Brian Cox and Alice Roberts on the Incredible Unlikeliness of Human Existence

Brian Cox and Alice Roberts on the Incredible Unlikeliness of Human Existence

Who are we? Why are we here? Are we alone in the universe? How did we become the creatures that we are? How might we further evolve? These are some of the big questions that Brian Cox and Alice Roberts tackled when they came to the Intelligence Squared stage in December. Brian Cox is the rockstar who became a scientist, and is now a rockstar scientist. He is known to millions as the presenter of the BBC Wonders series in which he unravels the complexities of the universe with calm clarity and an infectious sense of wonder. Alice Roberts is a no less talented science story-teller. A doctor, anatomist, osteoarchaeologist and writer, she has enthralled television audiences with BBC series such as The Incredible Human Journey. In this wide-ranging conversation Cox and Roberts discussed the origins of the universe, life and humanity – and you. You’re the product of what seems to be an extremely unlikely chain of events. Our universe was born with just the right laws for galaxies to form, with at least one planet capable of producing and sustaining life. The origin of muliticellular life on this planet was essentially an accident; the mammals were lucky to outlive the dinosaurs; a handful of two-legged apes survived, against the odds, on the plains of Africa… and then there’s the unlikeliness of your mother meeting your father and that particular sperm fusing with that particular egg. The chance of you being here at all is tiny. How can physics and biology help us to make sense of all that unlikeliness? How did chance and accident combine to create us? Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/intelligencesquared. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Episoder(1559)

Napoleon The Great?

Napoleon The Great?

How should we remember Napoleon, the man of obscure Corsican birth who rose to become emperor of the French and briefly master of Europe? As the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo approaches...

9 Okt 20141h 27min

Steven Pinker on Good Writing with Ian McEwan

Steven Pinker on Good Writing with Ian McEwan

Steven Pinker is one of the world’s leading authorities on language, mind and human nature. A professor of psychology at Harvard, he is the bestselling author of eight books and regularly appears in l...

30 Sep 20141h 20min

Francis Fukuyama in Conversation with David Runciman

Francis Fukuyama in Conversation with David Runciman

Professor Francis Fukuyama came to the Intelligence Squared stage in September, to square up with one of Britain’s most brilliant political thinkers, David Runciman, to assess how democracy is faring ...

25 Sep 20141h 25min

Marina Abramović on art, performance, time and nothingness

Marina Abramović on art, performance, time and nothingness

Marina Abramović is one of the most celebrated performance artists in the world. Over a career spanning four decades she has pioneered performance as an art form and accumulated a devoted following. U...

18 Sep 20141h 24min

History Shows Us That Scotland and England Would Be Better Off as Separate Kingdoms

History Shows Us That Scotland and England Would Be Better Off as Separate Kingdoms

This event was recorded at the Chalke Valley History Festival in July 2014. The future of the Union will be voted for in a referendum soon, and this debate explored the historical relationship betwee...

11 Sep 20141h 1min

London Should Love Its Bankers

London Should Love Its Bankers

Do the British have a death wish? You’d be forgiven for thinking so the way so many of them seem to want to cripple the most dynamic part of their own economy. What is the world’s largest market for d...

4 Sep 20141h 37min

Has Martin Luther King's Dream Been Realized?

Has Martin Luther King's Dream Been Realized?

This event was on the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech. On 28 August 1963, civil rights campaigners marched on Washington to secure equality before the law. Today, Amer...

29 Aug 20141h 7min

Money Can't Buy Happiness

Money Can't Buy Happiness

Leading voices from the fields of science, philosophy came to the Intelligence Squared Asia stage for this thought-provoking debate about the pursuit of wealth and its relationship to happiness. Amon...

21 Aug 20141h 32min

Populært innen Politikk og nyheter

giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden
aftenpodden-usa
forklart
popradet
stopp-verden
dine-penger-pengeradet
rss-gukild-johaug
det-store-bildet
nokon-ma-ga
fotballpodden-2
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
hanna-de-heldige
rss-ness
aftenbla-bla
rss-espen-lee-usensurert
rss-dannet-uten-piano
rss-penger-polser-og-politikk
frokostshowet-pa-p5
e24-podden