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Georg Northoff is Canada Research Chair in Mind, Brain, Imaging, and Neuroethics at the University of Ottawa's Institute of Mental Health Research, a practising psychiatrist, neuroscientist, and philosopher, and one of the founders of neurophilosophy. Over two decades his work has reframed the brain's resting spontaneous activity — the Default Mode Network — as the primary architect of consciousness and selfhood.He is the author of The Spontaneous Brain, alongside more accessible introductions including NeuroWaves: Brain, Time, and Consciousness (2023) and NeuroPsychoAnalysis (2023).________________In this conversation, I sit down with Georg to explore his spatial-temporal neuroscience — a framework that replaces the mind-body problem with the world-brain relationship. We begin with AI consciousness, move into the Default Mode Network and why depression is a brain running too slowly, his non-dual awareness study with meditators, his critique of Heidegger as still anthropocentric, and Whitehead's process ontology. A conversation that starts with ChatGPT and ends near the edge of what it means to exist.________________
A fly with 100,000 neurons can fly, find food, and reproduce. A $100 million supercomputer cannot. Dr. Terry Sejnowski used that observation to silence a room full of MIT AI researchers in the 1980s, and it remains just as sharp today. Sejnowski is one of the foundational figures in the history of deep learning, co-inventor of the Boltzmann machine, and a professor at the Salk Institute who has spent his career studying both the brain and the machines we build to imitate it. In this conversation with Craig Smith, he turns that dual perspective on ChatGPT, and what he finds is something genuinely clarifying: not a human mind, not a threat to humanity, but an alien intelligence that has absorbed more knowledge than any brain ever could while remaining fundamentally empty when nobody is talking to it. The conversation covers the full landscape of what current AI is missing - from goals and reinforcement learning to the constant self-generated flow of thought that defines consciousness - and why the word "understanding" is so ambiguous that even the world's top cognitive scientists can't agree on whether ChatGPT has it. Sejnowski also makes the case that hallucinations aren't a flaw to be engineered away but the flip side of creativity itself, that we are in a pre-Copernican era when it comes to understanding intelligence, and that the real future of AI lies not in scaling language models further but in looking at what nature has already solved, from field mice to fruit flies. His new book is written for the general public and available now. Subscribe to Eye on A.I. for weekly conversations with the people building and deploying the future of AI.
Emad Mostaque built Stable Diffusion. Now he says the most powerful AI models will never be released — and we have roughly 800 days before everything changes. What the trillion-dollar labs won't tell you about the models they're keeping locked away
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With NASA planning to send Artemis astronauts farther into space than ever, should they be worried about the deadly effects of the Van Allen belts? Here, I describe to James Altucher what the claims are and what the real concerns should be. My response to Moon landing denial claims by Kim Kardashian, Candace Owens, and Bart Sibrel I answer all the big questions: ⇨ Why did the flag move with no wind? ⇨ Is there really no gravity on the moon? ⇨ Why haven't we gone back? ⇨ How did the astronauts survive the Van Allen radiation belts? Please join my mailing list here
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What happens when a Lutheran theologian who grew up reading UFO books and whose parents followed a Venusian contactee cult becomes one of the most rigorous thinkers at the intersection of space science and Christian theology? You get Ted Peters — and one of the most genuinely fun conversations I've had on the podcast. Ted coined the term astro theology and has spent decades asking what the discovery of extraterrestrial life would mean for our doctrines of creation, incarnation, and the common good. We get into why astrobiology is almost a religious science, the ethics of protecting microbial life on Europa, whether Jesus's incarnation is sufficient for the whole cosmos or if God might show up on other planets too, the Copernican fallacy hiding inside a lot of anti-anthropocentric arguments, what Christians should do if a UFO lands at the church potluck (hospitality, obviously), and why both ufologists and astrobiologists need to be at the same barbecue. If the government finally releases the files tomorrow, Ted is the person you want to call — and after this conversation, you'll understand why. You can WATCH the conversation on YouTube Ted Peters is a Lutheran theologian, professor emeritus at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California, and a senior fellow at the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences (CTNS). He coined the term astro theology to describe theological reflection on the implications of off-earth, non-human intelligence, and has spent decades at the frontier where Christian doctrine meets space science, artificial intelligence, and public ethics. His systematic theology, God — The World's Future, remains one of the most widely used constructive theology texts in graduate education. He is the author and editor of numerous books, including a volume on Astrotheology, and writes the Substack newsletter The Voice of Public Theology, where he engages with science, religion, global politics, and the impact of advancing technology for a broad public audience. Join us at Theology Beer Camp, October 8-10, in Kansas City! ONLINE LENT CLASS: Jesus in Galilee w/ John Dominic Crossan What can we actually know about Jesus of Nazareth? And, what difference does it make? This Lenten class begins where all of Dr. John Dominic Crossan's has work begins: with history. What was actually happening in Galilee in the 20s CE? What did Herod Antipas' transformation of the "Sea of Galilee" into the commercial "Sea of Tiberias" mean for peasant fishing communities? Why did Jesus emerge from John's baptism movement proclaiming God's Rule through parables—and what made that medium so perfectly suited to that message? Only by understanding what Jesus' parables meant then can we wrestle with what they might demand of us now. The class is donation-based, including 0, so join, get info, and join up here. This podcast is a Homebrewed Christianity production. Follow the Homebrewed Christianity, Theology Nerd Throwdown, & The Rise of Bonhoeffer podcasts for more theological goodness for your earbuds. Join over 75,000 other people by joining our Substack - Process This! Get instant access to over 50 classes at www.TheologyClass.com Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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WANTED: Developers and STEM experts! Get paid to create benchmarks and improve AI models. Sign up for Alignerr using our link: https://alignerr.com/?referral-source=briankeating One of the most powerful AI systems we've ever built is succeeding for reasons we still don't understand. And worse, they may succeed for reasons that might lock us into the wrong future for humanity. Today's guest is Anil Ananthaswamy, an award-winning science writer and one of the clearest thinkers on the mathematical foundations of machine learning. In this conversation, we're not just talking about new demos, incremental improvements, or updates on new models being released. We're asking even harder questions: Why does the mathematics of machine learning work at all? How do these models succeed when they suffer from problems like overparameterization and lack of training data? And are large language models revealing deep structure, or are they just producing very convincing illusions and causing us to face an increasingly AI-slop-driven future? KEY TAKEAWAYS 00:00 — Book explores why ML works through math 02:47 — Perceptron proof shows simple math guarantees learning 05:11 — Early AI failed due to single-layer limits 07:12 — Nonlinear limits caused the first AI winter 09:04 — Backpropagation revived neural networks 10:59 — GPUs + big data enabled deep learning 15:25 — AI success risks technological lock-in 17:30 — LLMs lack human-like learning and embodiment 22:57 — High-dimensional spaces power ML behavior 27:36 — Data saturation may slow future gains 31:11 — Continual learning is still missing in AI 33:46 — Neuromorphic chips promise energy efficiency 41:49 — Overparameterized models still generalize well 45:05 — SGD succeeds via randomness in complex landscapes 48:27 — Perceptrons remain the core of modern neural net - Additional resources: Anil's NEW Book "Why Machines Learn: The Elegant Math Behind Modern AI": https://www.amazon.com/Why-Machines-Learn-Elegant-Behind/dp/0593185749 Get My NEW Book: Focus Like a Nobel Prize Winner: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FN8DH6SX?ref_=pe_93986420_775043100 Please join my mailing list here
Get My NEW Book: Focus Like a Nobel Prize Winner: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FN8DH6SX Andrew Jaffe Book: The Random Universe: https://www.amazon.com/Random-Universe-Models-Probability-Cosmos/dp/0300250509 Is the universe intrinsically random? In this conversation, we dive deep into why the universe may be fundamentally, intrinsically random. Whether inflation on life support, the truth behind the Hubble tension, and whether cosmology is approaching the event horizon, limits beyond which humans can never know. Today we're joined by one of the architects of modern cosmological inference, Professor Andrew Jaffee, author of a new book called The Random Universe that argues that every observation in science is shaped by the models we bring to it, biases and all. KEY TAKEAWAYS 00:00–01:13 — Science and life rely on building models. 01:13–03:35 — Models of people and reality are often wrong and revised. 04:04–06:01 — Observation depends on prior theories. 06:01–07:32 — Models can't be escaped, only improved. 07:32–08:57 — No single scientific method exists. 08:57–11:25 — Science uses induction, not pure proof. 11:25–13:22 — Induction isn't certain, only probabilistic. 13:22–15:36 — Induction works because nature is regular. 17:44–19:08 — Big Bang emerges from well-tested models. 19:08–21:15 — Current cosmology is stressed, not broken. 29:19–30:36 — Probability gives meaning to models. 39:45–41:11 — Randomness often reflects limited knowledge. 43:46–45:00 — Quantum physics is fundamentally probabilistic. 49:09–50:04 — Inflation awaits decisive observational tests. - Additional resources: Get My NEW Book: Focus Like a Nobel Prize Winner: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FN8DH6SX?ref_=pe_93986420_775043100 Please join my mailing list here
Win a $100 Amazon Gift Card! Help me help you get great guests on the Into the Impossible podcast and spread the message throughout the universe. Fill out this listener survey: https://forms.gle/EUKzyE2ZqXDYJ2F47 Please join my mailing list here
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Brian Keating sits down with Matt Gray for a wide-ranging, thoughtful, and entertaining conversation that explores the intersection of cosmology, philosophy, and mysticism. Together, they tackle some of the universe's biggest mysteries—from the origins of the cosmos and the mechanics of the Big Bang, to the challenges and philosophy behind scientific discovery. Timestamps: 00:00 "Science, Nobel Near-Miss, and Humor" 07:26 "Passion for Science and Sharing" 12:00 "Chasing a Nobel-Worthy Discovery" 20:42 Limits of Scientific Falsifiability 22:18 "Origins and Concepts of Cosmology" 32:28 "Galileo, Einstein, and Scientific Progress" 34:16 "Nobel Prizes and Collaboration Challenges" 38:58 "Galactic Dust and Panspermia" 48:15 Agnostic vs. Atheist Questioning 51:44 John Lennox: Faith, Science, and Scripture 58:35 Equations, God, and Belief Dynamics 01:03:12 Belief Nuances and Perspectives 01:06:07 Maxwell's Ether and Light Waves - Join this channel to get access to perks like monthly Office Hours: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmXH_moPhfkqCk6S3b9RWuw/join
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Turn online alignment into an offline community — join us at TheWayFwrd.com to connect with like-minded people near you.What if the experiments that supposedly “proved” relativity… didn't?In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Robert Bennett — a physicist who spent decades inside mainstream academia teaching Einstein's general relativity — to walk through the data that pushed him into full-blown dissent. These aren't fringe ideas or speculative theories. We're talking about the foundational experiments that shaped modern physics: Michelson–Morley, the Sagnac effect, Airy's findings, and the behavior of light in different media. Bennett explains why these results never actually aligned with the narrative textbooks insist on, and how later interpretations were engineered to keep the model intact.We explore the deeper tension underneath the science: the commitment to a worldview that insists humanity cannot occupy a privileged position in the cosmos. Bennett argues that the Copernican principle functions less like an inference and more like a dogma — and when experimental results contradict it, the results get reframed, ignored, or buried. His critique isn't emotional or conspiratorial; it's a sober, technical walk through data that refuses to fit the prevailing cosmology.From aether theories to Newton's bucket to the “axis of evil” in the cosmic microwave background, this conversation opens a door into questions most of us never realized were on the table. Whether you agree, disagree, or simply want to think more critically about the experiments behind modern physics, this is a discussion worth sitting with.You'll Learn:[00:00:00] Introduction[00:11:41] The moment that sparked questioning the very foundations of relativity[00:13:53] What the Michelson Morley experiment actually showed, and how it was misinterpreted and used to reify relativity[00:25:59] The experiments beyond Michelson-Morley that prove aether exists and Earth doesn't rotate[00:34:31] Newton's bucket, inertial frames, and Mach's competing explanation[00:46:15] Why the cosmic microwave background's "axis of evil" points directly to Earth[00:53:28] Why Airy's "failure" was actually a success in falsifying heliocentrism[01:04:11] The nuanced difference between geocentrism and geostatism, and why neither requires a flat Earth[01:21:57] Why GPS had to be engineered around relativity, not built on it[01:33:13] What is aether and what is the alpha model?[01:37:07] What Hildegard of Bingen's medieval vision reveals about Earth's central role in creation[02:01:30] The profound connection between aether, consciousness, and the nature of God[02:11:26] When coincidences become evidence of something beyond the physical[02:14:09] Long-buried artifacts and texts are emerging at this critical moment in historyResources Mentioned:Galileo Was Wrong by Robert Bennett and Robert Sungenis | BookVixra Monographs | WebsiteThe True Conception of the World according to Hildegard von Bingen | BookAn End to the Upside Down Cosmos by Mark Gober | Book or AudiobookFind more from Alec:Alec Zeck | InstagramAlec Zeck | XThe Way Forward | InstagramThe Way Forward is Sponsored By:RMDY Academy & Collective: Homeopathy Made AccessibleHigh-quality remedies and training to support natural healing. Enroll hereExplore hereCreate a cleaner energetic space, go to AiresTech.com and use code TWF25 at checkout for 25% off your entire order. Sleep Deeper with BiOptimizers MagnesiumStruggling with restless nights? Magnesium deficiency may be the reason.Try Magnesium Breakthrough use code ALEC10 for 10% off.New Biology Clinic: Redefine Health from the Ground UpExperience tailored terrain-based health services with consults, livestreams, movement classes, and more. Visit www.NewBiologyClinic.com and use code TheWayForward for $50 off activation. Members get the $150 fee waived
WANTED: Developers and STEM experts! Get paid to create benchmarks and improve AI models. Sign up for Alignerr using our link: https://alignerr.com/?referral-source=briankeating Today's guest Bret Weinstein takes us on a fascinating journey to discover the next evolution of mankind. KEY TAKEAWAYS 00:00 "Universal Principles of Evolution" 08:14 "Soma, Germline, and Senescence" 12:34 "Life Cycle Adaptation Patterns" 17:46 "Hybrid Creatures, Not Resurrections" 24:01 "Biology, Ancestry, and Modern Pathology" 27:14 "Precautionary Principle and Hidden Risks" 33:51 "Antifragility: Growth Through Challenges" 41:02 Evolutionary Patterns in Nocturnal Vision 48:16 Culture: A Tool for DNA Goals 54:02 "Overhyped Fears of LLM AI" 55:55 Overhyping LLMs: Evolution Prevails 01:05:13 "Sober Realism About AI" 01:09:04 "Passion for Science, Not Professorship" 01:16:59 "Developing Independence and Skepticism" 01:18:42 "AI: A Modern Cassandra Warning" 01:26:30 "Rethinking Priorities: Solar Storms" 01:33:05 "Prioritizing Hazards Intelligently" 01:35:00 "Reprogramming Life's Blueprints" - Additional resources: Dark Horse Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@DarkHorsePod/videos Peterson Academy Lecture Series: https://petersonacademy.com/?utm_source=Keating Get My NEW Book: Focus Like a Nobel Prize Winner: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FN8DH6SX?ref_=pe_93986420_775043100 Please join my mailing list here
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Try Shortform, the invaluable app that helps me prepare for every conversation I have! Get $50 off the annual plan at https://shortform.com/impossible Today, I'm speaking with Jaron Lanier, a pioneer in VR, about where it will take us next to expand human consciousness. In this wide-ranging conversation, Jaron Lanier explores how technology reshapes perception, identity, and the future of humanity. From the psychology of virtual reality to the energy demands of modern AI, we trace how today's tools influence what it means to be human—and what kind of humans we might ultimately become. KEY TAKEAWAYS 00:01:52 Lanier warns AI may reduce human uniqueness. 00:09:23 VR can alter how we perceive and inhabit our bodies. 00:12:58 VR faces biological limits like cyber-sickness. 00:28:43 Reality and VR both distort perception in useful ways. 00:40:20 AI's rapid growth is driving major energy demands. 00:54:59 Apple's original “iPhone” idea was partly inspired by Lanier's VR headset. 01:00:53 Talmudic tradition shows the value of preserving multiple perspectives. 01:14:59 Human senses are both extremely precise and deeply flawed. 01:31:10 Tech culture often mimics medieval-style philosophical debates. 01:41:45 Social media harms users by manipulating attention. 01:51:26 Technology shapes the kind of humans we choose to become. - Additional resources: Get My NEW Book: Focus Like a Nobel Prize Winner: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FN8DH6SX?ref_=pe_93986420_775043100 Please join my mailing list here
What happens when a government abruptly cuts off the lifeline of pure science? Imagine canceling Albert Einstein just before he published [E = mc². Terence Tao, the “Mozart of Mathematics,” was one of the unlucky researchers hit when the Trump administration suddenly terminated his federal research funding. Today, I walk and talk with Tao at UCLA to understand how America's greatest living mathematician found himself blindsided by a bureaucratic earthquake — and what it means for the future of discovery. This is Part 1 of our deep dive into Tao's work, his warnings about the collapse of U.S. research infrastructure, and why mathematics is the unseen root system supporting all of modern technology.
Become a channel member to ask questions! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmXH_moPhfkqCk6S3b9RWuw/join Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb returns to break down the newest data on 3I/ATLAS, the interstellar object captivating the world — and triggering fierce debate among scientists. In this extended conversation, Loeb responds directly to recent public criticism from Brian Cox, Jason Wright, and others, clarifies what the data actually show, and explains why humility and open inquiry remain essential to the scientific method. The latest images of the interstellar object show a single intact body, a sunward jet, and energy requirements that challenge familiar comet models. These anomalies have ignited one of the most heated scientific debates of the decade. We explore the latest observations since 3I/ATLAS' October 29 perihelion: • Why its jets, brightness, and spectral changes are so unusualt • What would distinguish natural sublimation from technological propulsiont • How its orbit, size, and mass budget challenge standard modelst • Why the public response matters for the future of sciencet • How criticism of scientific inquiry mirrors the historical treatment of Galileot Follow Avi's latest findings and discoveries here https://avi-loeb.medium.com/3i-atlas-is-still-a-single-body-with-a-sunward-anti-tail-after-perihelion-667fe41c0071 In this livestream, Avi will address: • Why the post-perihelion images complicate the natural-comet interpretationt • Whether a technological origin is still on the tablet • Why critics insist the anomalies are trivial — and why Avi argues they're nott • How scientific consensus forms, breaks, and evolves under stresst • What the new mass-flux and energy calculations imply for 3I/ATLASt We'll explore the science, the skepticism, and the stakes — and we'll take live audience questions from channel members. Join our esteemed set of members here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmXH_moPhfkqCk6S3b9RWuw/join Whether you're convinced, skeptical, or undecided, this is the conversation the public deserves: open, rigorous, and unfiltered.
Pastor Jordan Porr explores the shift from a self-centered life to a Christ-centered life, drawing parallels to the Copernican revolution. Looking at the appointed feasts, the showbread, and the law of equal justice in Leviticus 23 and 24, he shows us: - The calendar God gave Israel to keep Him at the center. - The continual blessing of God's presence in a Christ-centered life. - The catastrophic consequence of a self-centered life, ultimately borne by Christ on the cross. Join us as we are challenged to reorder our lives and fight the drift away from Jesus, the true center of our universe.
Get my book Focus Like a Nobel Prize Winner: https://www.amazon.com/Into-Impossible-Laureates-Concentrate-Creativity/dp/1544548850 Imagine the day that aliens arrive not with a death ray, but with a rug and a new understanding of physics. Daniel Whiteson's new book opens with a wild question what if aliens show up with a better understanding of physics, we can't even recognize that's what they're offering. How would you react? This is his hope that aliens might carry the product of millions, billions, or kazillions of years of alien scientific thought that would catapult us unimaginably into the future. But Daniel speculates on why we might not be able to understand even the language it's written in. Join us today for a conversation about Daniel Whiteson's new book, Do Aliens Speak Physics? And a Romp Through the Drake Equation The Future of Artificial Intelligence, and physics, and even the search for exotic new particles. Now let's go deep into the impossible. Key Takeaways 00:00 "Do Aliens Speak Physics?" 08:07 "Are Aliens Humanity's Saviors?" 15:07 Early Attempts to Contact Aliens 19:03 Math: Tool or Universal Truth? 25:03 "Limits of Understanding the Universe" 29:30 "Possibility of Alien Communication" 36:21 "Learning from Alien Discovery" 37:08 "Physics, Humanity, and Alien Insight" 46:08 "AI, Physics, and Possibilities" 51:58 Technical Talk and Nobel Prize 53:23 "Quirks and Particle Physics Missteps" 01:01:17 Serendipity and Nobel Pursuits - Additional resources: Buy Daniel's Book: https://www.amazon.com/Do-Aliens-Speak-Physics-Questions/dp/1324064641 Get My NEW Book: Focus Like a Nobel Prize Winner: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FN8DH6SX?ref_=pe_93986420_775043100 Please join my mailing list here
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Get $50 off the annual plan at https://shortform.com/impossible The genetic differences we obsess over. The basis for nationalism, racism and tribal thinking emerged in just the last 70,000 years. David Reich is about to show us that the past is far stranger, more violent, and more interconnected than we could ever have imagined. 90% population replacements happened in just a few centuries in the blink of a cosmic eye. David and his team reconstructed human migration patterns and discovered ghost populations, entire civilizations that vanished without any archeological trace. These people built Stonehenge. These people crossed into the Americas. These people left no trace who they are, except for the code that lurks within each of us. KEY TAKEAWAYS 00:00 Ancient vs. Modern Populations 08:55 Ancient DNA Extraction Methods 11:55 Ancient DNA Extraction Process 16:10 "Decoding the Genetic Code" 24:41 "Neanderthals, Denisovans, Human Genomics" 31:05 "DNA Fragmentation Across Generations" 35:54 "Calibration, Culture, and Heritage" 39:34 Identity, Connection, and Myth Making 47:58 "Future Linguistic Biases and Bottlenecks" 50:44 Human Ancestry and DNA Depth 56:13 "Origins, Identity, and Genetic Stories" 01:02:39 "Dream Specimens and Cosmic Mysteries" 01:06:57 "Decoding Humanity's Collective Memory" 01:10:58 Ancient Origins and Human Connections - Get My NEW Book: Focus Like a Nobel Prize Winner: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FN8DH6SX?ref_=pe_93986420_775043100 Please join my mailing list here
Get started with 1 month free of Superhuman today, using my link: https://try.sprh.mn/briankeating What if cells from your own trachea sitting in a petri dish right now, could spontaneously organize into swimming robots that heal brain tissue? What if frog skin cells with no genetic modification whatsoever, could build copies of themselves from spare parts lying around? This isn't science fiction. This is the work of Michael Levin at Tufts University and is completely rewriting the rules of biology. Michael Levin's research challenges our fundamental understanding of what life is and where biological properties emerge from. Michael Levin is a distinguished biologist at Tufts University and director of the Allen Discovery Center, whose groundbreaking research on bio electricity and regenerative biology is reshaping our understanding of how biological systems process information and pursue goals. His Xenobots, living robots built from frog cells, swim around, work together, and reproduce in ways that have never existed on Earth. What does this tell us about consciousness, intelligence, and the nature of life itself? KEY TAKEAWAYS 00:00 "Bioelectricity: Nature's Cognitive Glue" 04:57 Neuronal Voltage Gradients Enable Computation 08:17 Magnetic Fields and Living Systems 11:43 "Voltage, Membranes, and Injury Signals" 14:51 "Bioelectric Properties in Cells" 15:59 Cell Circuits and Networks 19:31 "Ion Drugs Overcome Electrode Limits" 22:53 Asymmetric Features in Living Creatures 26:00 Embryo Symmetry Breaking Mechanism 30:11 "Space-Time Effort and Goal Scope" 33:19 "Origins: Universe and Life" 36:29 Causal Integration and Emergence Insights 42:02 Cell Liberation Enables Autonomous Behavior 43:53 "Xenobots: Self-Replicating Robots" 47:04 "Consciousness, Life, and Intelligence" - Additional resources: Levin Lab https://www.drmichaellevin.org/ Follow Michael on X https://x.com/drmichaellevin?s=21 Michael Levin's book: https://a.co/d/dzl9wPQ Please join my mailing list here
Get started with 1 month free of Superhuman today, using my link: https://try.sprh.mn/briankeating Today's guest made bacteria immune to every virus that exists. This breakthrough could revolutionize medicine by creating virus proof cell therapies and potentially extending this protection to human cells. Also demonstrating that we can fundamentally rewrite the language of life itself, something that was previously thought impossible. George Church is a Harvard Medical School genetics professor and pioneer of synthetic biology. He's an entrepreneur who's found in multiple biotech companies and is known for pushing the boundaries between science fiction and reality. His team just did something that sounds like pure science fiction. They made living cells completely immune to every virus on Earth. That resistant immune, every single virus that tries to infect your cells just fails. The viruses can't evolve around it. Here's the wild part. They didn't add anything new. They just removed a few letter from the genetic alphabet. But George isn't stopping there. He wants to do this to human cells. He's talking about engineering astronauts for Mars missions, bringing back wooly mammoths, and maybe even, just maybe, making humans virus proof to the implications are staggering. The ethics are murky. And the timeline. Well, if church's track record tells us anything is happening far faster than we think. KEY TAKEAWAYS 00:00:00 – Church's team made cells virus-proof, a major medical breakthrough 00:02:34 – Radiation resistance may come from DNA repair linked to desiccation 00:04:43 – A few genes can boost bacteria's radiation resistance 00:07:16 – Panspermia is unlikely due to harsh space conditions 00:10:50 – Space travel may need biological, not just physical, changes 00:14:19 – Regenesis explores synthetic biology's potential 00:18:19 – Height involves many genes, but single ones can have big effects 00:20:57 – Once sci-fi, genome sequencing and pig organs are now real 00:23:20 – Church and Venter are more collaborators than rivals 00:27:17 – Rewriting genes can create virus-proof organisms 00:35:36 – DNA can store data, but reading/writing is slow 00:41:06 – Gattaca and Jurassic Park portray genetics well with small flaws 00:44:03 – Gene therapies can be affordable for all 00:46:44 – Stem cells can create any body cell for therapy 00:49:15 – “Mirror humans” are possible but avoided ethically 00:53:59 – Genomic privacy isn't an issue since we shed DNA constantly 00:56:09 – Gene editing helps endangered species adapt, not revive extinct ones 01:00:30 – Virus-proof humans are possible, but tough to deliver to all cells 01:02:59 – Gene therapies could reverse aging at the cellular level 01:04:18 – Church avoids saying “impossible,” but admits to timeline optimism - Get My NEW Book: Focus Like a Nobel Prize Winner: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FN8DH6SX?ref_=pe_93986420_775043100 Please join my mailing list here
The Dark Side of AI Hallucinations & Tech Predictions Watch the full episode with Steven Pinker here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RP_0MpESQy0 Get my book FOCUS LIKE A NOBEL PRIZE WINNER on sale now, only for just 99 cents https://a.co/d/hi50U9U Join this channel to get access to perks like monthly Office Hours: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmXH_moPhfkqCk6S3b9RWuw/join
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Johannes Kepler rose from a difficult childhood to become a brilliant but unconventional student, deeply influenced by his Lutheran faith, Copernican astronomy, and a belief in divine harmony within the cosmos. In Graz he developed his bold first theory, published in Mysterium Cosmographicum, which linked the orbits of the planets to the five Platonic solids and made him one of the earliest open defenders of heliocentrism. Facing religious persecution and desperate for accurate data, Kepler set out to join Tycho Brahe in Prague, convinced that Tycho's observations were the key to uncovering the universe's hidden order. Support the showSupport the show: buymeacoffee.com/completehistoryofscience Contact: thecompletehistoryofscience@gmail.comBlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/gethinrichards.bsky.socialMusic Credit: Folk Round Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
Get Dr. Brian Keating's NEW Book for Only 0.99! This week only: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FN8DH6SX?ref_=pe_93986420_775043100 For over a century, cosmologists have believed that the universe began a single fiery moment. The Big Bang. But what if that story is incomplete? Or what if it's even wrong? My guest today, Professor Niayesh Afshordi, is a professor of astrophysics at the Perimeter Institute and the University of Waterloo. He and his colleague Bill Halpern argue that the real battle in science is over the mysteries of singularities, those points where our equations collapse and space, time and physics itself seem to break down. In a new book, Battle of the Big Bang, they take us inside the fight to understand whether the Big Bang was truly the beginning of it all, or whether it was just one chapter in a far stranger cosmic saga. KEY TAKEAWAYS 00:00:00 – Cosmologists no longer see the Big Bang as the beginning of time 00:11:01 – Singularity vs the later hot Big Bang phases like nucleosynthesis 00:12:13 – Survey of physicists shows “Big Bang” is understood differently 00:15:37 – Hawking and singularities 00:23:12 – Black hole information paradox remains unresolved after 50 years 00:30:26 – Religion remains a social tool 00:35:56 – The Simons Observatory was created to probe primordial gravitational waves in the CMB 00:39:50 – Scientific careers are constrained by funding and “hot topics” in research 00:41:17 – Science advances by tying ideas to observation, not just social structures 00:42:07 – Disagreement with Carlo Rovelli 00:44:54 – Competing quantum gravity models are ideas, not fully testable theories yet 00:46:14 – String theory, loop quantum gravity, and holography lack experimental evidence 00:47:55 – Cancellation of CMB Stage-4 highlights limits of experimental cosmology 00:49:14 – Afshordi views himself closer to an observer than a pure theorist 00:54:51 – Scientific progress benefits from bridging between communities 00:57:47 – Repulsive gravity in inflation avoids singularities but leaves open loopholes 01:01:00 – Singularity theorems can break down with quantum gravity or altered dimensions 01:03:05 – Our universe was born inside a black hole 01:06:16 – Future probes might let us see further back than the CMB 01:10:56 – Einstein unknowingly started the quest for quantum gravity - Additional resources: Get Niayesh Afshordi's book: https://www.amazon.com/Battle-Big-Bang-Cosmic-Origins/dp/0226830470 Get Dr. Brian Keating's NEW Book for Only 0.99! This week only: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FN8DH6SX?ref_=pe_93986420_775043100 Please join my mailing list here
Buy my new book Focus Like a Nobel Prize Winner for just 99 cents for a limited time only https://a.co/d/hi50U9U Join my mailing list here
Get My New Book, Focus Like a Nobel Prize Winner, for Only $ 0.99! This week only: https://a.co/d/hi50U9U David Deutsch offers his insights into the physics that will impact our future, challenging our new technologies, such as AGI and the development of synthetic humans, as depicted in movies. Join us for this fascinating discussion as we go INTO THE IMPOSSIBLE. KEY TAKEAWAYS 00:00:00 – 00:00:39 Could machines experience thoughts and sensations like humans? 00:00:45 – 00:01:46 Deutsch argues subjective experiences can arise from any system replicating brain-like processing. 00:01:47 – 00:02:25 We never experience the present moment directly but recall slightly delayed interpretations. 00:02:25 – 00:03:30 Deutsch views himself as software running on brain hardware, embodiment is mainly computational. 00:03:30 – 00:04:37 Loss of physical body parts doesn't reduce personhood 00:04:43 – 00:07:13 Story of “lock-in” from horse's width shaping space tech leads to analogy about AI hardware lock-in. 00:08:10 – 00:09:20 Lock-in may slow progress but creativity ensures no permanent limits. 00:09:20 – 00:12:15 Square roots and complex numbers naturally emerge in physics due to algebraic structures of reality. 00:12:15 – 00:13:31 Not all mathematical structures are worth exploring—only those relevant to solving physics problems. 00:13:31 – 00:17:00 Shift to memetics: persistence of anti-Jewish patterns is deeper than typical memes. 00:17:00 – 00:19:26 Pattern predates Christianity; it persists through cultural rationalizations, not simple hatred. 00:19:50 – 00:21:23 Discussion of life vs. death choices from Torah portion ties to Deutsch's book on infinity 00:21:44 – 00:22:32 Humanity faces no upper or lower bounds—capable of infinite progress or catastrophic mistakes 00:23:36 – 00:24:21 Advice to young self-consider interference processes as a door to quantum computation 00:25:16 – 00:26:13 Deutsch admits past mistakes—initially misjudged multiverse explanations and free will 00:27:08 – 00:28:08 David redefines free will as the ability to create objectively new knowledge. 00:28:14 – 00:28:41 AGI programs will have free will once true AI is achieved. 00:29:02 – 00:29:18 Conclusion -------------------------- Additional resources: Get Dr. Brian Keating's NEW Book for Only 0.99! This week only: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FN8DH6SX?ref_=pe_93986420_775043100 Get David Deutsch's Book: https://www.amazon.com/Beginning-Infinity-Explanations-Transform-World/dp/0143121359 Please join my mailing list here
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