Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas25 Jan 2021

131 | Avi Loeb on Taking Aliens Seriously

The possible existence of technologically advanced extraterrestrial civilizations — not just alien microbes, but cultures as advanced (or much more) than our own — is one of the most provocative questions in modern science. So provocative that it's difficult to talk about the idea in a rational, dispassionate way; there are those who loudly insist that the probability of advanced alien cultures existing is essentially one, even without direct evidence, and others are so exhausted by overblown claims in popular media that they want to squelch any such talk. Astronomer Avi Loeb thinks we should be taking this possibility seriously, so much so that he suggested that the recent interstellar interloper `Oumuamua might be a spaceship built by aliens. That got him in a lot of trouble. We talk about the trouble, about `Oumuamua, and the attitude scientists should take toward provocative ideas.

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Abraham (Avi) Loeb received his Ph.D. in plasma physics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is currently the Frank B. Baird Jr. professor of science at Harvard University. He served as the Chair of Harvard's Astronomy department from 2011-2020. He is Director of the Institute for Theory and Computation of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and Founding Director of Harvard's Black Hole Initiative. He is chair of the Advisory Committee for the Breakthrough Starshot Initiative. His new book is Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth.

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Episoder(427)

49 | Nicholas Christakis on Humanity, Biology, and What Makes Us Good

It's easy to be cynical about humanity's present state and future prospects. But we have made it this far, and in some ways we're doing better than we used to be. Today's guest, Nicholas Christakis, i...

3 Jun 20191h 54min

48 | Marq de Villiers on Hell and Damnation

If you're bad, we are taught, you go to Hell. Who in the world came up with that idea? Some will answer God, but for the purpose of today's podcast discussion we'll put that possibility aside and look...

27 Mai 20191h 11min

47 | Adam Rutherford on Humans, Animals, and Life in General

Most people in the modern world — and the vast majority of Mindscape listeners, I would imagine — agree that humans are part of the animal kingdom, and that all living animals evolved from a common an...

20 Mai 20191h 38min

46 | Kate Darling on Our Connections with Robots

Most of us have no trouble telling the difference between a robot and a living, feeling organism. Nevertheless, our brains often treat robots as if they were alive. We give them names, imagine that th...

13 Mai 20191h 6min

45 | Leonard Susskind on Quantum Information, Quantum Gravity, and Holography

For decades now physicists have been struggling to reconcile two great ideas from a century ago: general relativity and quantum mechanics. We don't yet know the final answer, but the journey has taken...

6 Mai 20191h 13min

44 | Antonio Damasio on Feelings, Thoughts, and the Evolution of Humanity

When we talk about the mind, we are constantly talking about consciousness and cognition. Antonio Damasio wants us to talk about our feelings. But it's not in an effort to be more touchy-feely; Damasi...

29 Apr 20191h 12min

43 | Matthew Luczy on the Pleasures of Wine

Some people never drink wine; for others, it's an indispensable part of an enjoyable meal. Whatever your personal feelings might be, wine seems to exhibit a degree of complexity and nuance that can be...

22 Apr 20191h 46min

42 | Natalya Bailey on Navigating Earth Orbit and Beyond

The space age officially began in 1957 with the launch of the Sputnik 1 satellite. But recent years have seen the beginning of a boom in the number of objects orbiting Earth, as satellite tracking and...

15 Apr 201959min