Podcasts about lord martin rees

Luke Kemp (historical collapse expert; associate at the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk) has studied past civilisations and mapped out a picture of how long they tend to last before they collapse, what tends to tip them and what (if anything) can be done to stall their demise. Luke works alongside Lord Martin Rees and Yuval Noah Harari, is an honorary lecturer in environmental policy at the Australian National University and his collapse insights have been covered by the BBC, the New York Times and the New Yorker. His first book, 'Goliath's Curse: The History and Future of Societal Collapse' will be published in June 2025. In this episode I get Luke to provide a bit of a 101 on how civilisations do indeed decline and perish and to update us on the latest theories on how and whether ours might make it through. The answer is surprising.SHOW NOTESHere's Luke's original report on complex civilisation's lifespans.Keep up to date with Luke's work hereA few past Wild guests are referenced by Luke. You can catch the episode on Moloch with Liv Boeree here, the interview with Adam Mastroianni here and my chat with Nate Hagens hereThe first chapter of my book serialisation – about hope – is available to everyone hereAnd here are the two chapters that I reference at the end--If you need to know a bit more about me… head to my "about" pageFor more such conversations subscribe to my Substack newsletter, it's where I interact the most!Get your copy of my book, This One Wild and Precious LifeLet's connect on InstagramIf you need to know a bit more about me… head to my "about" pageFor more such conversations subscribe to my Substack newsletter, it's where I interact the most!Get your copy of my book, This One Wild and Precious LifeLet's connect on Instagram Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Titans of Science returns with another out-of-this-world guest: astronomer, astrophysicist and science populariser, Lord Martin Rees. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Lord Martin Rees, UK Astronomer Royal and former president of the Royal Society discusses his new book, If Science Is To Save Us. We discuss the myriad risks being faced by humanity at the global level and why wealthy countries like the UK must help poorer countries in the global south leapfrog fossil fuel energy.  Order ‘If Science Is To Save Us' by Martin Rees here:  https://amzn.to/3tyx61O Order ‘COPOUT - How governments have failed the people on climate' by ClimateGenn host, Nick Breeze, here:  https://amzn.to/3TCECTW You can episodes early by joining via Youtube or Patreon. Thank you.

What's written in our stars? Here to read humanity's horoscope is none other than Lord Martin Rees!  Lord Martin Rees has played a huge role in my career and is an inspiration to me and millions of scientists around the world. There is literally nothing beyond his purview, and our conversation bore this out -- we covered everything from A to Z: artificial intelligence to zoology! Nothing was off-limits – we even shared our mutual and controversial distaste for alchemy and astrology! Lord Rees of Ludlow, the Astronomer Royal, is the Co-founder of the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk and an Emeritus Professor of Cosmology & Astrophysics at Cambridge University. He is the 38th Master of Trinity College, Cambridge. He is the author of ‘On the Future' and 10 other books and the 60th President of the Royal Society. Key Takeaways:  Intro (00:00) Judging a book by its cover: On The Future (01:48) Reading the Queen's horoscope (03:08) Do physicists envy mathematicians? (06:46) Why is Einstein so often a target of criticism? (10:21) The steady-state of the universe debate and cosmology's earlier days (15:56) Martin's prediction that the CMB could be polarized (22:02) Theories of Everything. Do we need them? (29:12) Complex vs. complicated (37:30) There may be some benefits to the pandemic! (56:09) What do you think about blockchain and Bitcoin? (57:56) How coins got their ridges (59:51) What is your ethical will? (1:16:14) Outro (1:26:10) — Additional resources: 

Talks to re-join the EU's scientific research programme, Horizon, still haven't reached agreement, and scientists are worried about the delay. The Astronomer Royal, Lord Martin Rees, tells us there's no time to waste in securing a deal. Also in the show, our real estate expert Neil Callanan explains why housing associations are feeling the pressure of rising interest rates, and what that means for government targets to build more affordable homes. Hosted by Stephen Carroll and Yuan Potts. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is part two of the second podcast dialogue we are airing with renowned astrophysicist, Astronomer Royal, and former President of the Royal Society, Lord Martin Rees. The first time I sat down with Martin for the Podcast we discussed his life in science, and topics ranging from the state of modern cosmology to the potential conflicts between science and religion (which he views as minimal, and I don't). Martin's thinking, and his expertise, go far beyond these topics however. Based on his experience at the Royal Society, as an elected member of the House of Lords, and working with the Center for Existential Risk at Cambridge, Martin has thought carefully about the challenges we face as a society in the 21st century, and how science can be marshaled to help us address these challenges. He has written a new book on the subject called If Science is to Save Us. I thought it would be useful and interesting to sit down with Martin to discuss the ideas he raises there, and our conversation turned out to be so wide-ranging that we are presenting it in two separate episodes of the podcast. I am sure you will find his thoughtful and incisive comments both provocative and inspiring. As always, I benefitted greatly from my conversation with him, and I hope you do as well.As always, an ad-free video version of this podcast is also available to paid Critical Mass subscribers. Your subscriptions support the non-profit Origins Project Foundation, which produces the podcast. The audio version is available free on the Critical Mass site and on all podcast sites, and the video version will also be available on the Origins Project Youtube channel as well. Get full access to Critical Mass at lawrencekrauss.substack.com/subscribe

Today, we're back with Richard's fascinating interview with Lord Martin Rees, the UK's Astronomer Royal and the co-founder of the Centre for Existential Risk at the University of Cambridge. Joining them in conversation are two of the Centre's research associates, nuclear war expert Dr. Paul Ingram, and geohazards and geo-communications scholar Dr. Lara Mani. They discuss the Centre's research around potential risks to civilization and life on Earth as we know it, from nuclear weapons to pandemics to natural disasters. And perhaps most importantly, they share what gives them a sense of hope — for the future of humanity and for the planet.  Read the transcript of this episode Subscribe to Stories of Impact wherever you listen to podcasts Find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube Share your comments, questions and suggestions at info@storiesofimpact.org Supported by Templeton World Charity Foundation  

The idea of the multiverse, a hypothetical group of coexisting multiple universes, has long been a staple of science fiction books and movies but the theory is actually grounded in bona fide science. It has been gathering momentum amongst cosmologists for several decades but what exactly does the theory say and what evidence is there to back it up? In this episode, we're joined by the Astronomer Royal and fellow of Trinity College Cambridge, Lord Martin Rees. He tells us about his thoughts on the possibility of the existence of the multiple universes, what parallel universes might look like and how our universe evolved to produce the ideal conditions for life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is the second podcast dialogue we are airing with renowned astrophysicist, Astronomer Royal, and former President of the Royal Society, Lord Martin Rees. The first time I sat down with Martin for the Podcast we discussed his life in science, and topics ranging from the state of modern cosmology to the potential conflicts between science and religion (which he views as minimal, and I don't). Martin's thinking, and his expertise, go far beyond these topics however. Based on his experience at the Royal Society, as an elected member of the House of Lords, and working with the Center for Existential Risk at Cambridge, Martin has thought carefully about the challenges we face as a society in the 21st century, and how science can be marshaled to help us address these challenges. He has written a new book on the subject called If Science is to Save Us. I thought it would be useful and interesting to sit down with Martin to discuss the ideas he raises there, and our conversation turned out to be so wide-ranging that we are presenting it in two separate episodes of the podcast. This is the first release, and I am sure you will find his thoughtful and incisive comments both provocative and inspiring. As always, I benefitted greatly from my conversation with him, and I hope you do as well.As always, an ad-free video version of this podcast is also available to paid Critical Mass subscribers. Your subscriptions support the non-profit Origins Project Foundation, which produces the podcast. The audio version is available free on the Critical Mass site and on all podcast sites, and the video version will also be available on the Origins Project Youtube channel as well. Get full access to Critical Mass at lawrencekrauss.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: Apply to attend EA conferences in Europe, published by OllieBase on February 28, 2023 on The Effective Altruism Forum. Europe is about to get significantly warmer and lighter. People like warmth and light, so we (CEA) have been busy organising several EA conferences in Europe over the next few months in partnership with local community-builders and EA groups: EAGxCambridge will take place at Guildhall, 17–19 March. Applications are open now and will close on Friday (3 March). Speakers include Lord Martin Rees, Saloni Dattani (Our World In Data) and Anders Sandberg (including a live interview for the Hear This Idea podcast). EAGxNordics will take place at Munchenbryggeriet, Stockholm 21–23 April. Applications are open now and will close 28 March. If you register by 5 March, you can claim a discounted early bird ticket. EA Global: London will take place at Tobacco Dock, 19–21 May 2023. Applications are open now. If you were already accepted to EA Global: Bay Area, you can register for EAG London now; you don't need to apply again. EAGxWarsaw will take place at POLIN, 9–11 June 2023. Applications will open in the coming weeks. You can apply to all of these events using the same application details, bar a few small questions specific to each event. Which events should I apply to? (mostly pulled from our FAQ page) EA Global is mostly aimed at people who have a solid understanding of the core ideas of EA and who are taking significant actions based on those ideas. Many EA Global attendees are already professionally working on effective-altruism-inspired projects or working out how best to work on such projects. EA Global is for EAs around the world and has no location restrictions (though we recommend applying ASAP if you will need a visa to enter the UK). EAGx conferences have a lower bar. They are for people who are: Familiar with the core ideas of effective altruism; Interested in learning more about what to do with these ideas. EAGx events also have a more regional focus: EAGxCambridge is for people who are based in the UK or Ireland, or have plans to move to the UK within the next year; EAGxNordics is primarily for people in the Nordics, but also welcomes international applications; EAGxWarsaw is primarily for people based in Eastern Europe but also welcomes international applications. If you want to attend but are unsure about whether to apply, please err on the side of applying! See e.g. Expat Explore on the “Best Time to Visit Europe” Pew Research Center surveyed Americans on this matter (n = 2,260) and concluded that “Most Like It Hot”. There seem to be significant health benefits, though some people dislike sunlight. Thanks for listening. To help us out with The Nonlinear Library or to learn more, please visit nonlinear.org.

In the third and final installment of John's discussion with Lord Martin Rees, the Astronomer Royal, they discuss Martin's views on the future of space travel and astronauts, and whether some robotic future progeny of humankind will eventually replace us in exploring the universe. Would this be any bad thing, or should we resist efforts to gradually supplement and even supplant our biology with novel biotech? And without any Christian belief, how can we justify our ethical reservations about transhumanism or explain the correspondence between our minds and the cosmos we are understanding better every year. This discussion was first broadcast as part of the Big Conversation podcast, hosted by Justin Brierley, which is also part of the Premier Unbelievable network - https://www.thebigconversation.show/ Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173 If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com

Today's episode is a little different from normal as we're going to begin a short series sharing a recent conversation John had with Lord Martin Rees, the astronomer royal. As well as a highly distinguished cosmologist and astrophysicist, Martin is also an author whose recent books have explored some themes familiar to Matters of Life and Death listeners, including the rise of artificial intelligence and the future of humanity. Their chat was first broadcast as part of the Big Conversation podcast, hosted by Justin Brierley, which is also part of the Premier Unbelievable network - https://www.thebigconversation.show/   Support our End Of Year Appeal: https://gtly.to/aAxRk0kQs   Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173 If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com

Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: Lord Martin Rees: an appreciation, published by HaydnBelfield on October 24, 2022 on The Effective Altruism Forum. Other titles I considered: Lord Martin Rees' new existential risk book published: "If Science is to Save Us" Lord Martin Rees should be on more existential risk introductions Lord Martin Rees is a boss [Disclaimer: I work at CSER, which Martin co-founded (in some sense he's my boss), and I know and like him, so I'm biased towards him. However, I've mostly referred to objective, verifiable evidence, and others can corroborate.] Summary: Lord Martin Rees is one of the UK's, and perhaps the world's, most eminent scientists, has been an advocate of existential risk since at least 2003 (and arguably since the 1970s), and is a charismatic speaker and engaging writer. I'll argue he should be featured in more ‘introductions to existential risk' and should be turned to as a powerful advocate for existential risk reduction - like e.g. Will MacAskill and Toby Ord. In this short piece I'll give a quick bio and describe some of his work. In part, this post is just an appreciation post – he's just recently had his 80th birthday, after all. Photo by Hanna-Katrina Jędrosz for the New Statesman New book The occasion for this post is that his new book has just been published: If Science is to Save Us. Summary: There has never been a time when ‘following the science' has been more important for humanity. At no other point in history have we had such advanced knowledge and technology at our fingertips, nor had such astonishing capacity to determine the future of our planet. But the decisions we must make on how science is applied belong outside the lab and should be the outcome of wide public debate. For that to happen, science needs to become part of our common culture. Science is not just for scientists: if it were, it could never save us from the multiple crises we face. For science can save us, if its innovations mesh carefully into society and its applications are channelled for the common good. As Martin Rees argues in this expert and personal analysis of the scientific endeavour on which we all depend, we need to think globally, we need to think rationally and we need to think long-term, empowered by twenty-first-century technology but guided by values that science alone cannot provide. Coverage: The Telegraph. New Statesman: Martin Rees: “This could be our last century on Earth” The Economist: How science can save the world Quick bio Martin Rees is a cosmologist and astrophysicist who's done leading research (500+ papers) on black holes, quasars and the multiverse. He knew Stephen Hawking well (and wrote a very nice obituary for him). He's been the Astronomer Royal (previous holders, Halley of ‘Halley's Comet' fame) since 1995. He was the 60th President of the Royal Society, 2005-2010 (previous holders Wren, Pepys, Newton, Rutherford, etc). The Royal Society is the UK's national academy of sciences, and one of the most preeminent in the world. He was Master of Trinity College, Cambridge 2004-2012. He was made a Lord, specifically a non-party-political (‘crossbench') member of the House of Lords, in 2005. He's published 10+ books including: From Here to Infinity: Scientific Horizons (UK) / From Here to Infinity: A Vision for the Future of Science Just Six Numbers Our Cosmic Habitat Before the Beginning: Our Universe and Others Cosmic Coincidences: Dark matter, mankind and anthropic cosmology Gravity's Fatal Attraction: Black Holes in the Universe New Perspectives in Astrophysical Cosmology This is all to say he's one of the UK's (and perhaps the world) leading scientists. Good introductory materials Rees has given two TED talks, which have together been watched 4-5 million times. I think they're great introductions to the subject. Can we prevent the end of the world?...

Yesterday, the Artemis One Rocket, the biggest rocket ever developed by Nasa was meant to be launched. However, the launch had to be postponed due to a technical issue. Today's Martha Kearney speaks to Lord Martin Rees, the Astronomer royal and former president of the Royal Society, about the rocket's mission and the future of space travel. (Image: Artemis One in front of a full moon, REUTERS/Joe Skipper TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

Lord Martin Rees is a cosmologist and astrophysicist at Cambridge University and co-founder of the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors: – Lambda: https://lambdalabs.com/lex – InsideTracker: https://insidetracker.com/lex to get 20% off – Indeed: https://indeed.com/lex to get $75 credit – ExpressVPN: https://expressvpn.com/lexpod and use code LexPod to get 3 months free – Onnit: https://lexfridman.com/onnit to get up to 10% off EPISODE LINKS: Martin's Twitter: https://twitter.com/lordmartinrees Martin's Website: https://www.martinrees.uk Martin's Books: If Science is to Save Us: https://amzn.to/3yXRqsc The End of Astronauts: https://amzn.to/3B604ro On the Future: https://amzn.to/3OlzLjB PODCAST INFO: Podcast website: https://lexfridman.com/podcast

The Big Conversation - Episode 5 | Season 4 Is Artificial Intelligence a friend or foe of human flourishing? Does faith have any part to play in the robotics revolution, and the race to upgrade our bodies and even escape our planet? What does the future hold for humans? Astronomer Royal Lord Martin Rees author of 'On The Future' and Christian bioethicist Dr John Wyatt author of 'The Robot Will See You Now', discuss these questions alongside clips from interviews with robotics experts Nigel Crooke and David Levy. For bonus content (including an hour of extra interview material with Nigel Crooke & David Levy), updates and more shows sign up at http://www.thebigconversation.show Take our survey! https://survey-star.net/rees For Lord Martin Rees: https://www.martinrees.uk/ For Dr John Wyatt: https://johnwyatt.com/ The Big Conversation is a video series from Unbelievable? featuring world-class thinkers across the religious and non-religious community. Exploring science, faith, philosophy and what it means to be human. The Big Conversation is produced by Premier in partnership with John Templeton Foundation. • More shows, free eBook & newsletter: https://premierunbelievable.com • For live events: http://www.unbelievable.live • For online learning: https://www.premierunbelievable.com/training-and-events • Support us in the USA: http://www.premierinsight.org/unbelievableshow • Support us in the rest of the world: https://www.premierunbelievable.com/donate

There is an intriguing correlation between technology, machines, and artificial intelligence, and the tentacles, oceanic abyss, and black goo of popular culture, etc. Now that octopuses are considered sentient in countries around the world and found in some capacity in virtually all forms of entertainment, it seems that their black ink and tentacles (also of the squid) likely symbolize interconnected computer networks and possessive forces working through the black mirror screens of our devices. In 2021, Elon Musk suggested that a brain parasite is possibly forcing Man to create artificial intelligence. Now the two are working together, as a human being for the first time teamed up with an artificial intelligence image generator to create a comic book series called the ‘Abolition of Man', set to be released in 2022. The name of the comic is also that of a C.S. Lewis story about man's power over nature and the value of objectivity and natural law, wherein he argues that emotion should conform to reason in science. Carson Grubaugh, who co-created the AI comic, went on to say that we need this technology because all man can seem to do is substitute rich creative gold of the past with “recycled lead of the present.” However, it only seems this way because our entertainment is filled with the same imagery everywhere we look, especially darker imagery of the unconquered sub-conscious. Humans are either being forced, influenced, or choosing, not to express their creativity and instead of making Faustian deals with cosmic forces for cheap rewards. A UK astronomer, Lord Martin Rees, also suggested in 2022 -robots have already replaced aliens from other worlds and are looking to target humans next. This is an idea that seems far advanced already with mankind being promised "all the kingdoms of the world" by technology on the "very high mountain" of madness; that we could have everlasting life physically, be directly connected with each other, and obtain vast creative powers through deepfake, deep voice, text to image AI, etc. However, such promises are a distortion, desecration, and destruction of nature - an abolition of man - since mankind already possesses spiritual immortality, emotional connections with other humans, and nature, and immense creative powers.

Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: How Could AI Governance Go Wrong?, published by HaydnBelfield on May 26, 2022 on The Effective Altruism Forum. (I gave a talk to EA Cambridge in February 2022. People have told me they found it useful as an introduction/overview so I edited the transcript, which can be found below. If you're familiar with AI governance in general, you may still be interested in the sections on 'Racing vs Dominance' and 'What is to be done?'.) Talk Transcript I've been to lots of talks which catch you with a catchy title and they don't actually tell you the answer until right at the end so I'm going to skip right to the end and answer it. How could AI governance go wrong? These are the three answers that I'm gonna give: over here you've got some paper clips, in the middle you've got some very bad men, and then on the right you've got nuclear war. This is basically saying the three cases are accident, misuse and structural or systemic risks. That's the ultimate answer to the talk, but I'm gonna take a bit longer to actually get there. I'm going to talk very quickly about my background and what CSER (the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk) is. Then I'm going to answer what is this topic called AI governance, then how could AI governance go wrong? Before finally addressing what can be done, so we're not just ending on a sad glum note but we're going out there realising there is useful stuff to be done. My Background & CSER This is an effective altruism talk, and I first heard about effective altruism back in 2009 in a lecture room a lot like this, where someone was talking about this new thing called Giving What We Can, where they decided to give away 10% of their income to effective charities. I thought this was really cool: you can see that's me on the right (from a little while ago and without a beard). I was really taken by these ideas of effective altruism and trying to do the most good with my time and resources. So what did I do? I ended up working for the Labour Party for several years in Parliament. It was very interesting, I learned a lot, and as you can see from the fact that the UK has a Labour government and is still in the European Union, it went really well. Two of the people I worked for are no longer even MPs. After this sterling record of success down in Westminster – having campaigned in one general election, two leadership elections and two referendums – I moved up to Cambridge five years ago to work at CSER. The Centre for the Study of Existential Risk: we're a research group within the University of Cambridge dedicated to the study and mitigation of risks that could lead to human extinction or civilizational collapse. We do high quality academic research, we develop strategies for how to reduce risk, and then we field-build, supporting a global community of people working on existential risk. We were founded by these three very nice gentlemen: on the left that's Prof Huw Price, Jaan Tallinn (founding engineer of Skype and Kazaa) and Lord Martin Rees. We've now grown to about 28 people (tripled in size since I started) - there we are hanging out on the bridge having a nice chat. A lot of our work falls into four big risk buckets: pandemics (a few years ago I had to justify why that was in the slides, now unfortunately it's very clear to all of us) AI, which is what we're going to be talking mainly about today climate change and ecological damage, and then systemic risk from all of our intersecting vulnerable systems. Why care about existential risks? Why should you care about this potentially small chance of the whole of humanity going extinct or civilization collapsing in some big catastrophe? One very common answer is looking at the size of all the future generations that could come if we don't mess things up. The little circle in the middle is the number of ...

Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: A primer & some reflections on recent CSER work (EAB talk), published by MMMaas on April 12, 2022 on The Effective Altruism Forum. Epistemic status: quick personal views, based on own experiences, but non-comprehensive; estimate this covers less than 50% of CSER's work of last few years. Format: edited transcript-with-slides (in style of other overviews). I'm Matthijs Maas, a researcher at the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk (Cambridge University). In March I gave a 25-minute Hamming Hour talk at EA Bahamas, on some of the things we've been up to at CSER. I especially focused on CSER's work on long-termist AI governance, my area of expertise, but also covered some of our other x-risk research lines, as well as policy work. The talk was not recorded, but several people mentioned afterwards they found it useful and novel, so I decided to turn it into a quick Forum post. Most of the papers I link to below should be open-access, let me know if they're not and I'm happy to share directly. This talk aims to give a quick overview on CSER's work – what we've been up to recently, and how we approach the study and mitigation of existential risks. Now, I know that ‘general institutional sales pitch' is many people's least-favourite genre of talk. .but hear me out: by giving a primer on some of what CSER has been up to the past year or two, I will argue that CSER's work and approach offers... substantive and decision-relevant insights into a range of existential risks, both in terms of threat models and in terms of mitigation strategies; a distinct approach and methodology to study existential risks and global catastrophic risks; and a record of working across academic disciplines and institutes to produce peer-reviewed academic work on existential risks, which can help build the credibility of the field to policymakers; a track record of policy impact at both the national (UK) and international level, which others in EA can draw from, or learn from. As such, while CSER's academic work has occasionally been comparatively less visible in the EA community, I believe that much of CSER's work is relevant to EA work on existential risks and long-term trajectories. That's not to say we've worked this all out–there are a lot of uncertainties which I and others have, and cruxes to be worked out. They reflect some thoughts and insights that I thought would be useful to share, and I would be eager to discuss more with the community. In terms of structure: I'll discuss CSER's background, go over some of its research, and finally discuss our policy actions and community engagement: CSER was formally founded in 2012 by Lord Martin Rees, Jaan Tallinn and Prof Huw Price (so it recently celebrated its 10th anniversary). Our first researcher started in late 2015, and since then we've grown to 28 people. Most of our work can be grouped into four major clusters: AI risk (alignment, impact forecasting, and governance), biorisk, environmental collapse (climate change and ecosystem collapse), and 'meta' work on existential risks (including both the methodology of how to study existential risks, as well as the ethics of existential risks). That's the background on CSER - now I'll go through some recent projects under these research themes. This is non-exhaustive–I estimate I cover less than 50% of CSER's work over the last few years--and I will focus mostly on our AI work, which is my specialty. Specifically, at CSER I'm part of the AI: Futures and Responsibility team. AI-FAR's work is focused on long-term AI risks, impacts and governance, and covers three main research lines, (1) AI safety, security and risk, (2) futures and foresight (of impacts), and (3) AI governance: Within the AI safety track, one interesting line of work is work by John Burden and José Hernandez-Orallo, on mapping the ...

In today's uncertain world, the sixth episode of our series on science advice and government, explores how governments can better understand and respond to unforeseeable and challenging extreme risk scenarios, such as cyber hacking, biological hazards, climate change, and future pandemics following the COVID-19 outbreak. Host Dr Rob Doubleday is joined by: -Lord Martin Rees, the UK's Astronomer Royal, a Cosmologist and Member of the House of Lords, which in December 2021 published the report, ‘Preparing for Extreme Risks, Building a Resilient Society', which tackled some of the questions about how governments learn, react to, and prepare for extreme risks. -Suzanne Raine, an Affiliate Lecturer at the Centre for Geopolitics at the University of Cambridge. She was formerly a civil servant and was Head of the UK's Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre from 2015-2017. -Dr Kristen MacAskill, an Assistant Professor in Engineering at the University of Cambridge. Her work is on the governance and resilience of infrastructure and she has spent years in industry looking at disaster response. -- Season 5 is produced in partnership with the research project Expertise Under Pressure, Centre for the Humanities and Social Change at the University of Cambridge. CSaP: The Science & Policy Podcast is hosted by CSaP Executive Director Dr Rob Doubleday, and is edited and produced by CSaP Communications Coordinator Jessica Foster. Research for this series is supported by CSaP Policy Researcher Nick Cosstick. Podcast theme music by Transistor.fm. Learn how to start a podcast here. -- Resources relevant to this episode: - House of Lords Risk Assessment and Risk Planning's Report: Preparing for Extreme Risks: Building a Resilient Society -Cabinet Office Guidance: Risk Assessment: How the Risk of Emergencies in the UK is Assessed -National Risk Register 2020 -Introduction to the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre - Lord Martin Rees' book about existential risks: On the Future: Prospects for Humanity Sign up to our CSaP newsletter by clicking here.

This past year has seen an onslaught of disruptions that call into question our ability to coexist with our environment. The devastating effects of climate change have arrived, and show no signs of abating. Flash flooding has swept across China and Northern Europe. The Eastern United States has been inundated by hurricanes of historic size. Record breaking heat waves and wildfires have decimated large swaths of Western North America. And a global pandemic continues to rage on. All of this begs the question, must we look elsewhere in our universe to ensure the survival of humanity? A growing movement of astrophysicists, biologists, and billionaire space enthusiasts believes our salvation does indeed lie offplanet. Supporters of this movement argue that we are on the cusp of technology that puts this possibility within reach, and that exploration and settlement to deal with issues of environmental instability and scarcity is nothing new. Settling the reachable regions of our universe is merely an extension of this age-old trend. But detractors of the plans to settle space dismiss it as an immeasurably expensive fever dream. In their minds, it would be far more prudent to invest our time and resources into fixing the problems here on Earth, the only known planet to host life. Beyond the massive technological advancements required, there are simply far too many unknowns about how and where life originated to assume it can be simply transported through the cosmos. Arguing for the motion is Milan Cirkovic, Research Professor at the Astronomical Observatory of Belgrade and author of Global Catastrophic Risks. Arguing against the motion is Lord Martin Rees, Lord Martin Rees Astronomer Royal, former President of The Royal Society. He is the author of On the Future whose updated paperback edition is due out in October, and The End of Astronauts due out in March of 2022. Milan Cirkovic: “There are many human achievements which, almost by definition, could never be realized if humanity remains bound to Earth.” Lord Martin Rees: “It is a dangerous delusion to think that we could escape the Earth's problems by going to Mars." Sources: Engadget, Blue Origin, SpaceX, European Space Agency, World Government Summit and 60 Minutes Australia The host of the Munk Debates is Rudyard Griffiths - @rudyardg.   Tweet your comments about this episode to @munkdebate or comment on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/munkdebates/ To sign up for a weekly email reminder for this podcast, send an email to podcast@munkdebates.com.   To support civil and substantive debate on the big questions of the day, consider becoming a Munk Member at https://munkdebates.com/membership Members receive access to our 10+ year library of great debates in HD video, a free Munk Debates book, newsletter and ticketing privileges at our live events. This podcast is a project of the Munk Debates, a Canadian charitable organization dedicated to fostering civil and substantive public dialogue - https://munkdebates.com/ The Munk Debates podcast is produced by Antica, Canada's largest private audio production company - https://www.anticaproductions.com/   Executive Producer: Stuart Coxe, CEO Antica Productions Senior Producer: Jacob Lewis Editor: Kieran Lynch Associate Producer: Abhi Raheja

Jeremy sits down with the Astronomer Royal, Lord Martin Rees. As well as being the nation's foremost stargazer, he is the founder of the Centre for Existential Risk at Cambridge, which means he spends a great deal of time thinking about how humanity might face its doom. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

Podcast: Climate and Sustainability in Multiple DimensionsEpisode: Sustainable Humanity, Sustainable Environment, Our Responsibility - Part 2Pub date: 2015-03-16The second half of a discussion between Professor Charles Kennel, Lord Martin Rees, and Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta on combining natural and social scientific expertise to address the relationship between humanity and nature.The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Cambridge University, which is the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Listen Notes, Inc.

Lord Martin Rees, Ph.D., OM, FRS is a Fellow of Trinity College and Emeritus Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics at the University of Cambridge. He holds the honorary title of Astronomer Royal and was President of the Royal Society from 2005-2010. EPISODE LINKS: Martin Rees' Twitter: https://twitter.com/LordMartinRees​ Ian Bott's Twitter: https://twitter.com/IanBott​ OUTLINE: 0:00​ - Introduction 0:45​ - On the Future 2:55​ - Existential Risks 4:18​ - Psychology of Discount Rates 9:24​ - Climate Change 17:50​ - Pandemics 22:20​ - Intelligent Life 30:17​ - Artificial Intelligence 34:15​ - Gene Editing 38:43​ - Wealth Inequality 41:12​ - The Future of Education 43:13​ - Is This Our Final Century? CONNECT: Subscribe to the USIA YouTube channel United Sigma Intelligence Association (USIA): https://usiassociation.org​ USIA Twitter: https://twitter.com/UsiaPodcast​ USIA Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/USIAssociation

The Truth About The Physics Of Climate Change - Theoretical Physicist Lawrence Krauss The Physics Of Climate Change Book: https://amzn.to/36zQSvg There was a drop in global temperatures around the middle of the last century. Why? There isn’t a correlation between rising temperatures and CO2 emissions – are humans really causing climate change? We can’t even predict next week’s weather. How can future climate predictions be accurate? The first book to briefly and clearly present the science of climate change in a way that is accessible to laypeople, providing the perspective needed to understand and assess the foundations and predictions of climate change. "Brilliant and fundamental, this is the necessary book about our prime global emergency. Here you'll find the facts, the processes, the physics of our complex and changing climate, but delivered with eloquence and urgency. Lawrence Krauss writes with a clarity that transcends mere politics. Prose and poetry were never better bedfellows." --Ian McEwan "The ideal book for understanding the science of global warming..at once elegant, rigorous, and timely." --Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prizewinning author of The Sixth Extinction "A brief, brilliant, and charming summary of what physicists know about climate change and how they learned it." --Sheldon Glashow, Nobel Laureate in Physics, Metcalf Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Boston University "The distinguished scientist Lawrence Krauss turns his penetrating gaze on the most pressing existential threat facing our world: climate change. It is brimming with information lucidly analysed. Such hope as there is lies in science, and a physicist of Dr. Krauss's imaginative versatility is unusually qualified to offer it." --Richard Dawkins, author of The Blind Watchmaker and Science in the Soul "Lucid and gripping, this study of the most severe challenge humans have ever faced leads the reader from the basic physics of climate change to recognition of the damage that humans have already caused and on to the prospects that lie ahead if we do not change course soon." --Noam Chomsky, Laureate Professor, University of Arizona, author of Internationalism or Extinction? "Lawrence Krauss tells the story of climate change with erudition, urgency, and passion. It is our great good luck that one of our most brilliant scientists is also such a gifted writer. This book will change the way we think about the future." --Jennifer Finney Boylan, author of Good Boy and She's Not There "Everything on climate change that I've seen is either dumbed down and bossy or written for other climate scientists. I've been looking for a book that can let me, a layperson, understand the science. This book does just what I was looking for. It is important." --Penn Jillette, Magician, author of Presto! and God, No! "The renowned physicist Lawrence Krauss makes the science behind one of the most important issues of our time accessible to all." --Richard C. J. Somerville, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego "Lawrence Krauss is a fine physicist, a talented writer, and a scientist deeply engaged with public affairs. His book deserves wide readership. The book's eloquent exposition of the science and the threats should enlighten all readers and motivate them to an urgent concern about our planet's future." --Lord Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal, former president of the Royal Society, author of On the Future: Prospects for Humanity --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/evinweiss/support

Lord Martin Rees has played a huge role in my career and is an inspiration to me and millions of scientists around the world. There is literally nothing beyond his purview and our conversation bore this out — we covered everything from A to Z: artificial intelligence to zoology! Nothing was off-limits — we even shared our mutual and controversial distaste for alchemy and astrology! Lord Rees of Ludlow, the Astronomer Royal, is the Co-founder of Centre for the Study of Existential Risk and an Emeritus Professor of Cosmology & Astrophysics, at Cambridge University. He is the 38th Master of Trinity College, Cambridge. He is the author of ‘On the Future’ and 10 other books and the 60th President of the Royal Society. Find Lord Rees on https://www.martinrees.uk/ and on Twitter: https://twitter.com/LordMartinRees Buy ON THE FUTURE here: https://amzn.to/2Lg9MPT 00:00:00 Introduction 00:01:36 ON THE FUTURE book cover 00:03:00 Reading the Queen’s Horoscope! 00:03:41 What is your view of Karls Popper’s demarcation philosophy? Refuting Copernicus! 00:08:11 Do physicists envy mathematicians? 00:11:24Why is Einstein so often a target of criticism? 00:12:13 Why are theorists so popular and not experimentalists? 00:15:45 Theories don’t get retracted, but experiments often do! What’s going on? 00:16:04 The steady-state of the universe debate and cosmology’s earlier days. 00:22:47 Martin’s prediction that the CMB could be polarized 00:24:47 How even incorrect theories can lead to important discoveries. 00:29:13 Theories of Everything. Do we need them? 00:37:45 Complex vs.Complicated 00:40:57 Are you a pessimist or optimist? 00:57:52 There may be some benefits to the pandemic! 00:59:00 What do you think about blockchain and bitcoin? 01:07:46 How coins got their ridges. 01:17:46 What is your ethical will? 01:26:24 What advice would you give your younger self? Watch my most popular videos: Sheldon Glashow: https://youtu.be/a0_iaWgxQtA?sub_confirmation=1 Sir Roger Penrose, Nobel Prize winner: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMuqyAvX7Wo?sub_confirmation=1 Frank Wilczek https://youtu.be/3z8RqKMQHe0?sub_confirmation=1 Jill Tarter https://youtu.be/O9K9OBd3vHk?sub_confirmation=1 Eric Weinstein: https://youtu.be/YjsPb3kBGnk?sub_confirmation=1 Sir Roger Penrose https://youtu.be/H8G5onAqlVo?sub_confirmation=1 Juan Maldacena’s First Podcast Interview: https://youtu.be/uIzTliTHn7s?sub_confirmation=1 Jim Simons: https://youtu.be/6fr8XOtbPqM?sub_confirmation=1 Sara Seager Venus LIfe: https://youtu.be/QPsEDoOTU6k?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 ‍♂️ Find me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/DrBrianKeating Find me on 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sometimes in this game you get to do an interview where you genuinely can say: "the person I'm about to interview needs no introduction." This is one of those occasions. But if I were to do that, it would wreck the fun of getting to introduce the interview, and why would I deprive myself of that? So, this episode, we are interviewing Lord Martin Rees. Martin Rees is one of the foremost cosmologists and astrophysicists of our time. He was made the Astronomer Royal in 1995, has been Master of Trinity College Cambridge, and President of the Royal Society. He has written more than 500 research papers across various areas of astrophysics and cosmology, including contributions to the origin of the cosmic microwave background radiation, the final proofs of the Big Bang theory, quasars, and gamma ray bursts. In the latter part of his career, he has been an immensely influential populariser of science, writing books on Cosmology such as Just Six Numbers and Our Cosmic Habitat. And he has also devoted himself to considering grand problems of the future of humanity and the existential risks that we face: his book, Our Final Century, helped to kick off the field of existential risk studies, and he co-founded the Centre for the Study of Existential Risks at the University of Cambridge in 2012. It is no exaggeration to say that a great many of the ideas that we've discussed on this show - and my own personal inspiration to study physics in the first place - owes to the work of Lord Rees, both in discovering much of the science in the first place and then again in popularising and explaining the ideas so wonderfully. I was extremely grateful that he was willing to be so generous with his time and respond to such a large range of my questions. Our interview touches on existential risks, the current pandemic, extraterrestrial life, cosmology in general, and the nature of fundamental physics.

Lord Martin Rees is a cosmologist, mathematician, and the Astronomer Royal of the United Kingdom. When he's not busy running the Centre for The Study of Existential Risk at Cambridge University, he's authoring books on science and astrophysics. He joins the show to discuss his latest work, "On the Future: Prospects for Humanity." Click here to see this and other books featured on the podcast!

Which is scarier: nuclear war or robots? Asteroid impact or climate change? Martin Rees is the founder of The Centre for the Study of Existential Risk at Cambridge University. He joins the program to talk about how to calculate the probability of threats to humanity, and what we should be sweating.   He's also the Astronomer Royal of the United Kingdom, the country's foremost mathematician, and the author of "On The Future: Prospects for Humanity."   Here's a link to his book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/069118044X?tag=mightyheaton-20&linkCode=osi&th=1&psc=1    

Astronomer Royal Lord Martin Rees shares his insights into the existential threats facing humanity, what it means to be a techno-optimist, and how we can plan for the long-term future. Lord Martin Rees is a leading astrophysicist as well as a senior figure in UK science. He has conducted influential theoretical work on subjects as diverse as black hole formation and extragalactic radio sources, and provided key evidence to contradict the Steady State theory of the evolution of the Universe. Martin was also one of the first to predict the uneven distribution of matter in the Universe, and proposed observational tests to determine the clustering of stars and galaxies. Much of his most valuable research has focused on the end of the so-called cosmic dark ages — a period shortly after the Big Bang when the Universe was as yet without light sources. As Astronomer Royal and a Past President of the Royal Society, Martin is a prominent scientific spokesperson and the author of seven books of popular science. After receiving a knighthood in 1992 for his services to science, he was elevated to the title of Baron Rees of Ludlow in 2005. Find out more: futurespodcast.net CREDITS Produced by FUTURES Podcast Recorded, Mixed & Edited by Luke Robert Mason FOLLOW FUTURES PODCAST Twitter: @FUTURESPodcast Instagram: @futurespodcast Facebook: @FUTURESPodcast

Lord Martin Rees, astronomer and cosmologist, talks to The National's future editor, Kelsey Warner, about the threat of Covid-19, science and social policy and the human endeavor to colonise mars.

Anyone who has read histories of the Cold War, including the Cuban Missile Crisis and the 1983 nuclear false alarm, must be struck by how incredibly close humanity has come to wreaking incredible destruction on itself. Nuclear war was the first technology humans created that was truly capable of causing such harm, but the list of potential threats is growing, from artificial pandemics to runaway super-powerful artificial intelligence. In response, today’s guest Martin Rees and others founded the Cambridge Centre for the Study of Existential Risk. We talk about what the major risks are, and how we can best reason about very tiny probabilities multiplied by truly awful consequences. In the second part of the episode we start talking about what humanity might become, as well as the prospect of life elsewhere in the universe, and that was so much fun that we just kept going.Support Mindscape on Patreon.Lord Martin Rees, Baron of Ludlow, received his Ph.D. in physics from University of Cambridge. He is currently Emeritus Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics at the University of Cambridge, as well as Astronomer Royal of the United Kingdom. He was formerly Master of Trinity College and President of the Royal Society. Among his many awards are the Heineman Prize for Astrophysics, the Gruber Prize in Cosmology, the Crafoord Prize, the Michael Faraday Prize, the Templeton Prize, the Isaac Newton Medal, the Dirac Medal, and the British Order of Merit. He is a co-founder of the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk.Web pageInstitute for Astronomy, Cambridge, web pageGoogle Scholar publicationsAmazon.com author pageWikipediaCentre for the Study of Existential Risk

If we've learned anything in the tech world over the last decade, it's the folly of not taking the long view. So the start of a new decade seems like a good time to talk "big picture" with Lord Martin Rees, one of the world's most prominent scientists. His most recent book is called "On the Future: Prospects for Humanity." In a full-episode interview, Sir Martin and Nora don't just look decades ahead, but also millions of years into human future.

In London, Lord Martin Rees joins Lawrence to discuss cosmology, science writing, politics, and the role of religion (and religious figures) in modern society. See the exclusive, full HD videos of all episodes at www.patreon.com/originspodcast immediately upon their release. Twitter: @TheOriginsPod Instagram: @TheOriginsPod Facebook: @TheOriginsPod Website: https://theoriginspodcast.com

Dr Allan Chapman is an Oxford historian, fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and a Christian believer. His new book ‘Comets, Cosmology and the Big Bang: From Halley to Hubble’ traces 400 colourful years of astronomical advance and the faith of those involved. Friend and colleague Lord Martin Rees, the Astronomer Royal, joins the conversation to talk about his recent book ‘On The Future’ and why as an agnostic he doesn’t see God as the explanation for the mystery of the Universe, even though many before him have. At the end of the show Justin chats to Frank Viola about his new book ‘Insurgence: Reclaiming the gospel of the Kingdom’ For ‘Comets, Cosmology and the Big Bang’: http://www.lionhudson.com/page/detail/?k=9780745980317  For ‘On The Future’ https://www.amazon.co.uk/Future-Prospects-Humanity-Martin-Rees/dp/069118044X   For ‘Insurgence’ by Frank Viola http://insurgence.org/  Get signed copies of Unbelievable? the book and audiobook: www.unbelievablebook.co.uk  For more faith debates visit http://www.premierchristianradio.com/Shows/Saturday/Unbelievable Join the conversation: Facebook and Twitter Get the MP3 Podcast of Unbelievable? Via RSS or Via Itunes

In this episode of Talk Nerdy, Cara joins Astronomer Royal and Emeritus Professor of Astronomy and Cosmology, Lord Martin Rees, in his office at Cambridge University. They talk about his new book, “On the Future: Prospects of Humanity,” as well as his work as the co-founder of the Center for the Study of Existential Risk. They discuss the hazards of short-term decision-making and the great potential modern science and technology offers us to secure the future of planet Earth for generations to come.

In this episode of Talk Nerdy, Cara joins Astronomer Royal and Emeritus Professor of Astronomy and Cosmology, Lord Martin Rees, in his office at Cambridge University. They talk about his new book, “On the Future: Prospects of Humanity,” as well as his work as the co-founder of the Center for the Study of Existential Risk. They discuss the hazards of short-term decision-making and the great potential modern science and technology offers us to secure the future of planet Earth for generations to come.

Astronomer Royal Lord Martin Rees explains how unless we make significant changes now, the prospects for the human species are beginning to look bleak. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We have Lord Martin Rees to thank for much of what we understand about black holes, quasars, and other distant objects in the night sky. He is England’s Astronomer Royal, and has spent the past fifty years looking deep into the past, to understand the origins of the universe. But for the past two decades he’s also been asking the most difficult questions about the future of humankind, a future made uncertain because of tremendous advancements in science and technology.

Lord Martin Rees - Astronomer Royal Smithsonian Associates, Interview Series Welcome to the Not Old Better Show, I'm your host Paul Vogelzang, and this is episode number 277 As part of our Smithsonian Associates, Art of Living, Inside Science series, our guest today is Lord Martin Rees. Lord Martin Rees is the Astronomer Royal to the British monarchy, and provides scientific and astronomical perspective, research and guidance to the Queen, and others throughout the world. Today on The Not Old Better Show, cosmologist and astrophysicist Lord Martin Rees, who, again holds the position of Astronomer Royal, will argue that we must think rationally, globally, collectively and optimistically about the long term future of humanity Learn more about this episode of The Not Old Better Show at https://notold-better.com For ticket information and more details, please click here: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/astronomer-royal-looks-to-future

It is 40 years since Sir David Attenborough told the story of Life on Earth, from its very first spark 4 billion years ago to the abundance of plants and animals today. He tells Andrew Marr how more pieces of the puzzle have fallen into place over the last four decades. The German ornithologist Michael Quetting spent a year hand rearing seven goslings: caring for them as they hatched, helping them learn to swim, and teaching them to fly alongside his aircraft. The project is part of an ambitious scientific research programme to understand birds in flight and use them to gather weather data for us. Lord Martin Rees, the Astronomer Royal, looks beyond the earth to ask about potential life among the stars. He sees the future of humanity as bound to the future of science, and believes that space explorers in the next century will be electronic and not organic. A hundred years after Holst wrote The Planets, leading composers are again trying to capture the essence of our solar system in music. But this time they are working in collaboration with scientists. The geologist Dr Philippa Mason has helped bring deeper insight to Venus: a planet once thought to be a lush tropical swamp world, but in reality a crushing, violent inferno. (Producer: Katy Hickman).

In January 2017, legendary physicist Stephen Hawking shared his thoughts about the most rewarding achievements of his career, in an exclusive broadcast, marking his 75th birthday for Southbank Centre. He talked about some of his proudest accomplishments as a theoretical mathematician and physicist. "Every new day became a bonus and I began to appreciate everything I had; where there is life, there is hope." STEPHEN HAWKING Broadcaster Michael Buerk hosted the evening, and he was joined by Lord Martin Rees, the Astronomer Royal, to respond live to Professor Hawking's keynote. Due to health reasons, Professor Stephen Hawking was unable to appear in person at Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall; his keynote speech was pre-recorded from his home in Cambridge and broadcast for audience members.

Jared talks with Astronomer Royal, Lord Martin Rees about multiverses, black holes and whether we are living in a simulation. In the first segment, Podship Earth goes to an EPA rally and talks coal with Tyler White of the Kentucky miners association.

With advances in genetic engineering, neuroscience, pharmaceuticals and prosthetics, are we poised to enter a ‘post-human’ era? Will we jettison the limits nature imposed, even up to mortality itself? If so, to what end? Who will have access to these powerful tools, and what will become of those that do not? For episode 6 of ‘Shaping the Fourth Industrial Revolution’, we enter an ethical minefield with Rob Sparrow of Monash University, Melbourne; James Hughes, Executive Director of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies; Nita Farahany, Professor of Law and Philosophy at Duke University; Aldo Faisal, Senior Lecturer in Neurotechnology at Imperial College London; Lord Martin Rees, United Kingdom Astronomer Royal and founder of the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk; and Meghan O’Gieblyn, a writer and journalist.

Lord Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal, is a leading astrophysicist as well as a senior figure in UK science. He has conducted influential theoretical work on subjects as diverse as black hole formation and extragalactic radio sources, and provided key evidence to contradict the Steady State theory of the evolution of the Universe. His talk -Peering into the Future: The Bumpy Road Ahead was held at the Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy at SOAS University of London on 6 November 2017. Co-Hosted by British Pugwash

Adam Rutherford discusses the relationship between basic and applied scientific research with guests at the Hay Festival. Adam is joined by the Astronomer Royal, Lord Martin Rees, physicist Professor Robbert Dijkgraaf, the director of the Institute for Advanced Studies at Princeton University and author of a new essay introducing On the Usefulness of Useless Knowledge, behavioural psychologist Professor Theresa Marteau of Cambridge University and geneticist and writer Professor Steve Jones of University College London.

LORD MARTIN REES is a Fellow of Trinity College and Emeritus Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics at the University of Cambridge. He is the UK's Astronomer Royal and a Past President of the Royal Society. The Conversation: https://www.edge.org/conversation/martin_rees-curtains-for-us-all

What does the future hold for human space exploration? With more countries getting involved and costs falling, increasingly ambitious projects are being proposed. Is a permanent base on the Moon feasible? Are there vast mineral resources to be harvested in space? Will our descendants be forced to abandon planet Earth to live elsewhere? Join Owen Bennett Jones and his panel of extra-terrestrial experts – including science fiction writer Kim Stanley Robinson – as they discuss humanity’s future in space. This week's contributors: Lord Martin Rees, British Astronomer Royal; Dr Jill Stuart, specialist in space politics at the London School of Economics; Monica Grady, Professor of Planetary and Space Sciences at the Open University; Dr David Parker, chief executive of the UK Space Agency. (Picture credit: NASA)

Welcome to On the Cusp, a new podcast about Science and Policy. This is the first episode, in which we discuss the process of integrating science into the policy making process. We spoke to Lord Martin Rees, astrophysicist and peer in the House of Lords, and Prof. Michelle Baddeley, a fellow of the Centre for Science and Policy at Cambridge University. We also interviewed Daniel Zeichner, MP for Cambridge and shadow Secretary for Transport, as well as Dr. David Cleeveley, founder of the Centre for Science and Policy. To gain insight into how the public can engage in Science and Policy, we spoke to AnnaRead More →

Source: Future of Humanity Institute (original video).

The second half of a discussion between Professor Charles Kennel, Lord Martin Rees, and Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta on combining natural and social scientific expertise to address the relationship between humanity and nature.

The first half of a discussion between Professor Charles Kennel, Lord Martin Rees, and Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta on combining natural and social scientific expertise to address the relationship between humanity and nature.

How can we reconcile short-term politics with the long-term global problems we face? Should scientists wield more political power? Is it fair to criticise politicians for faults in our political system, or is it our failing? Or is democracy itself to blame? David puts these questions to Lord (Martin) Rees – cosmologist, Astronomer Royal, and former President of the Royal Society – and someone who believes that mankind only has a 50% chance of making it through this century without a serious global “setback”. The team then debate this week’s political events. Posted 18/2/15. For more information about this episode and others go to http://www.cam.ac.uk/podcasts/election See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Professor Carl Djerassi discussed his autobiography From the Pill to the Pen with Professor Martin Rees, Baron Rees of Ludlow, OM FRS (Astronomer Royal and Former Head of the Royal Society) on Monday 3 November 2014 in Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge.

Leideni Ülikooli astronoom Mihkel Kama tutvustab oma uurimistulemusi, millest ilmneb, et noored, alles tekkivad tähed võivad välja kiirata erakordselt tugevat kiirgust. Nõnda nähtub andmetest, mille kosmoseteleskoop Herschel on kogunud ühe Orioni tähetekkepiirkonas asuva prototähe juurest. Saates kõnelevad aga mitmel põhjapaneval teemal veel Briti kuninglik astronoom Lord Martin Rees, äsja maineka Gruberi auhinna pälvinud Eesti astronoomia grand old man Jaan Einasto ja laias maailmas praegu kõige tuntum eesti soost astronoom, Massachusettsi Tehnikainstituudi emeriitprofessor Alar Toomre.

Leideni Ülikooli astronoom Mihkel Kama tutvustab oma uurimistulemusi, millest ilmneb, et noored, alles tekkivad tähed võivad välja kiirata erakordselt tugevat kiirgust. Nõnda nähtub andmetest, mille kosmoseteleskoop Herschel on kogunud ühe Orioni tähetekkepiirkonas asuva prototähe juurest. Saates kõnelevad aga mitmel põhjapaneval teemal veel Briti kuninglik astronoom Lord Martin Rees, äsja maineka Gruberi auhinna pälvinud Eesti astronoomia grand old man Jaan Einasto ja laias maailmas praegu kõige tuntum eesti soost astronoom, Massachusettsi Tehnikainstituudi emeriitprofessor Alar Toomre.

Parallel realities and the deep structure of space-time sound like science fiction. These are matters of real scientific inquiry. Lord Martin Rees is an astrophysicist and self-professed atheist who paints a fascinating picture of how we might be changed by what we do not yet know.

Some of the biggest philosophical and ethical questions of this century may be raised on scientific frontiers — as we gain a better understanding of the deep structure of space and time and the wilder “microworld.” Astrophysicist Martin Rees paints a fascinating picture of how we might be changed by what we do not yet know: “If science teaches me anything, it teaches me that even simple things like an atom are fairly hard to understand. And that makes me skeptical of anyone who claims to have the last word or complete understanding of any deep aspect of reality.” This is On Being’s complete, unedited interview with Lord Rees. See more at http://www.onbeing.org/program/cosmic-origami-and-what-we-dont-know/250

Lord Rees of Ludlow delivers the 2011 Romanes Lecture. Telescopes reveal the remote universe; accelerators probe the subatomic world. Thanks to such instruments, astronomers have established, in outline, how our cosmos has evolved from a still-mysterious beginning more than 13 billion years. Billions more years - and perhaps even an infinite time - lie ahead of it. But 99 percent of scientists focus neither on the very small nor the very large, but on the even greater complexities of our everyday world. Materials science, biology and the environmental sciences proceed apace, revealing remarkable insights, and opening up an ever-widening range of applications - both opportunities and threats. We live on an ever more interconnected and crowded planet, where each person is empowered by transformative technology but is making increasing demands on the world's resources. There is a widening gulf between what science enables us to do, and what it's prudent or ethical actually to do. The Earth has existed for 45 million centuries but this is the first when one species, ours, can determine the long-range planetary future. The stakes are high; optimum policies require a longer-term and less parochial perspective than normally prevails in political debate, the deployment of the best scientific advice, and engagement of a wider public. In science itself, the most dramatic conceptual advances are the least predictable. But, in scanning these intellectual horizons, we must be mindful that there may be fundamental limits to our understanding - concepts about key aspects of reality that human brains (even computer-aided) can't grasp. Lord (Martin) Rees was the President of the Royal Society from December 2005 to December 2010. He is Master of Trinity College and Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics at the University of Cambridge. He is also Visiting Professor at Leicester University and Imperial College London. He was appointed Astronomer Royal in 1995, and was nominated to the House of Lords in 2005 as a cross-bench peer. He was appointed a member of the Order of Merit in 2007.

Lord Rees of Ludlow delivers the 2011 Romanes Lecture. Telescopes reveal the remote universe; accelerators probe the subatomic world. Thanks to such instruments, astronomers have established, in outline, how our cosmos has evolved from a still-mysterious beginning more than 13 billion years. Billions more years - and perhaps even an infinite time - lie ahead of it. But 99 percent of scientists focus neither on the very small nor the very large, but on the even greater complexities of our everyday world. Materials science, biology and the environmental sciences proceed apace, revealing remarkable insights, and opening up an ever-widening range of applications - both opportunities and threats. We live on an ever more interconnected and crowded planet, where each person is empowered by transformative technology but is making increasing demands on the world's resources. There is a widening gulf between what science enables us to do, and what it's prudent or ethical actually to do. The Earth has existed for 45 million centuries but this is the first when one species, ours, can determine the long-range planetary future. The stakes are high; optimum policies require a longer-term and less parochial perspective than normally prevails in political debate, the deployment of the best scientific advice, and engagement of a wider public. In science itself, the most dramatic conceptual advances are the least predictable. But, in scanning these intellectual horizons, we must be mindful that there may be fundamental limits to our understanding - concepts about key aspects of reality that human brains (even computer-aided) can't grasp. Lord (Martin) Rees was the President of the Royal Society from December 2005 to December 2010. He is Master of Trinity College and Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics at the University of Cambridge. He is also Visiting Professor at Leicester University and Imperial College London. He was appointed Astronomer Royal in 1995, and was nominated to the House of Lords in 2005 as a cross-bench peer. He was appointed a member of the Order of Merit in 2007.

President of the Royal Society, England's Astronomer Royal, Lord Martin Rees brings a lifetime of cosmological inquiry to a crucial question: What if human success on Earth determines life's success in the universe? He thinks that civilization's chances of getting out of this century intact are about 50-50. He is hopeful that extraterrestrial life already exists, but there's no sign of it yet. But even if we are now alone, he notes that we may not even be the halfway stage of evolution. There is huge scope for post-human evolution, so that "it will not be humans who watch the sun's demise, 6 billion years from now. Any creatures that then exist will be as different from us as we are from bacteria or amoebae." Appropriately, Rees's Long Now talk will be at the Chabot Space & Science Center in the hills above Oakland, in the planetarium.