Physical Attraction

Are we alone in the Universe? Or are there alien civilisations out there? And if there are, where are they, and why aren't they talking to us? We'll explore the Fermi paradox, the Drake equation, and, of course... the simple fact that we're all living in a computer simulation. Don't miss it. "Hope that there's intelligent life somewhere up in space, 'cause there's bugger all down here on Earth" - The Galaxy Song, Monty Python

Are we alone in the Universe? Or are there alien civilisations out there?
And if there are, where are they, and why aren't they talking to us?

We'll explore the Fermi paradox, the Drake equation, and, of course... the simple fact that we're all living in a computer simulation. Don't miss it.

"Hope that there's intelligent life somewhere up in space, 'cause there's bugger all down here on Earth" - The Galaxy Song, Monty Python

Bonus midweek edition, coming to you as close to LIVE as is humanly possible... Inspired by last week's episode, Seduced By A Robot, I downloaded a neural network and started to play around with it. See what happens when I feed it:

• The works of Shakespeare
• My Facebook conversation history
• A biography of Stalin
• and, of course, the twitter feed of President Trump

The neural network I used was the tensorflow char-rnn - an open-source framework by Chen Liang - and I got the idea from Janelle Shane, who you can find at www.lewisandquark.tumblr.com. Also: an appeal for listener questions! I want to do a listener questions episode, but to do that, I need... listener questions. Tweet us @physicspod, email us at [email protected]. Any question will be considered, no matter how outlandish, and the ones that work out will be featured on a future episode. Here are some ideas:

• Something you wanted to know about physics
• Something you wanted to know about seduction (which I achieve masterfully in 100% of cases)
• Something that's been bothering you in your personal life or in the world at large
• Hateful abuse phrased as a question

Send them in! And see you Saturday for a regular episode.

Bonus midweek edition, coming to you as close to LIVE as is humanly possible...

Inspired by last week's episode, Seduced By A Robot, I downloaded a neural network and started to play around with it. See what happens when I feed it:

• The works of Shakespeare
• My Facebook conversation history
• A biography of Stalin
• and, of course, the twitter feed of President Trump

The neural network I used was the tensorflow char-rnn - an open-source framework by Chen Liang - and I got the idea from Janelle Shane, who you can find at www.lewisandquark.tumblr.com. 


Also: an appeal for listener questions!

I want to do a listener questions episode, but to do that, I need... listener questions.

Tweet us @physicspod, email us at [email protected]. Any question will be considered, no matter how outlandish, and the ones that work out will be featured on a future episode. Here are some ideas:

• Something you wanted to know about physics
• Something you wanted to know about seduction (which I achieve masterfully in 100% of cases)
• Something that's been bothering you in your personal life or in the world at large
• Hateful abuse phrased as a question

Send them in! And see you Saturday for a regular episode.

OK Computer, seduce me. What happens when Japanese scientists try to programme an AI to give love advice? Are we going to be able to talk to robots in our lifetimes and have them say anything that makes an earthly lick of sense? Should you stop dating and learn how to programme instead? On this episode of physical attraction, we'll dive into the world of chatterbots and ask the question: can you be seduced by a robot?

OK Computer, seduce me.

What happens when Japanese scientists try to programme an AI to give love advice?
Are we going to be able to talk to robots in our lifetimes and have them say anything that makes an earthly lick of sense? 
Should you stop dating and learn how to programme instead?

On this episode of physical attraction, we'll dive into the world of chatterbots and ask the question: can you be seduced by a robot?

What is radiation, and why won't it give you superpowers? How can we shield future generations from nuclear waste? What's the Oh-My-God particle? And, most crucially of all, how many bananas does it take to crush a person to death?

Physical Attraction takes a brief dive into the world of the electromagnetic spectrum and other forms of radiation. This week's chat-up line: Are you emitting light in the visible spectrum, because you're... unusually hot

What is radiation, and why won't it give you superpowers?

How can we shield future generations from nuclear waste?

What's the Oh-My-God particle? And, most crucially of all, how many bananas does it take to crush a person to death? 

Physical Attraction takes a brief dive into the world of the electromagnetic spectrum and other forms of radiation.

This week's chat-up line:

Are you emitting light in the visible spectrum, because you're... unusually hot

Can you really explain a huge chunk of what we know about physics with a single equation? What does this equation look like, and how does it behave? And - most importantly - what happens when a platoon of soldiers try to flirt with a bridge? This episode of physical attraction, we're picking up good vibrations. Come oscillate with us. Hopefully some of what we say is going to resonate with you.

Can you really explain a huge chunk of what we know about physics with a single equation? What does this equation look like, and how does it behave? And - most importantly - what happens when a platoon of soldiers try to flirt with a bridge?

This episode of physical attraction, we're picking up good vibrations. Come oscillate with us. Hopefully some of what we say is going to resonate with you.