Into the Impossible With Brian Keating

Latest Episodes:

Barry Barish Interviews Brian Keating: Part 1 (#193) Nov 03, 2021

Show notes

In February 2021 Dr. Barry Barish, co-recipient of the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics for the LIGO experiment, interviewed me at his home in Los Angeles. The topic was his thoughts and reactions to my book, Losing the Nobel Prize (http://amzn.to/2sa5UpA). We discussed scientific leadership, academic stress, burnout, the role of mentors and managers in science and a lot about my book too.

Losing The Nobel Prize By Brian Keating

The inside story of a quest to unlock one of cosmology’s biggest mysteries, derailed by the lure of the Nobel Prize.

What would it have been like to be an eyewitness to the Big Bang? In 2014, astronomers wielding BICEP2, the most powerful cosmology telescope ever made, revealed that they’d glimpsed the spark that ignited the Big Bang. Millions around the world tuned in to the announcement broadcast live from Harvard University, immediately igniting rumors of an imminent Nobel Prize. But had these cosmologists truly read the cosmic prologue or, swept up in Nobel dreams, had they been deceived by a galactic mirage?

In Losing the Nobel Prize, cosmologist and inventor of the BICEP (Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic Polarization) experiment Brian Keating tells the inside story of BICEP2’s mesmerizing discovery and the scientific drama that ensued. In an adventure story that spans the globe from Rhode Island to the South Pole, from California to Chile, Keating takes us on a personal journey of revelation and discovery, bringing to vivid life the highly competitive, take-no-prisoners, publish-or-perish world of modern science. Along the way, he provocatively argues that the Nobel Prize, instead of advancing scientific progress, may actually hamper it, encouraging speed and greed while punishing collaboration and bold innovation. In a thoughtful reappraisal of the wishes of Alfred Nobel, Keating offers practical solutions for reforming the prize, providing a vision of a scientific future in which cosmologists may, finally, be able to see all the way back to the very beginning.

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Jorge Cham & Daniel Whiteson: Frequently Asked Questions About The Universe (#192) Nov 02, 2021

Show notes

You’ve got questions: about space, time, gravity, and the odds of meeting your older self inside a wormhole. All the answers you need are right here. From the dynamic duo that brought you WE HABE NO IDEA comes FAQs ABOUT THE UNIVERSE!!!

As a species, we may not agree on much, but one thing brings us all together: a need to know. We all wonder, and deep down we all have the same big questions. Why can’t I travel back in time? Where did the universe come from? What’s inside a black hole? Can I rearrange the particles in my cat and turn it into a dog?

Researcher-turned-cartoonist Jorge Cham and physics professor Daniel Whiteson are experts at explaining science in ways we can all understand, in their books and on their popular podcast, Daniel and Jorge Explain the Universe. With their signature blend of humor and oh-now-I-get-it clarity, Jorge and Daniel offer short, accessible, and lighthearted answers to some of the most common, most outrageous, and most profound questions about the universe they’ve received.

This witty, entertaining, and fully illustrated book is an essential troubleshooting guide for the perplexing aspects of reality, big and small, from the invisible particles that make up your body to the identical version of you currently reading this exact sentence in the corner of some other galaxy. If the universe came with an FAQ, this would be it.

Get Frequently Asked Questions About The Universe here (affiliate link): https://amzn.to/3GHeDBT

Watch my last Interview with PhD Comics Jorge Cham and UC Irvine Professor Daniel Whiteson about WE HAVE NO IDEA https://youtu.be/BPez26atdKY

LinkedIn Jobs is the best platform for finding the right candidate to join your business this fall. It’s the largest marketplace for job seekers in the world, and it has great search features so that you can find candidates with any hard or soft skills that you need. And now, you can post a job for free. Just visit linkedin.com/impossible to post a job for free. Audible is hands-down my favorite platform for consuming podcasts, fiction and nonfiction books! With an Audible membership, you can download titles and listen offline, anytime, anywhere. The Audible app is free and can be installed on all smartphones and tablets. You can listen across devices without losing your spot. Audible members don’t have to worry about using their credits right away. You can keep your credits for up to a year—and use them to binge on a whole series if you’d like! And if you’re not loving your selection, you can simply swap it for another.

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00:26:31 How do you come up with the questions and ideas for your books and podcasts?
00:31:20 How do you approach depicting things that are still not understood?
00:36:25 Why ask why? Is that science?
00:38:39 How do you approach guests on your podcast?
00:42:38 Comments on the latest in particle physics.
00:47:33 What's the future of PhD Comics?

📺 Watch my most popular videos:📺

A New Contender is Here! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6A6myur--c
Frank Wilczek https://youtu.be/3z8RqKMQHe0?sub_confirmation=1
Weinstein and Wolfram https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI0AZ4Y4Ip4?sub_confirmation=1
Sheldon Glashow: https://youtu.be/a0_iaWgxQtA?sub_confirmation=1
Michael Saylor The Physics of Bitcoin https://youtu.be/CaN_CDKqXOg?sub_confirmation=1
Sir Roger Penrose, Nobel Prize winner: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMuqyAvX7Wo?sub_confirmation=1

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Sarah Rugheimer: Searching for Extraterrestrial Life (#191) Oct 26, 2021

Show notes

Dr. Sarah Rugheimer is a Glasstone Research Fellow and a Hugh Price Fellow at Jesus College Oxford. Her research interests are modeling the atmosphere and climate of extrasolar planets with a particular focus on atmospheric biosignatures in Earth-like planets as well as modeling early Earth conditions. She is interested in anything related to the field of Astrobiology: the study of origin of life on Earth and the pursuit of detecting life on other planets/moons in the Universe.The questions of our origins and the distribution of life in the Universe are the main driving inspiration for her day-to-day work.

Her Audible Exclusive book Searching for Extraterrestrial Life reveals what we know about detecting life on other planets. Over 10 eye-opening lectures, she will uncover the strides we’ve made in our search for finding habitable Earth-like planets. You’ll gain first-hand insights into how scientists search for signs of life and our latest attempts to find potential life on Mars, Venus, Europa, Titan, and other moons and planets in our solar system. As she recaps how life started on Earth, you’ll see how our evolution informs our search for detecting life on exoplanets. And, you’ll examine the current search for extraterrestrial intelligence, looking at potential responses to the Drake Equation and the Fermi Paradox.

https://www.audible.com/pd/Searching-for-Extraterrestrial-Life-Audiobook/B08N5CHQF8

http://www.sarahrugheimer.com/

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Ryan Holiday | Courage Is Calling: Fortune Favors the Brave! @Daily Stoic (#190) Oct 21, 2021

Show notes

Ryan Holiday’s best-selling trilogy - The Obstacle Is the Way, Ego is the Enemy, and Stillness is the Key - captivated professional athletes, CEOs, politicians, and entrepreneurs and helped bring Stoicism to millions of readers. Now, in the first book of an exciting new series on the cardinal virtues of ancient philosophy, Holiday explores the most foundational virtue of all: Courage.

Almost every religion, spiritual practice, philosophy, and person grapples with fear. The most repeated phrase in the Bible is “Be not afraid.” The ancient Greeks spoke of Phobos, panic and terror. It is natural to feel fear, the Stoics believed, but it cannot rule you. Courage, then, is the ability to rise above fear, to do what’s right, to do what’s needed, to do what is true. And so it rests at the heart of the works of Marcus Aurelius, Aristotle, and CS Lewis, alongside temperance, justice, and wisdom.

In Courage Is Calling, Ryan Holiday breaks down the elements of fear, an expression of cowardice, the elements of courage, an expression of bravery, and lastly, the elements of heroism, an expression of valor. Through engaging stories about historic and contemporary leaders, including Charles De Gaulle,

You’ll also delve deep into the moral dilemmas and courageous acts of lesser-known, but equally as important, figures from ancient and modern history, such as Helvidius Priscus, a Roman Senator who stood his ground against emperor Vespasian, even in the face of death.

We discussed his own personal journey to developing courage, from dropping out of UC Riverside to his decision to quit working in a toxic environment, to starting businesses, and touring the world...all while being an actrive, involved father of two and husband to one!

Subscribe to Ryan’s channel for 🔥Content @Daily Stoic

00:02:12 The story of the book title and cover.
00:06:27 Why is courage the best virtue?
00:20:39 Caourage and belief in God.
00:24:01 How would the classical stoics respond to what's happening now?
00:28:11 Why did you drop out of University? Ryan's start at American Apparrel story
00:42:03 Do we need to be reminded of death to live?
00:46:44 Comments on the state of social media platforms and their controls.
00:52:24 Who would you take courage away from if you could?
00:55:12 Who would you take courage away from if you could?

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Weinstein and Wolfram https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI0AZ4Y4Ip4?sub_confirmation=1

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Jeremy England: Life is on FIRE🔥 🧬🔥 (#189) Oct 19, 2021

Show notes

A preeminent physicist unveils a field-defining theory of the origins and purpose of life. Why are we alive? Most things in the universe aren't. And everything that is alive traces back to things that, puzzlingly, weren't. For centuries, the scientific question of life's origins has confounded us. But in Every Life Is on Fire, physicist Jeremy England argues that the answer has been under our noses the whole time, deep within the laws of thermodynamics.

England explains how, counterintuitively, the very same forces that tend to tear things apart assembled the first living systems. But how life began isn't just a scientific question. We ask it because we want to know what it really means to be alive. So England, an ordained rabbi, uses his theory to examine how, if at all, science helps us find purpose in a vast and mysterious universe.

Get the book: https://www.amazon.com/Every-Life-Fire-Thermodynamics-Explains/dp/1541699017

00:00:00 Intro
00:01:31 The story of the title and cover
00:05:47 How do you reconcile the major differences in the interpretation of a creator between Judaism and Christianity?
00:12:11 Why are there so many Jewish and Atheist Nobel Prize winners?
00:22:13 What is life?
00:25:52 What was your impression of Schrodinger's monograph; What is Life?
00:31:08 Why is theremodynamics so relevant to the question of life?
00:36:58 Are there new dissipative adaptation "probes"/experiments that should be done?
00:47:45 Is there a Darwinian principle involved in the thermodynamics of microsystems?
00:56:14 What are the new trends in Biophysics research?
01:17:09 On the implausibility of random biogenesis and evolution.
01:04:54 Why does the dissipation of heat produce structure and order?
01:06:37 Talk about your Jewish Journey.
01:16:16 Is the existence of God an important presence in your life?
01:37:45 What is consciousness?

📺 Watch my most popular videos:📺

A New Contender is Here! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6A6myur--c

Frank Wilczek https://youtu.be/3z8RqKMQHe0?sub_confirmation=1

Weinstein and Wolfram https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI0AZ4Y4Ip4?sub_confirmation=1

Sheldon Glashow: https://youtu.be/a0_iaWgxQtA?sub_confirmation=1

Michael Saylor The Physics of Bitcoin https://youtu.be/CaN_CDKqXOg?sub_confirmation=1

Sir Roger Penrose, Nobel Prize winner: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMuqyAvX7Wo?sub_confirmation=1

Jill Tarter https://youtu.be/O9K9OBd3vHk?sub_confirmation=1

Sara Seager Venus LIfe: https://youtu.be/QPsEDoOTU6k?sub_confirmation=1

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Astronaut Nicole Stott: BACK TO EARTH (#188) Oct 13, 2021

Show notes

Inspired by insights gained in spaceflight, a NASA astronaut offers key lessons to empower Earthbound readers to fight climate change

When Nicole Stott first saw Earth from space, she realized how interconnected we are and knew she had to help protect our planetary home.

In Back to Earth, Stott imparts essential lessons in problem-solving, survival, and crisis response that each of us can practice to make change. She knows we can overcome differences to address global issues, because she saw this every day on the International Space Station. Stott shares stories from her spaceflight and insights from scientists, activists, and changemakers working to solve our greatest environmental challenges. She learns about the complexities of Earth’s biodiversity from NASA engineers working to enable life in space and from scientists protecting life on Earth for future generations. Ultimately, Stott reveals how we each have the power to respect our planetary home and one another by living our lives like crewmates, not passengers, on an inspiring shared mission.

Get BACK TO EARTH here https://amzn.to/3mzwtNW

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Chris Hadfield: The Apollo MURDERS! (#187) Oct 12, 2021

Show notes

In 1973: a final, top-secret mission was planned to go to the Moon. Three astronauts in a tiny spaceship, a quarter-million miles from home. A quarter-million miles from help.

NASA is about to launch Apollo 18. While the mission has been billed as a scientific one, flight controller Kazimieras "Kaz" Zemeckis knows there is a darker objective. Intelligence has discovered a secret Soviet space station spying on America, and Apollo 18 may be the only chance to stop it

But even as Kaz races to keep the NASA crew one step ahead of their Russian rivals, a deadly accident reveals that not everyone involved is quite who they were thought to be. With political stakes stretched to the breaking point, the White House and the Kremlin can only watch as their astronauts collide on the lunar surface, far beyond the reach of law or rescue.

The Apollo Murders is a high-stakes thriller unlike any other. Chris Hadfield captures the fierce G-forces of launch, the frozen loneliness of space, and the fear of holding on to the outside of a spacecraft orbiting the Earth at 17,000 miles per hour as only someone who has experienced all of these things in real life can.

We also discussed touring with David Bowie's band, the time he met Sir Arthur C. Clarke, his dream aviation 'hangar', and even aliens! I found him incredibly vulnerable, authentic, and honest. His thoughts on how best to lead life… and grapple with death plus his one regret in life.

"An exceptional debut thriller and “exciting journey” into the dark heart of the Cold War and the space race from New York Times bestselling author and astronaut Chris Hadfield" (Andy Weir, author of The Martian and Project Hail Mary), past guest: https://youtu.be/JuoDANMASLc
“Nail-biting . . . I couldn’t put it down.” —James Cameron, writer and director of Avatar and Titanic
“Not to be missed.” —Frederick Forsyth, author of The Day of the Jackal
“An explosive thriller by a writer who has actually been to space . . . Strap in for the ride!” —Gregg Hurwitz, author of Orphan X

Get the Apollo Murders here: https://amzn.to/3aCJLn7

📺 Watch my most popular videos:📺

A New Contender is Here! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6A6myur--c

Frank Wilczek https://youtu.be/3z8RqKMQHe0?sub_confirmation=1

Michael Saylor The Physics of Bitcoin https://youtu.be/CaN_CDKqXOg?sub_confirmation=1

Sir Roger Penrose, Nobel Prize winner: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMuqyAvX7Wo?sub_confirmation=1

Jill Tarter https://youtu.be/O9K9OBd3vHk?sub_confirmation=1

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Heather Heying & Bret Weinstein: A Hunter Gatherer's Guide to the 21st Century. Frogs, Family, Freedom (#186) Oct 05, 2021

Show notes

Heather Heying and Bret Weinstein are evolutionary biologists. They both earned PhDs in Biology from the University of Michigan, where their research on evolution and adaptation earned awards. They've been visiting fellows at Princeton University, before that were professors at the Evergreen State College for fifteen years.

Heather researched the evolution of social systems across a range of organisms, including humans, and my 2002 book, Antipode, is based on experiences in Madagascar studying the sex lives of poison frogs.

In 2002, Bret published The Reserve-Capacity Hypothesis, which proposed that the telomeric differences between humans and laboratory mice have led scientists to underestimate the risks new drugs pose to humans in the form of heart disease, liver dysfunction, & related organ failure.

They resigned from Evergreen in the wake of 2017 campus riots that focused in part on their opposition to a day of racial segregation and other college "equity" proposals. They cohost weekly livestreams of the DarkHorse podcast.

Their new book, A Hunter-Gatherer's Guide to the 21st Century outlines a science-based worldview that will empower you to live a better, wiser life. It is a provocative exploration of the tension between our evolutionary history and our modern woes--and what we can do about it.

For evolutionary biologists Heather Heying and Bret Weinstein, the cause of our troubles is clear: the accelerating rate of change in the modern world has outstripped the capacity of our brains and bodies to adapt.

In this book, Heying & Weinstein draw on decades of their work teaching in college classrooms & exploring Earth's most biodiverse ecosystems to confront today's pressing social ills.

https://bretweinstein.net/

https://heatherheying.com/

📺 Watch my most popular videos:📺

A New Contender is Here! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6A6myur--c
Frank Wilczek https://youtu.be/3z8RqKMQHe0?sub_confirmation=1
Weinstein and Wolfram https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI0AZ4Y4Ip4?sub_confirmation=1
Sheldon Glashow: https://youtu.be/a0_iaWgxQtA?sub_confirmation=1
Michael Saylor The Physics of Bitcoin https://youtu.be/CaN_CDKqXOg?sub_confirmation=1
Sir Roger Penrose, Nobel Prize winner: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMuqyAvX7Wo?sub_confirmation=1

🏄‍♂️ Find me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/DrBrianKeating

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A production of http://imagination.ucsd.edu/

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Credits:

Produced by Brian Keating and Stuart Volkow

Music by Theo Ryan, http://the-omusic.com/

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Brian Keating: Think Like a Nobel Prize Winner! Why I wrote it (#185) Sep 28, 2021

Show notes

I’m so excited to share that my new book, Think Like a Nobel Prize Winner, is now live in the Universe! I couldn’t be more excited. I wrote it for YOU!

***This week only**** I have priced the ebook at 99 cents for this week only to make it easier for you to leave a “verified” review. Get it here: https://urlgeni.us/amzn/TLANPW

Get the Audible audiobook edition of Think Like a Nobel Prize Winner for FREE when you start your free trial using this magic link https://audible.com/impossible

Would you be so kind as to leave a “Verified review”? These reviews validate that you’ve purchased the item you’re reviewing, which makes them appear more legitimate to readers!

All you have to do is follow this link to my book and click on the ‘Write a customer review’ button down in the reviewer section of the Amazon page: https://urlgeni.us/amzn/TLANPW

PS: Don't forget to visit this website for Bonus Content, a link to my new Think Like a Nobel Prize Winner Podcast, and more! https://briankeating.com/think_book.php

📺 Watch my most popular videos:📺

A New Contender is Here! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6A6myur--c
Frank Wilczek https://youtu.be/3z8RqKMQHe0?sub_confirmation=1
Weinstein and Wolfram https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI0AZ4Y4Ip4?sub_confirmation=1
Sheldon Glashow: https://youtu.be/a0_iaWgxQtA?sub_confirmation=1
Michael Saylor The Physics of Bitcoin https://youtu.be/CaN_CDKqXOg?sub_confirmation=1
Sir Roger Penrose, Nobel Prize winner: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMuqyAvX7Wo?sub_confirmation=1
Jill Tarter https://youtu.be/O9K9OBd3vHk?sub_confirmation=1
Sara Seager Venus LIfe: https://youtu.be/QPsEDoOTU6k?sub_confirmation=1
Noam Chomsky: https://youtu.be/Iaz6JIxDh6Y?sub_confirmation=1
Sabine Hossenfelder: https://youtu.be/V6dMM2-X6nk
Sarah Scoles: https://youtu.be/apVKobWigMw
Stephen Wolfram: https://youtu.be/nSAemRxzmXM

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Anthony Aguirre: Cosmological Koans (#184) Sep 21, 2021

Show notes

Physicist Anthony Aguirre studies the formation, nature, and evolution of the universe, focusing primarily on the model of eternal inflation—the idea that inflation goes on forever in some regions of universe—and what it may mean for the ultimate beginning of the universe and time. He is the co-founder and associate scientific director of the Foundational Questions Institute, which supports research on questions at the foundations and new frontiers of physics and cosmology. Anthony is also a co-founder of the Future of Life Institute, an organization aiming to increase the probability that life has a future, and of Metaculus, an effort to optimally aggregate predictions about scientific discoveries, technological breakthroughs, and other interesting issues.

Cosmological Koans: A Journey to the Heart of Physical Reality, physicist Anthony Aguirre explores deep questions about the nature of reality, using an approach inspired by Zen koans to take the reader on a thought-provoking tour of the cosmos and the core ideas of modern physics.

The book covers a wide range of topics, woven together with a fictional storyline that recounts a journey from Italy to Japan. Multiple universes, the nature of time, the meaning of quantum theory, and entropy and information are among the subjects explored.

@AnthonyNAguirre
http://fqxi.org/
http://www.futureoflife.org/
https://www.amazon.com/Cosmological-Koans-Journey-Physical-Reality/dp/0393609219

00:00:00 Intro
00:06:22 Why did you right Cosmological Koans?
00:11:48 How do you reconcile the mysteries unanswered by physics?
00:17:08 Are you a Buddhist? Views on theology and the nature of reality.
00:22:18 Do we need a theory of everything?
00:31:56 Why did you set the book for when you did in the 1600s?
00:39:01 About the historic period in which the book is set.
00:41:23 What you have to say about cosmogenesis and big bang cosmology?
00:50:52 Thoughts on the multiverse theory. Could other universes have different constants?
01:11:56 How much of physics/cosmology is really sociology and our need to believe?
01:21:42 What discovery gift of knowledge would you put into a time capsule for the ages?

Audible is hands-down my favorite platform for consuming podcasts, fiction and nonfiction books! With an Audible membership, you can download titles and listen offline, anytime, anywhere. The Audible app is free and can be installed on all smartphones and tablets. You can listen across devices without losing your spot. Audible members don’t have to worry about using their credits right away. You can keep your credits for up to a year—and use them to binge on a whole series if you’d like! Start your free 30-day trial today: Audible.com/impossible or text “impossible” to 500-500

📺 Watch my most popular videos:📺

A New Contender is Here! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6A6myur--c
Frank Wilczek https://youtu.be/3z8RqKMQHe0?sub_confirmation=1
Weinstein and Wolfram https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI0AZ4Y4Ip4?sub_confirmation=1

🏄‍♂️ Find me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/DrBrianKeating

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Please contact sales@advertisecast.com to learn more about sponsoring Into the Impossible.

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