born in Czechoslovakia in 1929 and survived Auschwitz. She met her husband Max shortly after the war a