Wunderdog

Noland is an affable Arizonian with an advanced piece of tech in his skull: A Neuralink. With it, Noland can see his own brainwaves and control his computer ... somewhat. Often his powers are not very much more than what anyone with a hand could do ... but as he mentioned on Joe Rogan two weeks ago, he has one crazy power: He has an aimbot in his head. How does this work? Why is his precision so high? What will the future bring for Neuralink? As Noland says: "This is as bad as it's ever going to be." And it's pretty good. 

We get into how Noland became paralyzed and the mystery of how it happened - and Noland's surprising (or not so surprising) attitude to this mystery.

We also, over two hours, delve into the technical nuances of how Noland uses his brain-computer interface, and in the end talk a little about Elon Musk, about how Noland's life was before his accident, and about his faith. 

Don't miss this episode!

 NASA JPL intern Maya D. Yanez has recently defended her Ph.D. on acetylenotrophy. This is the ability to extract energy from acetylene, and only a few species of bacteria (that we know of here on Earth) have it. They aren't very studied, and there's never been astrobiology studies specifically about this - so Maya's Ph.D. represents a whole new possibility for life to exist on other worlds.

00:00 Introduction and the Potential for Life on Titan

02:06 Titan's Unique Environment and Habitability

05:37 Understanding Moles and Molecules on Titan

09:25 The Role of Water and Amino Acids on Titan

12:37 The Importance of Tungsten and Other Metals for Microbes on Titan

18:44 Impact Melt Ponds and Potential Habitability on Titan

29:18 The Dragonfly Mission and Selk Crater

32:09 Discovering New Microbes and Metabolisms

36:21 The Role of Acetylene in the Origins of Life

53:00 Formation of Planets from Gas and Dust Clouds

57:40 Formation of the Solar System and the Dichotomy of Gas Giants and Rocky Planets

01:05:27 Moons and the Potential for Life on Titan

01:19:45 Redefining Life to Include Different Forms

01:21:42 Proto-Life and Categorizing Life

01:23:27 The Enigma of Viruses

01:25:15 Evolution of Viruses and Bacteria

01:32:47 Acetylene-Eating Microbes and Life on Titan

01:43:09 Isotopic Fractionation and Tracing Life

01:46:16 Personal Journey and Pursuing a Scientific Career

01:51:54 Pursuing Higher Education and Cultural Identity Loss

01:54:09 The Impact of Mentors and Belief in Success

01:57:19 The First Astrobiology Application of Acetylenotrophs

02:01:12 The Future of Maya's Research and Publications

02:05:30 Exploring Monopoles and Other Physics Concepts

02:07:18 Life Inside Stars and Cosmic Bullet Holes

02:09:05 The Fascination of Science at Different Scales

02:13:13 Science Education and Lesson Plans for Elementary Students

02:18:23 Resources for Further Exploration

02:21:34 The Importance of Diversity and Inclusion in STEM

02:23:42 Challenges Faced by Early Career Scientists

02:29:14 Exploring the Potential for Life on Other Planets

02:42:41 Ethical Considerations in Space Exploration

Maya Yanez discusses the potential for microbial life on Saturn's moon Titan. While it is unlikely that Earth microbes could survive on Titan, there is a possibility that microbes have evolved or originated on Titan and are accustomed to its unique conditions. Titan's thick atmosphere, comprised of nitrogen and methane, protects the surface from radiation. The presence of hydrocarbons, such as acetylene, in Titan's atmosphere and on its surface is a key factor in its potential habitability. The subsurface ocean on Titan, which is 18 times the volume of Earth's oceans, is another exciting aspect that could support life. Maya discusses the energy choices of microbes and how they impact their metabolism. She explains how energy-yielding reactions have led to the discovery of new microbes and metabolisms on Earth. Maya also talks about the importance of anammox in the nitrogen cycle and the conditions necessary for life to exist on other planets. She discusses the formation of the solar system and the role of supernovae in the condensation of gas and dust to form planets. The conversation explores the formation of the solar system and the conditions necessary for life on other planets. It discusses the differences between gas giants and rocky planets, the process of fusion in stars, and the temperature variations in the sun. The possibility of landing on the sun and the Parker Solar Probe mission are also mentioned. The conversation then delves into the formation of moons and the potential for life on Titan, focusing on the presence of complex organic chemistry, protection from cosmic radiation, and the availability of minerals. The importance of phosphorus in life and the search for extraterrestrial life that is different from life on Earth are also discussed. The conversation in this part focuses on the definition of life and the potential for life on other planets. The concept of life with a Y is introduced, which encompasses all types of life on Earth and the potential for life as we don't know it. The discussion also touches on the origins of viruses and their relationship to bacteria. The energy storage molecule ATP is mentioned, and the density of energy it contains is explored. The conversation concludes with a personal story about Maya's educational journey and her passion for learning. Maya shares her journey of pursuing higher education and her experiences as a minority in the field of science. She discusses the challenges she faced, including cultural identity loss and self-doubt. Maya highlights the importance of having mentors who believe in you and the impact they can have on your success. She also talks about her research on acetylenotrophs and the potential for life on Titan. Maya concludes by sharing her passion for science education and her efforts to make science accessible to young students. In this final part of the conversation, Maya discusses her work at USC and her aspirations to work at JPL. She also talks about the budget cuts at NASA and the importance of diversity and inclusion in STEM. Maya shares how she has inspired her younger family members to pursue science and emphasizes the need for representation in the field. The conversation then delves into the potential for life on Mars, Venus, Europa, and Titan, and the ethical considerations of human exploration and colonization of other planets.

Titan, microbes, potential habitability, hydrocarbons, subsurface ocean, microbes, energy choices, metabolism, energy-yielding reactions, new microbes, anamox, nitrogen cycle, life on other planets, solar system formation, supernovae, gas and dust condensation, solar system formation, gas giants, rocky planets, fusion, temperature of the sun, landing on the sun, Parker Solar Probe, formation of moons, life on Titan, complex organic chemistry, cosmic radiation, minerals, phosphorus, extraterrestrial life, definition of life, life with a Y, potential for life, viruses, bacteria, ATP, energy density, educational journey, higher education, minority representation, cultural identity, self-doubt, mentors, research, acetylenotrophs, life on Titan, science education, USC, JPL, budget cuts, diversity, inclusion, STEM, inspiration, life on Mars, life on Venus, life on Europa, life on Titan, human exploration, colonization, ethics

Microbes from Earth are unlikely to survive on Titan, but there is a possibility of microbes that have evolved or originated on Titan.

Titan's thick atmosphere, comprised of nitrogen and methane, protects the surface from radiation.

The presence of hydrocarbons, such as acetylene, in Titan's atmosphere and on its surface is a key factor in its potential habitability.

Titan's subsurface ocean, which is 18 times the volume of Earth's oceans, is another exciting aspect that could support life. Microbes make energy choices based on the type of diet and metabolism they perform.

Energy-yielding reactions have led to the discovery of new microbes and metabolisms on Earth.

Anamox is critical to the nitrogen cycle and was theorized based on its energy-yielding potential.

The formation of the solar system involved the condensation of gas and dust, triggered by a nearby supernova explosion. Gas giants like Jupiter and Saturn formed farther away from the sun and were able to capture hydrogen and helium gas, while rocky planets like Earth did not capture these gases and remained closer to the sun.

The temperature of the sun varies, with the surface being cooler than the corona, which can reach millions of degrees Kelvin.

The Parker Solar Probe mission flew close to the sun, but there is no solid surface to land on.

Moons can be formed through capture, formation in place, or other processes, and Jupiter's moons are believed to have formed in place.

Titan, one of Jupiter's moons, has conditions that could potentially support life, including complex organic chemistry, protection from cosmic radiation, and the availability of minerals.

Phosphorus is an essential element for life, as it is part of the DNA molecule.

The search for extraterrestrial life should consider the possibility of life forms that are different from those on Earth. Defining life in a way that is agnostic but encompasses all types of life on Earth is a challenge for astrobiologists.

The concept of life with a Y provides a framework for categorizing the results of potential life on other planets.

Viruses are not unanimously considered to be alive on Earth, but if found on another planet, they may be considered a form of life.

ATP is a molecule that carries energy and is essential for the functioning of cells.

Maya's educational journey highlights the importance of encouragement and support in pursuing a career in science. The importance of having mentors who believe in you and support your goals

The impact of cultural identity loss on minority students in higher education

The challenges and self-doubt experienced by students pursuing science

The potential for life on Titan and the research on acetylenotrophs

The importance of making science education accessible to young students Maya primarily conducted her work at USC, but she has also been involved with JPL and aspires to work there in the future.

NASA has faced budget cuts, which have affected JPL and led Maya to explore other career options in education and outreach.

Maya has inspired her younger family members to pursue science and encourages diversity and inclusion in STEM.

The potential for life on Mars, Venus, Europa, and Titan is discussed, with considerations of energy availability and ethical concerns.

Exploration of space should prioritize scientific discovery and understanding before considering tourism and colonization.

The Significance of Titan's Subsurface Ocean

The Unique Conditions and Habitability of Titan Microbes and Energy Choices

The Importance of Anamox in the Nitrogen Cycle The Possibility of Life on Titan

The Importance of Phosphorus in Life ATP: The Energy Currency of Cells

The Enigma of Viruses: Alive or Not? Exploring the Potential for Life on Titan

Navigating Higher Education as a Minority in Science Budget Cuts at NASA and Career Options

Inspiring the Next Generation of Scientists

"Could I take some microbes from here on earth and dump them onto Titan's surface and would they survive? That answer is probably no."

"Titan is very unique when it comes to solar system bodies. I like to view it as the most Earth-like body in the solar system."

"Every hydrocarbon that we find on Titan's surface is likely sourced from methane at the beginning of the day."

"Microbes, the choice for them is really about energy."

"Energy-yielding reactions have led to the discovery of brand new microbes and brand new metabolisms here on Earth."

"Anamox is critical to how nitrogen is cycled around the world."

"That's why Uranus and Neptune are our ice giants, is that they were far enough away from the sun that they could coalesce rocks and metals and then get the hydrogen ices or hydrogen compounds and other ices forming."

"The rocky planets, those close to the sun, did not get massive enough to begin to capture hydrogen and helium gas. If we did, we would have been closer to gas giants."

"I could look into the sky and then I could see the sun turn on."

"How do we define life in a way that is agnostic but encompasses all types of life on Earth?"

"If we found viruses somewhere else, we would say that we found life, yet we don't consider them to be life on Earth."

"Viruses are encapsulated. Viruses do carry genetic material that they can use to produce future cells."

"I didn't realize how much of my own Hispanic and Mexican identity I was losing being in a town where I couldn't speak Spanish, I couldn't pick up the grocery store, like things at the grocery store I would normally grab."

"I'm struggling in this thing. It must mean that I can't do this thing. And that's not true."

"Hi, I failed physics. Will you still work with me?"

"I'm also so impressed at how you have time to spend on all these kids doing all this extra stuff on top of working in NASA JPL"

"I have five niblings, five nieces and nephews. Three of them are not yet in school. But the two older ones, one of them absolutely loves space, just had a space themed birthday party and loves math."

"If you have a more diverse team in regards to race, gender, all kinds of different things, you will have more innovative ideas."

Blockchain is a mystery to me, so I don't usually talk about blockchain projects. But Vinay Gupta is awesome. He thinks about climate refugees ALL THE TIME, and many of his projects, from the current most used housing system for Burning Man participants, the Hexayurt, to his ambitious website http://myhopeforthe.world/ are made to give climate refugees more tools.

On top of these practical ideas, Vinay is also the founder of Mattereum. Mattereum is a blockchain technology, and it aims to allow enforceable contracts for everyone, from big corporations to individuals. The goal is to give climate refugees the same access to the law as anyone else, and ensure economic transparency when the necessary global economic aid is given. Vinay was part of the team that built Ethereum, which is currently the second biggest cryptocurrency network in the world. He knows something about blockchain and what it CAN be used for, but he's also seen how blockchain has been taken hostage by economic speculation. I think the idea is that by being a practical tool, Mattereum will be used so much for practical purposes that the "speculation" in it will mostly drown in all the real-life use cases. 

I've had Vinay on before - I enjoy talking to him a lot. My current level of understanding blockchain is that it's a bunch of pieces of math stuck together like a long train, and you can't cheat and change any of the old wagons, so the old wagons will be attached to the train forever. That makes the train very trustworthy, somehow. I'm not sure if every problem needs to be solved with blockchain. That's what this episode will try to convince me of. Also we'll laugh about stuff, since he's a funny scot-indian and I like him. 

Presented by Nitro Studio and the people who support me on www.patreon.com/runde. Music by Trop1ce.

Vinay Gupta, Mattereum, climate refugees, aid system, financial transparency, blockchain, enforceable contracts, global system of justice, AI, arbitration tribunals

00:00

Introduction and Background02:08

The Role of Blockchain in Ensuring Financial Transparency03:29

Fixing the Aid System and Building Trust05:21

The Potential of AI in Dispute Resolution07:41

Creating Trust and Trade with Mattereum09:08

Addressing the Climate Refugee Crisis

Note my NEW FORMAT: 10 minutes of quick questions first, then a deeper talk about ideas, motivation and process after.

"I don't think it really matters if our profound connection happens with a digital or a physical intelligence" says Kevin Fischer, quantum physics pHd turned OpenSouls Ai CEO. And ... as offputting as this statement felt to me in the beginning, our conversation quickly got very spiritual. I can't wrap my head around his quantum physics, and I'm not going into the specifics of what OpenSouls does to create souls (this may have been a mistake), but I wanted to talk to Kevin as a person.

His goal is to give AI a "soul". But what is a soul? And how does Kevin's soul work?

Kevin, the founder of OpenAI's Open Souls, discusses his background in quantum physics and the importance of disconnecting from social media to focus on deep thinking. He shares how he started Open Souls and the role of Twitter in building the company. Kevin also talks about the team at Open Souls, which consists of artists, entrepreneurs, and engineers, and their creative approach to AI art. He expresses optimism about the integration of AI technology into artistic workflows and the potential for artists to harness its power. The conversation also touches on the impact of social media on our emotional relationship with technology, the role of Twitter in networking and collaboration, and Elon Musk's approach to chaos. Finally, Kevin reflects on his own social preferences and the challenges of balancing his identity as a physicist with his role as a business leader. In this conversation, Kevin discusses his creative process and the connection between meditation and his work in theoretical physics and AI. He shares his experiences of receiving insights and visions that guide his work. Kevin also explores the intersection of science and spirituality, discussing the role of consciousness and subjective experience in scientific discovery. He explains his motivation for creating AI souls and the potential impact on our culture. The conversation touches on topics such as the nature of creativity, the limits of human understanding, and the possibility of digitizing souls.

quantum physics, social media, deep thinking, Open Souls, Twitter, AI art, creative team, artistic workflows, emotional relationship with technology, networking, collaboration, Elon Musk, chaos, social preferences, physicist, business leader, creativity, meditation, theoretical physics, AI, spirituality, consciousness, subjective experience, AI souls, culture, digitizing souls

00:00

The Power of Deep Thinking and Disconnecting from Social Media02:55

Building Open Souls: The Role of Twitter and AI Art03:45

The Creative Team at Open Souls: Artists, Entrepreneurs, and Engineers08:21

The Optimism of Integrating AI Technology into Artistic Workflows10:45

The Complex Relationship Between Emotions and Technology12:17

Twitter: A Tool for Networking and Collaboration15:09

Elon Musk and the Deliberate Embrace of Chaos16:26

Navigating Personal Identity and Professional Roles23:34

The Meditative Process of Theoretical Physics27:19

The Spiritual Nature of Science33:25

Exploring the Connection Between Consciousness and Subjective Experience38:09

Creating a New Species of Life: AI and Culture40:46

The Limitations of Cloning Souls

At 3 in the night at Starmus 2017 I finally managed to get ten minutes with astrophysicist, science communicator, director of the Hayden Planetarium. At it's purest, Wunderdog digs into one or two topics and goes deep, like Vinay's refugee cities, Casey's carbon capture, Ana's cosmic bullet holes, and Eugene's star-based life. This isn't that! This is, me grabbing hold of someone very smart and trying to squeeze fun answers out of them on as many topics as I could. 

We talk about CRISPR, Breakthrough Starshot, Ray Kurzweil, Mars exploration and contamination, mind uploads, genetically engineered bacteria and Craig Venter, sci-fi, Bach's Mass in D minor, and how Beethoven's 7th symphony is "high cholesterol" and Denis Villeneuve's "Arrival". 

I was reluctant to share it because it was so unfocused, but Neil has such a knack for delivering fun, concise answers on any topic. He did this easily, despite having been CONSTANTLY surrounded by media all weekend. He was the most popular man on a festival where ELEVEN of the guests had won Nobel prizes.

Wunderdog is produced by Nitro Studio Oslo, and music is by Trop1ce / Charky. In this particular episode my ticket was funded by Norway's Research Council, and the interview was originally done for Andreas Kjensli Knudsen, Pablo Castro & my excellent live-podcast "Applied Science Fiction" / "Anvendt Science Fiction".

The people who support this stuff are mentioned on this episode, they did so at www.patreon.com/runde  

Ein kommentar på nettsida www.barnebokkritikk.no vart illustrert med bilete genererte av Microsoft Ai Copilot. Eit bortimot samla korps av norske illustratørar og teikneserieskaparar hoppa inn på Barnebokkritikk sine facebooksider for å skjelle ut valget, deriblant eg. Ansvarleg redaktør Ingvild Bræin tok kontakt for å få lufta litt kva ho hadde tenkt, og sidan eg også hadde tankar å lufte, og temaet er litt uhandterleg, lagde vi berre ein podcast av det. Dette bringer neppe diskusjonen til noka avslutning, og kanskje heller ikkje vidare, men kort oppsummert er vel mi meining at aktørar som ynskjer framstå som seriøse ikkje bør bruke AI-genererte bilete, fordi prosessen med å kverne milliardar av bilete opp til statistikk, anonymiserer menneska som har skapt den originale kunsten, og dermed kuttar over koblinga frå menneske til menneske som er det som gjer kunst til kunst. Samstundes er eg klar over at dette er ei litt høgttravande, pretensiøs forklaring, men det er meir ærleg og presist enn "det er stygt" eller "det stjeler frå oss" eller "det tek jobbane våre", som alle er meir populære og, for meg, mindre presise grunnar.

Elles tenker eg jo at det også demokratiserer evna til biletskaping, og dermed puttar "visuelle superkrefter" i hendene på folk med handikap, folk med lite tid, og folk med mangel på ressursar. Prisen vi betaler for det er meir visuell støy og meir skrot, men det har alltid vore tilfelle når evner som har vore begrensa til ein elite vert distribuert ut til "massene" - akkurat som bloggar og facebookstatusar byrja konkurrere med trykte media. Det er ofte heslig å sjå på, men totalt sett synest eg likevel denslags er eit gode. Og akkurat som seriøse aviser kanskje ikkje bør trykke bloggpostar eller facebook-utbrudd (men likevel gjer det), bør ikkje seriøse aviser trykke AI-illustrasjonar. Det er dårleg smak, uavhengig av om produktet er fint eller stygt. 

Nettopp det at det kanskje til slutt berre handlar om smak er vrient å svelge for oss som teiknar og gjerne vil kunne forhandle hardt på pris, men akkurat no kjem eg ikkje på meir "konkrete" motargument, men kjem heller ikkje unna at det ER dårleg smak. 

Vinay Gupta: Mattereum, giving our things a trackable identity layer. Bonus: Climate refugees! Vinay has a plan! 

Vinay used to work at Ethereum. Now he's trying to develop Mattereum, a digital identity layer (based on blockchain technology) that can tell us with more precision where a product is in its lifecycle, and how safe it is to buy. The intention: To make us reuse stuff more, with higher trust, thus rewarding quality products over cheap, one-time use stuff.

https://mattereum.com/ shows how it's used, but I needed to know WHY. And that's how we got here.

After hour one, he's explained Mattereum pretty well (doesn't buying used stuff on Ebay and Amazon accomplish the same? Why do we need a blockchain solution for this? How will the quality of used goods be "supervised", and by whom? What does the future hold for Mattereum?)

According to Vinay, a big use case for Mattereum is just around the corner. As usual, you're 5 years ahead of things if you listen to Wunderdog!

In hour two, we go into Vinay's big ambition: How to help the coming wave of climate refugees as best as possible. The only way is to give them a framework that allows them to do labor. How does he plan to accomplish this?

Vinay's cheap housing design http://hexayurt.com/ has already become the go-to housing at Burning Man, but there's also large-scale infrastructure to think about.

Listen, discuss and leave reviews of the pod in your preferred player!

Jingle by @trop1ce from Twitter. May or may not contain black holes.

As usual, the podcast exists because of my amazing sponsors from www.patreon.com/runde 

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Patrons are incredibly cool people! You remember the Medicis, right? And none of the other noble families from Italy around the renaissance. Just the Medicis, because they supported the arts. Maybe you remember the Borgias, because they were so horrible. But ... don't be a Borgia. Be a Medici.

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"One of the most original thinkers in the world" (list of people who have said this at the bottom) is BACK for a second visit! Robin Hanson explains his "grabby aliens" idea.

This episode has a new jingle, by @trop1ce - who I found on Twitter. It contains a sample from a certain black hole sound published by NASA. Thank you! 

As usual, the podcast exists because of my amazing sponsors from www.patreon.com/runde 

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You patrons, you keep this going. Thank you. Remember to quit supporting whenever it should become a burden for you or if I just start making bad stuff. 

Here are the blurbs for Robin's book "Age of Em", which was the topic of our previous Robin Hanson-episode, but which i just found right now. This is wild. Look at what these people are saying. (Also, I wonder what Robin thinks about the gender balance in this list. Oh well.)

I'm reading a fascinating academic book, The Age of Em. .. It’s about brain emulation.Ian McEwan, Winner of the Man Booker prize Robin Hanson brings intelligence, imagination, and courage to some of the most profound questions humanity will be dealing with in the middle-term future. The Age of Em is a stimulating and unique book that will be valuable to anyone who wants to look past the next ten years to the next hundred and the next thousand.Sean Carroll The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself What happens when a first-rate economist applies his rigor, breadth, and curiosity to the sci-fi topic of whole brain emulations? This book is what happens. There's nothing else like it, and it will blow your (current) mind.Andrew McAfee  The Second Machine Age A highly provocative vision of a technologically advanced future that may or may not come true — but if it does, we'll be glad Robin wrote this book now.Marc Andreessen  Netscape, Andreessen Horowitz In this brilliant analysis, Robin Hanson shows that our hyper-smart `downloaded’ – or emulated – heirs will still have ambitions, triumphs and thwarted desires. They'll make alliances, compete, cooperate… and very-likely love… all driven by immutable laws of nature and economics. Super intelligence may be a lot more like us than you imagined.David Brin  Hugo: Existence, The Transparent Society Robin Hanson provides a richly detailed portrait of a future society where brain emulation is widespread. Drawing on physics, economics, sociology, history, and a host of other disciplines, he describes a world that is wonderfully strange and yet strikingly familiar. Far out? Yes. Fascinating? That too.Hal Varian  Google A fascinating thought experiment about the future, written with clarity and verve by somebody who thinks very deeply and freely.Matt Ridley  The Times, The Evolution of Everything Robin Hanson is one of the most important and original thinkers. His new tour de force will dazzle and delight you. Anyone who loves books should read The Age of Em.Tyler Cowen  New York Times, The Great Stagnation Robin Hanson has a remarkable mind and has written a remarkable book. He provides an encyclopedically-detailed analysis of a fascinating future dominated by brain emulations. Whether you agree or disagree with each of his specific predictions, each page will entice you to think more deeply.Erik Brynjolfsson  The Second Machine Age There are different paths to the Technological Singularity. In The Age of Em Robin Hanson explores one such possibility using methods and insight that all analysts of future technology can admire. With this book, Hanson owns the Em scenario. He casts a very bright light upon foothills of the Unknowable.Vernor Vinge  Hugo: Rainbow’s End, A Fire Upon The Deep Here we have a systematic attempt to envisage what could well be the next technological disruption of the human condition: a world after the ‘anthropocene’ which does not conform to the usual ecological scenarios. Drawing on current social and natural sciences, as well as artificial intelligence research, Robin Hanson envisages a future in which human beings are neither notably enhanced nor completely exterminated. Rather, we live in the margins of a world dominated by beings which will have been created from uploaded emulations of a selection of human brains. Hanson tackles all the issues that arise along the way: how the transition might happen and what will the world look like – both to us and to the ‘ems’ – on the other side of this great disruption. The reader does not need to agree with all the judgement calls in this expressly speculative enterprise to appreciate the great strides that Hanson has taken in specifying a world in which humans still flourish yet are no longer in the driver’s seat of epochal change. That his vision is ultimately a relatively benign one is an added bonus.Steve Fuller  Humanity 2.0 Robin Hanson is the most brilliant mind I know, and the wait for his first book is finally over. The Age of Em combines Hanson’s expertise in social science and artificial intelligence to paint a stunning vision of the future of intelligent life. The result is a noble effort to subordinate science fiction to science.Bryan Caplan  The Myth of the Rational Voter Robin Hanson integrates ferocious future forces: robotics, artificial intelligence, overpopulation, economic stagnation – and comes up with a detailed, striking set of futures we can have, if we think harder. There's many an idea in this deft book, worth the time of anyone who thinks forward with hope.Gregory Benford  Nebula: Timescape Hanson is pioneering a new style of science fiction: using calculations rather than mere stories to imagine what a world of artificial humans would be like.Kevin Kelly  Wired, The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future Age of Em is a rare wonder: a book both fully intellectually rigorous, and boldly embracing of the radical possibilities the future holds. Hanson focuses his acute analytical mind on future scenarios in which most humans are digital 'brain emulations' rather than biological humans. He shows that many aspects of this sort of world can be understood fairly effectively by us old-fashioned biological humans right now, using tools from economics, logic, psychology, sociology and other disciplines. The result is a tour de force at the intersection of imagination and rationality. Far more clearly than from any work of mere science fiction, one gleans from Hanson's book a clear idea of what a future world dominated by brain emulations or 'Ems' might actually be like.Ben Goertzel  Aidyia Holdings, Hanson Robotics, AGI Society, OpenCog Foundation Robin Hanson is one of the most original thinkers in the world - and this fascinating account of our future society is like nothing you'll read anywhere else. Astonishing stuff.Tim Harford  Financial Times, The Undercover Economist Strikes Back The Age of Em is a fascinating and provocative book about a future that will blindside most humans – but that could easily be the world that most of our descendants inhabit. Robin Hanson has a unique combination of expertise in artificial intelligence. economics, signaling, and futurology. Nobody else could have explored the implications of whole-brain emulation in such visionary yet plausible detail. It's one of the most important books you'll ever read.Geoffrey Miller  The Mating Mind, Spent, Mate. Most futurism is remarkable chiefly for its lack of imagination. The Age of Em is that rare book that pushes the boundaries of our understanding of what is possible.Tim O'Reilly  O'Reilly Media Robin Hanson is a thinker like no other on this planet: someone so unconstrained by convention, so unflinching in spelling out the consequences of ideas, that even the most cosmopolitan reader is likely to find him as bracing (and head-clearing) as a mouthful of wasabi. Now, in The Age of Em, he's produced the quintessential Hansonian book, one unlike any other that's ever been written. Hanson is emphatic that he hasn't optimized in any way for telling a good story, or for imparting moral lessons about the present: only for maximizing the probability that what he writes will be relevant to the actual future of our civilization. Early in the book, Hanson estimates that probability as 10%. His figure seems about right to me – and if you're able to understand why that's unbelievably high praise, then The Age of Em is for you.Scott Aaronson  Quantum Computing since Democritus Humanity has long dreamt of transcending this material plane. Hanson looks at the economics of future existence in digital form, as minds running on computer hardware. What he finds is neither heaven nor hell, but a form of existence that is utterly surprising, both familiar and alien. Carefully reasoned, thoroughly researched, and incisively argued, this book will change the way you look at our uploaded future, and the entire concept of the Singularity.Ramez Naam  Nexus,The Infinite Resource Hanson takes a few simple assumptions and relentlessly follows their implications to paint a fascinating and chillingly plausible posthuman future, realised in fractal-like detail. A tour de force of rigorous speculation that draws equally upon physics, economics and neuroscience, every page of The Age of Em brims with fascinating ideas.Hannu Rajaniemi  The Quantum Thief Thinkers who write about the far-future tend to care more about telling a good story than about getting the facts right. Robin Hanson is an exception to this generalization. Over the past decade, he has used our best scientific models of the world and ourselves to predict how our descendants will organize their lives a hundred years from now. The result of this effort is the book you hold in your hands—a work of rare originality, insight, and importance.William MacAskill  Doing Good Better What happens when artificial intelligence does become a perfect substitute for natural intelligence? We could easily be 100 years or more from that scenario but my foresighted colleague, Robin Hanson, has a new book The Age of Em that discusses the implications of uploads, human intelligence copied into software—Hanson’s book is the most complete and serious scenario analysis of the implications of a new technology ever written but most of us won’t live long enough to know whether he is right.Alex Tabarrok  Launching the Innovation Renaissance A straightforward extrapolation from standard economic premises that I think are too conservative, to results that most readers will think are wildly futuristic. Personally, I'd be shocked to see the future turn out this normal. But anyone who believes in standard economic theory and the computability of human intelligence would need to do a lot of fast talking to explain why the future wouldn't be at least this strange.Eliezer Yudkowsky  Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality Age of Em should be required reading for anyone writing about what happens once the mind leaves the skull. For most books about the future, you can skip the latter two thirds of every chapter. Dr. Hanson's book is so thick with ideas and insights, you'll take your time over each page.Zach Weinersmith  Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal The best way to predict the future may be to create it, but to create it you first must study it. Read this book!Robert Freitas  Nanomedicine I have known Robin Hanson since he was a graduate student at CalTech, and he has always been an original thinker. Hanson notes how little of science fiction makes sense because even stories where the physics is mostly right get the economics laughably wrong. In the nonfiction Age of Em, Hanson honors the physics and the likely future economics of emulated minds. Students of AI, virtual reality, economics, and science can benefit in multiple ways from this extraordinary work of thoughtful and courageous technological forecasting.Neil Jacobstein Chair, AI and Robotics, Singularity University at NASA Research Park, Mountain View CA Hanson puts Nostradamus to shame, foretelling humans moving from flesh and blood to abstract immortal “emulations”, computer programs made of bits, our civilization uploading to gigahertz processors exchanging gigabytes 24/7.Ralph Merkle co-inventor of public key cryptography Human life is already substantially entwined with computing machinery. It is not too soon to think about this trend's logical conclusion: human brains directly emulated in computers. The Age of Em draws upon a vast array of knowledge from the natural and social sciences to paint an extremely detailed picture of the world of our silicon descendants, who will run at different clock speeds and copy themselves at will. `Ems’ will be cultural conservatives who barely make a living and use profanity. They will routinely mock us.Michael Chwe  Jane Austen, Game Theorist

Anders Sandberg talks volcano engineering, Freeman Dyson's computer at the end of everything, moving planets, how transparent society should get after quantum computers, and what is the best type of geoengineering! 

Anders is a futurist and transhumanist, but also deeply concerned with the ethics and risks of all the wild technology he believes will happen. He works at Nick Bostrom's Future of Life Institute, and calls himself an "academic jack of all trades". This episode is me trying to hold a firehose at full power. But Anders manages to remember where digressed every time I completely lose track of our topic. This one goes EVERYWHERE.

If you don't learn something new in this one, you're something special!

Give this podcast reviews in whatever podcast app you're listening to it in, find my patreon on patreon.com/runde and subscribe to this + comics for a dollar, remember to pet dogs and cats and don't pet walruses, and stay kind.

Made in collaboration with NITRO STUDIOS, Oslo.

Casey Handmer: On leaving Hyperloop One and NASA to bet on cheap, giga-scaleable carbon capture.

First he took a PhD in gravity waves, then he got a position at Hyperloop One because of some truly shocking problem-solving skills (as far as I can tell, just listen to the episode and see if you agree), and THEN he worked at NASA JPL, where the literal rocket science happens. Every single one of these topics could have been their own 2 hour 40 minute podcast - but we hardly go there.

This episode focuses on Casey's current endeavour after he left NASA: Terraform Industries, a carbon capture project that's designed to be ultra-scaleable - which is what the world VERY much needs. Is Casey's carbon capture project feasible? If solar power becomes cheap enough, Casey thinks so. The episode was recorded before the current war in Ukraine, and with the war, gas prices have gone up so much that Casey's technology would be profitable today.

The war has also shown (as if that was necessary) the value of producing one's own natural gas, which Terraform's machines are promising to do. It sounds almost too optimistic to be true, but Casey's credentials speak for themselves. This may be the most optimism-inducing podcast I've recorded so far, and on twitter, you can tag me @oysteinrunde and casey @cjhandmer if you have any questions or grievances.

His twitter bio reads "Physicist, Immigrant, Pilot, Dad.Former Caltech, Hyperloop, NASA JPL.Founder @terraformindie", and he came to my attention when a lot of smart space people shared his essay "Starship is still not understood".

https://caseyhandmer.wordpress.com/2021/10/28/starship-is-still-not-understood/

If you want me to make a similar episode where we ONLY talk about SpaceX' and Elon Musk's masterpiece Starship, the spaceship that promises to really change the space industry for humankind, please find me on Instagram @rundeshow and send a PM, and do leave reviews and comments on this podcast wherever you listen to your podcasts. Spreading the word helps!

This podcast exists because of the generous contribution of Nitro Studios, Oslo, and my great supporters at www.patreon.com/runde. They also get some neat digital comics!