INTRO
This week we're talking about finding the fountain of youth, sending nudes into space and listening to black holes. Also, Richard Dawkins on what we should tell the aliens, and Douglas Murray chats with Sam Harris and Michael Shermer.
1. Finding the Fountain Of Youth
It's hard to accept that you're ageing. Just look at Madonna's recent Instagram and TikTok escapades.
While plastic surgery and smoking blunts may make her APPEAR younger, as we know, ageing comes from the inside- it is the accumulation of molecular and cellular damage over time.
Most people just accept that ageing is a part of nature, but more and more scientists, in particular, our mate David Sinclair, are showing that ageing can, and SHOULD, be avoided.
In a recent talk led by Brian Greene at the World Science Festival, David explains that ageing is like scratches on a CD. The song data is still there- it's just not able to be read due to damage. Buff out the scratches and the sound will play well just like before.
Ok, maybe that's putting it a bit simply, so make sure you go and watch the video for yourself.
Also, check out David's book Lifespan at the link in our bio, where you can also grab tickets to see the string theorist and founder of the World Science Festival, Professor Brian Greene, live in conversation!
2. Space nudes
Two words: SPACE NUDES.
You heard right, NASA plans to beam an image of two humans waving in their birthday suits into space, in the hope that this could attract the attention of extraterrestrials.
Along with the Adam & Eve cartoon, there will be a drawing of the DNA double helix, and an image of an object falling, depicting Earth's gravity.
The images will come with an invitation to respond, all written in binary code, which the scientists think might be a universal language understood by all intelligent life forms.
The message will also include information about Earth's location, which has some people worried. What about if the aliens are hostile and use this info to damage Earth?
To be fair, this isn't the first time we've sent images of nude humans into space- the Pioneer plaques sent in 1972 and 1973 also had some naked folk. Granted, it was the 70s, and pretty much everyone was naked all the time!
I wanna know, if you had to explain Earth to aliens in just three images, what would they be? Let us know in the comments.
3. Richard Dawkins news
Calling all Richard Dawkins fans: we've got two pieces of new content you can't miss.
First up, Dawko recently opened the International Science Festival in Gothenburg, Sweden. He gave a fascinating speech called "What Shall We Tell the Aliens?".
Don't get it twisted, Dawko doesn't believe we are going to meet aliens, but he does make another bold claim: he says that if aliens DO exist, he believes they will also be a product of Darwinian selection. How wild is that!?
Secondly, don't miss an excerpt from his latest book, Flights of Fancy, published in Quillette last week. In it he talks about why many animals shed their wings.
For example, did you know that worker ants can sprout wings, but don't? And that ant and termite queens bite off their wings after mating?
And what about flightless birds such as penguins, what's the point of having wings if you can't fly!?
Evolution can explain why, but you'll have to read the article to f...
