Adam Riess is a renowned astrophysicist recognized for his groundbreaking research on the expansion of the universe with the 2011 Nobel Prize in physics Through extensive measurements and collaborations with other scientists, Riess discovered an intriguing tension in the size of the universe's expansion, which has steadily grown over the past decade. These results, reaching a significant level of more than 5 sigma, revealed an unexpected phenomenon: the rate of the universe's expansion seems to differ based on whether one starts from the beginning shortly after the big bang or from the present. This unexpected autonomy in the expansion challenged the traditional cosmological model, which tells the story of the universe's evolution from its inception to its current state. Riess's research has generated suspicion among many scientists, leading them to question whether the cosmological model itself needs revision. In his pursuit of unraveling the mysteries of the universe, Riess reminds us that advanced technology may often be mistaken for something magical.

On this episode of INTO THE IMPOSSIBLE Riess explores the challenges of measuring distances in the universe and the discrepancies between measurements of the expansion rate of the universe first observed by Edwin Hubble namesake of The Hubble Constant, a pillar of cosmology. From the use of parallax (dating back to ancient Greece) to the use of Cepheid variables and Type 1a supernovae, Riess takes listeners on a journey through the cosmic distance ladder and the problem of the variation in the measurement of the Hubble constant known as the Hubble Tension. The possible role of dark energy is discussed, opening up new avenues for scientific investigation. Riess shares insights into the concept of the cosmological principle, and how it is challenged by the Hubble Tension.

The conversation touches on peak experiences, the awe-inspiring encounters with nature that trigger moments of gratitude and curiosity, and the importance of sustaining these feelings in scientific exploration.

Riess highlights the empirical nature of observational cosmology and the need for continued data collection and refining of models. Black holes, gravitational lensing, and Adam’s motivations to pursue precision science are discussed.

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Join me and ⁦Lawrence Krauss for an Onstage Dialogue ⁦at the San Diego Air & Space Museum Tuesday, Oct 17, 2023 at 7:00 PM: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/live-onstage-dialogue-brian-keating-lawrence-m-krauss-tickets-699430514497

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Physicist Brian Keating talks about his book Losing the Nobel Prize: A Story of Cosmology, Ambition, and the Perils of Science’s Highest Honor.

Past episode with Avi Loeb on Youtube: https://youtu.be/N9lUceHsLRw

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Join me and ⁦Lawrence Krauss for an Onstage Dialogue ⁦at the San Diego Air & Space Museum Tuesday, Oct 17, 2023 at 7:00 PM: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/live-onstage-dialogue-brian-keating-lawrence-m-krauss-tickets-699430514497

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Watch the full video on youtube here: https://youtu.be/EY8b5g31j44

Welcome author Jaime Green! We discuss her moving and delightful book about the possibility and actuality of alien life. The discussion covers a range of topics, from the role of waste of space to the significance of life on Earth. The episode also delves into other scientific questions, such as the definition of a planet, the simulation of the Drake equation, and the morality of abortion from a religious perspective. The episode concludes with a discussion on the potential impact of discovering alien life on society.

Jaime Green is a science writer, essayist, editor, and teacher, and she is series editor of The Best American Science and Nature Writing. She received her MFA in Creative Nonfiction from Columbia, and her writing has appeared in Slate, Popular Science, The New York Times Book Review, American Theatre, Catapult, Astrobites, and elsewhere.

Jaime Green is interested in the fundamental nature of life and how it arises. She is working to abstract from Earth's chemistry to gain a broader understanding of what distinguishes living matter from inanimate matter. Jaime recognizes that defining life is a difficult task and that traditional definitions may not be useful in understanding the complexity of living systems. Her work is focused on unraveling many of the mysteries surrounding the origins of life, and she is regarded as a leading author in this field.

https://www.jaimegreen.net/

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Watch the full video on youtube here: https://youtu.be/-lRuFqXzfJU

Andy Friedman: In Memoriam: A tribute to our beloved colleague -- Astronomer, Physicist, Friend https://youtu.be/lKo5Ed-_eSo

Andy Friedman, Brian Keating and David Brin Many Worlds & The Multiverse: https://youtu.be/9oahwWBcg1A

Three years ago our beloved colleague, Astrophysicist Andrew Friedman unexpectedly and tragically passed away. Andy was an outstanding science communicator and presented at many events with your host Brian Keating and other colleagues from the Arthur C. Clark Center For Human Imagination and UC San Diego. This is a replay recording of one of his last public appearences where he discussed one of his favorite subjects, Quantum Entanglement and Bell’s Inequality. 

Einstein famously thought Quantum entanglement was impossible and called it spooky action at a distance. 

Dr. Friedman was a Principle collaborator on an experiment of such galactic scale that it was the subject of a PBS NOVA Feature documentary, Einstein’s Quantum Riddle.

Along with Andy’s articulate explanation of the cosmic bell test experiment using distant Quasars, your host professor Brian Keating moderates a panel that includes Jason Gallicchio (Professor of Physics, Harvey Mudd College) and David Brin (physicist and Hugo & Nebula-winning author). 

As a testament to Andy’s vision and science acumen, since this event, Andy’s collaborator, Anton Zeilinger shared the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics with John Clauser and Alain Aspect, for experiments with entangled photons, further establishing the violation of Bell inequalities and pioneering quantum information science. Their results have cleared the way for new technology based on quantum information profound implications.

The Paper:

Cosmic Bell Test using Random Measurement Settings from High-Redshift Quasars

 https://arxiv.org/abs/1808.05966

PBS NOVA Special: https://youtu.be/068rdc75mHM

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In this live in-studio episode of The INTO THE IMPOSSIBLE, host Brian Keating sat down with renowned science fiction author, Kim Stanley Robinson, to discuss his fist major non-fiction work, The High Sierra: A Love Story. Equal parts memoir, guidebook, geology tutorial, and historiography, in High Sierra, Robinson describes the geological forces that shaped the Sierras and the history of its exploration, going back to the indigenous peoples who made it home and whose traces can still be found today in the knapping fields of obsidian chips. He celebrates the people whose ideas and actions protected the High Sierra for future generations. He describes uniquely beautiful hikes and the trails to be avoided. Robinson’s own life-altering events, defining relationships, and unforgettable adventures form the narrative’s spine. And he illuminates the human communion with the wild and with the sublime, including the personal growth that only seems to come from time spent outdoors.

Stan reveals his writing process (he treats it as a job and doesn’t “wait” for inspiration). Keating and Robinson also discuss Robinson's book, "Galileo's Dream" exploring one of Professor Keating’s heroes and the lessons Stan learned from researching the great scientist.

Robinson emphasizes the importance of melding science and art, arguing that the split between them is due to a lack of understanding and a unified approach is essential to the progress of humanity. He defends John Muir against accusations of racism, and mistreatment of Native Americans, pointing out Muir's desire to preserve the Sierras, his recognition of Native American stewardship and his admonitions to get outside.

Host Keating even gets feedback on his science fiction novel pitch.

Kim Stanley Robinson is a New York Times bestseller and winner of the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus awards. He is the author of more than twenty books, including the bestselling Mars trilogy and the critically acclaimed 2312, Shaman, New York 2140, and The Ministry for the Future. He traveled in Antarctica twice, courtesy of the US National Science Foundation. In 2008, he was named a “Hero of the Environment” by Time magazine, and he works with the Sierra Nevada Research Institute. He lives in Davis, California.

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Sir Roger Penrose, the celebrated English mathematician and physicist as well as author of numerous books, including The Emperor's New Mind: Concerning Computers, Minds, and the Laws of Physics, joined the Clarke Center to share a talk titled "Fashion, Faith and Fantasy and the Big Questions in Modern Physics" based on his book of the same name.

In his book Fashion, Faith and Fantasy and the Big Questions in Modern Physics, Roger Penrose argues that fashion, faith, and fantasy, while sometimes productive and even essential in physics, may be leading today's researchers astray in three of the field's most important areas—string theory, quantum mechanics, and cosmology.

* **String theory** is a branch of theoretical physics that attempts to unify all of the fundamental forces of nature in a single framework. However, string theory requires the existence of six extra hidden dimensions, which Penrose argues is not physically plausible. He also cautions that the fashionable nature of string theory can cloud our judgment of its plausibility.

* **Quantum mechanics** is a fundamental theory in physics that provides a description of the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles. However, Penrose argues that quantum mechanics is based on a number of unproven assumptions, and that it may not be applicable to all physical systems.

* **Cosmology** is the study of the origin, evolution, and eventual fate of the universe. Penrose argues that many of the current fantastical ideas about the origins of the universe cannot be true, but that an even wilder reality may lie behind them.

Penrose concludes by arguing that fashion, faith, and fantasy should be replaced by physics: theories which, although they may be completely wrong, can at least be tested in the foreseeable future and discarded if they disagree with experiment or investigated further if not excluded by the results.

The book has been praised by some physicists for its insights into the current state of physics, while others have criticized it for its negative tone and its lack of constructive proposals.

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See the video here: https://youtu.be/nzy4jVOPC6E

Peter and Brian discuss asteroids, multiverses, and how AI will impact the universe. Brian Keating is a renowned astrophysicist, cosmologist, inventor, and author. He is a professor at the University of California, San Diego and director of the Arthur C. Clarke Center for the Human Imagination. Keating's groundbreaking research on cosmic microwave background radiation has earned him prestigious awards, and his book "Losing the Nobel Prize" has received critical acclaim. Visit his website: https://briankeating.com/

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In this interview on the ALPHA MIND podcast, hosts STEVEN GOLDSTEIN & MARK RANDALL interview Professor Keating about some of the connections which bind trading, investing, and science. Brian talks about how scientists, despite being held on some sort of an intellectual pedestal, are human, and are just as prone to the foibles and behavioral errors which are common to people in all fields, including trading.

The theme, which resonates throughout this interview, alludes to the meta game of science and trading, something which was captured in a quote by Dr. Keating, and which featured prominently in Greg Zuckerman’s 2019 book about the trading legend Jim Simons, ‘The Man Who Solved the Market: How Jim Simons Launched the Quant Revolution.’ The quote is:

‘Scientists are human, sometimes all too human. When desire and data are in collision, evidence sometimes loses out to emotion.’

Themes explored in this interview are; confirmation bias, ego, and our ability, or even inability, to separate our outcomes from our ego.

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-alphamind-podcast/id1467395734

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On this episode of The INTO THE IMPOSSIBLE Podcast, Carl Zimmer discusses the importance of ethics in scientific communication and how scientific discoveries can be inaccurately reported by journalists, leading to misunderstandings by the public. The difficulty of defining what it means to be alive is explored and the stakes of this debate, particularly in regards to the autonomy of one's own body, are discussed. The episode also touches on the controversy surrounding gain of function research on pathogens and the importance of verifying scientific findings. The guest shares anecdotes from her career, including her experience covering the controversial discovery of arsenic life, and reflects on why biology continues to surprise and fascinate her. The episode ends with a discussion on the human brain’s difficulty in dealing with ambiguous states and the challenge of capturing people’s interest in retractions or flawed findings.

Carl Zimmer is an expert science writer who is highly curious about the mysteries of life and often ponders the question of how to define it. Although scientists all study life, their definitions vary, leading to a unique fascination for Zimmer. He was particularly inspired by the astronomers who study the same thing, making their work seem more straightforward. Zimmer was also driven by the belief that advanced technology can sometimes feel magical. These interests have shaped his career as a science writer, and he has covered everything from genetics to pythons.

https://carlzimmer.com/

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