Why This Universe?

By Dan Hooper, Shalma Wegsman

What's Why This Universe? about?

The biggest ideas in physics, broken down. Join theoretical physicist Dan Hooper and co-host Shalma Wegsman as they answer your questions about dark matter, black holes, quantum mechanics, and more. Part of The University of Chicago Podcast Network.

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LAST EPISODE

74 - The Copernican Revolut...

12.04.2023

Today we visit a turning point in the history of science: the discovery that the Earth is not at the center of the cosmos. Our new merch is available here: https://www.shalmawegsman.com/why-this-universe For ask-us-anything segments and other exclusives, join us for ...

Why This Universe? episodes:

12.04.2023 74 - The Copernican Revolution (Ft. Aviva Rothman) Today we visit a turning point in the history of science: the discovery that the Earth is not at the center of the cosmos. Our new merch is available here: https://www.shalmawegsman.com/why-this-universe For ask-us-anything segments and other exclusives, join us for ...
11.20.2023 73 - Life Beyond Earth (Ft. Avi Loeb and Garrett Graff at the Chicago Humanities Festival) Dan moderates a lively discussion on extraterrestrial life at the Chicago Humanities Festival. Our new merch is available here: https://www.shalmawegsman.com/why-this-universe For ask-us-anything segments and other exclusives, join us for just $3 a month on Patreon: https://patreon.com/whythisuniverseSupport the show
11.06.2023 72 - The Physics Of Music (Ft. Tim Cohen) Where does the musical octave come from? What makes a C note a C? Why do different instruments sound different? Special guest Tim Cohen comes on to answer these questions and more. For ask-us-anything segments and other exclusives, join us ...
10.23.2023 71 - How the Universe Got Its Structure We tell the story of how the Universe developed large scale structure, starting from the Big Bang to today. It could have all turned out very differently, if not for some key players. For ask-us-anything segments and other exclusives, join ...
10.10.2023 70 - WTU Live: Will Intelligent Life Persist in the Universe? (ft. Daniel Holz and Diana Powell) Why This Universe hosts it's first ever live episode taping featuring guests Daniel Holz and Diana Powell. We discuss the possibility of intelligent life out in the Universe, the existential risks faced by humans on Earth, and the chance the ...
09.28.2023 Special Announcement + ChatGPT On Unifying Quantum Mechanics and Relativity CORRECTION: We misspeak about the time of the event in the episode, we are really on at 3-4 pm CST! Apologies! Why This Universe is going live on October 3rd in Chicago, IL! RSVP for free here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ucpn-podcast-festival-tickets-717455076447?aff=ebdsoporgprofile Join us ...
08.28.2023 69 - An Update on Modified Gravity (MOND) While physicists overwhelmingly agree about the existence of dark matter, a select group of people aren't convinced. Instead, they believe we must be wrong about gravity, and claim we need a theory of modified gravity (MOND) instead. Recent press releases ...
08.14.2023 68 - The Age of the Universe Today we are debunking the recent paper that claims our universe is much older than previously thought. For ask-us-anything segments and other exclusives, join us for just $3 a month on Patreon: https://patreon.com/whythisuniverse For fun dinosaur facts and research, check ...
07.31.2023 6 - Your Tour Through Quantum Weirdness (Rebroadcast) We are celebrating our 3 year anniversary with a throwback to one of our earliest episodes! Entanglement, wave-particle duality, and uncertainty - here's a breakdown of the weirdest and wildest things about quantum mechanics. To support our show and access ...
07.17.2023 67 - When Science Meets Spirituality (Ft. Alan Lightman) Special guest Alan Lightman takes us through a fascinating discussion of consciousness, and tells us how he reconciles spirituality with his materialist views. Todays episode is sponsored by the International Space Station. Join the ISS National Laboratory this August in ...
07.03.2023 66 - When Space Was Filled With Music Shortly after the Big Bang, space was densely packed with enough stuff for sound to travel through it. What was producing sound in this era, and how can we hear it today? Todays episode is sponsored by the International Space ...
05.22.2023 65 - Should We Build a Muon Collider? (Ft. Cari Cesarotti) Special guest Cari Cesarotti tells us why so many particle physicists are itching to build a whole new type of particle collider.Support the show
05.08.2023 64 - The Journey to the Big Bang The Big Bang is well accepted today as the leading theory of how our universe evolved over time - but in today's episode, we talk through all the very wrong theories that came before it. To get ad-free episodes and ...
04.17.2023 63 - The Question of Consciousness (Ft. David Chalmers) Can consciousness be explained by physics, or does it appeal to something beyond materialism? Philosopher guest star David Chalmers talks to us about how we can think about consciousness from a philosophical and scientific perspective. To support our show and ...
03.27.2023 47 - Boltzmann Brains: Could Reality Be An Illusion? (Rebroadcast) A whirlwind of questions brings us to an odd conclusion: could reality be an illusion created by a quantum fluctuation of a brain? This is a rebroadcast of a past favorite. For ad-free episodes and other exclusives, join us for ...
03.13.2023 62 - JWST and the Earliest Galaxies in the Universe (ft. Mike Boylan-Kolchin) Astronomers' newest telescope, JWST, just discovered galaxies that formed earlier than previously thought possible. What does this discovery mean for our understanding of the early universe? To support our show and get ad-free episodes and other exclusives, join us for ...
02.27.2023 61 - Could the Large Hadron Collider Destroy the World? Before the LHC turned on in 2008, many feared that it would create a dangerous black hole that would destroy the world. Were any of those fears well-founded, and how seriously did scientists take these claims?Support the show
02.13.2023 60 - The Search for Extra Dimensions Learn how extra dimensions of space might appear to us, and what physicists have done to try to find them. To support our show and get ad-free episodes and other exclusives, join us for $3 a month on Patreon: https://patreon.com/whythisuniverseSupport ...
01.09.2023 59 - The End of Everything (Ft. Katie Mack) Special guest Katie Mack talks to us about how the universe might end. To support our show and get ad-free episodes and other exclusives, join us for $3 a month on Patreon: https://patreon.com/whythisuniverseSupport the show
12.12.2022 58 - The Risks of Science Populism In today's different type of episode, we talk about the risks of a subtle kind of scientific misinformation.Support the show
11.21.2022 57 - String Theory Part 3: Duality This episode will hurt your brain, or your money back. To support our show and get ad-free episodes and other exclusives, join us for $3 a month on Patreon: https://patreon.com/whythisuniverseSupport the show
11.07.2022 56 - An Icy Neutrino Interruption We interrupt our regular episodes to cover the exciting new discovery that the IceCube Neutrino Observatory announced on November 3rd, 2022. To support our show and get ad-free episodes and other exclusives, join us for $3 a month on Patreon: ...
10.24.2022 55 - String Theory Part 2: The First Superstring Revolution We pick up the story of string theory and explore the explosion of interest it experienced in the mid 1980s. For ad-free episodes and other exclusives, join us for $3 a month on Patreon: https://patreon.com/whythisuniverseSupport the show
10.03.2022 54 - String Theory Part 1: What Is It? Last time, we introduced the biggest open problem in theoretical physics - the problem of combining gravity with quantum mechanics. In this first part of a three-part series, we introduce the leading candidate for how to do that: String Theory. ...
09.12.2022 53 - Why We Need a Theory of Quantum Gravity Quantum mechanics and general relativity are two of the most successful theories of science ever, but they don't necessarily fit together. Learn why physicists are trying so hard to discover a quantum theory of gravity, and why it's been such ...
08.22.2022 52 - The Large Hadron Collider and All Its Glory We pick up last episode's theme of particle colliders and dive into the most exciting one running today - the LHC. What is it, how does it work, and what new physics can it still reveal? For ad-free episodes and ...
08.01.2022 51 - Why Physicists Love Smashing Particles Together For the past century, physicists have been building particle colliders as a way to learn about the fundamental laws of physics. Today we talk about why smashing particles together has proven to be such a powerful tool. For ad-free episodes ...
07.11.2022 50 - The Black Hole At the Center of the Milky Way On May 12, 2022 astronomers revealed an image of the supermassive black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. Today we tell the story of what made this image possible. Today's episode is sponsored by Wren. Sign up ...
06.27.2022 49 - When the Universe Changed in an Instant Just like water changing to ice when it freezes, there were times in the universe's early history when reality changed in almost an instant. Today we dive into these cosmological phase transitions, and speculate about the strange objects these types ...
05.23.2022 48 - A Wrong Picture Of Cosmology When cosmology was still an infant science, a daring physicist wrote a theory of the beginning of time. We revisit this theory and see what value we can still glean from it today.Support the show
05.09.2022 13 - Does Quantum Mechanics Imply a Multiverse? (Rebroadcast) Today we explore different interpretations of quantum mechanics, from Copenhagen to the many-worlds hypothesis, in an attempt to uncover what quantum reality really is. This episode is a rebroadcast of one of our early favorites. For ad-free episodes and other ...
04.25.2022 47 - Boltzmann Brains: Could Reality Be An Illusion? A whirlwind of questions brings us to an odd conclusion: could reality be an illusion created by a quantum fluctuation of a brain? For ad-free episodes and other exclusives, join us for $3 a month on Patreon: https://patreon.com/whythisuniverseSupport the show
04.04.2022 46 - The Cosmic Rays Raining Down On Us Here on Earth, we are constantly being showered by particles from outer space called cosmic rays. What do we know about where these particles really come from? For ad-free episodes and other exclusives, join us for $3 a month on ...
03.14.2022 25 - Do Extra Dimensions Exist? (Rebroadcast) Today we are rebroadcasting an earlier episode all about extra dimensions - How many dimensions of space are there? Could there be extra dimensions that are hidden from view? For ad-free episodes and other exclusives, join us for $3 a ...
02.28.2022 45 - The Wide World of Exoplanets (ft. Diana Powell) Special guest Dr. Diana Powell gives us the lay down on the field of exoplanet research, and on how these recent discoveries may shed light on the question of extraterrestrial life. For ad-free episodes and other exclusives, join us for ...
02.14.2022 44 - Our Deepest Theory: Quantum Field Theory Today we attempt to break down the basics of quantum field theory - our deepest theory of physics yet. For ad-free episodes and other exclusives, join us for $3 a month on Patreon: https://patreon.com/whythisuniverseSupport the show
01.31.2022 43 - Is Physics the Most Fundamental Subject? Some people like to claim that psychology is just applied biology, which is just applied chemistry, which is just applied physics, and so on. Is there any truth to this? Or is it just our egos getting the better of ...
01.17.2022 42 - The Signal That Could Be the Dark Matter Dan shares one of the biggest stories of his career - his discovery of an excess of gamma rays at the center of the Milky Way. Is this a sign of dark matter, or is it something less mysterious?Support the ...
01.03.2022 41 - The Hubble Tension: The Biggest Fight in Astronomy (ft. Wendy Freedman) When different groups of astronomers measure the expansion rate of space, they get different answers. Who's right? Or are they both right, and new physics is afoot?Support the show
12.20.2021 40 - How Will JWST Change Astronomy? Today we dive into the world's shiny new space telescope - JWST. Learn why are physicists and astronomers are so excited about it, and what new secrets of the universe it might reveal. Keep your eye out for its launch ...
11.29.2021 23 - Does Physics Allow for Free Will? (Rebroadcast) Can free will exist in a universe described by the laws of physics? Listen to this re-broadcast of one of our favorite episodes.Support the show
11.15.2021 39 - Why Do Science Communication? (ft. Daniel Whiteson and Jorge Cham) Daniel Whiteson and Jorge Cham talk to us about what science communication means to them. Listen to their podcast, Daniel and Jorge Explain the Universe: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-daniel-and-jorge-explain-t-29862087/ Support WTU on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/whythisuniverseSupport the show
11.01.2021 A Special Neutrino Update! (ft. Pedro Machado) Today we unpack the latest neutrino results from Fermilab's MicroBoone experiment. Special guest Pedro Machado helps us understand what they mean for the future of neutrino research.Support the show
10.18.2021 38 - The Nobel Prize's Greatest Misses In honor of Nobel prize season, we remember some people whose important work in the past has been overlooked by the Nobel committee. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/whythisuniverseSupport the show
10.04.2021 37 - How Neutrinos Might Be Hinting at Dark Matter The neutrino's non-zero mass is an anomaly, but one that leads to a promising new dark matter candidate - the sterile neutrino. Could this be it? Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/whythisuniverseSupport the show
09.20.2021 36 - The Neutrino's Quantum Superpower Today we discuss neutrino oscillations - their ability to transform between different types – and the quantum mechanics that makes it possible. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/whythisuniverseSupport the show
09.06.2021 35 - The Chaos Underlying Everything (ft. David Grier) Learn about the chaotic motion that underlies even the most ordered structures, including life. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/whythisuniverseSupport the show
08.23.2021 34 - Should Beauty Guide Physicists? Some physics theories are admired for being beautiful, but does that mean they are more likely to be true? Or could chasing beauty lead us astray? Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/whythisuniverseSupport the show
08.09.2021 33 - Our Love Affair With Supersymmetry Hear why supersymmetry was special enough to win over physicists hearts, and why faith in it might be dying out.Support the show
07.26.2021 32 - The Mystery of the Higgs Boson's Mass Today we explore one of the biggest and most frustrating open problems of particle physics - the hierarchy problem. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/whythisuniverseSupport the show

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