logo
episode-header-image
Jul 2021
18m 51s

Ep 79: David Deutsch answers a question ...

Brett Hall
About this episode
In this question we discuss Stephen Hawking's claim that people are "chemical scum" on a typical planet orbiting a typical star in a typical galaxy and so on. How suitable is our planet for life, actually? How suitable is it for people in particular? 
Up next
Jan 30
Ep 256: David Deutsch’s ”The Fabric of Reality” Chapter 13 ”The Four Strands” Part 2
Comparing Kuhn and Popper on Quantum Theory: Here we go deeper into the differences between Karl Popper and Thomas Kuhn's account of how science moves from one theory to another. David applies the theory set out in part 1 of this chapter to the specific case of quantum theory. Di ... Show More
1h 9m
Jan 14
Ep 255: Does this research explain how LLMs work?
I take a look at these three papers: 1. https://www.arxiv.org/abs/2512.22471 2. https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.23752 3. https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.22473 Collectively titled "The Bayesian Attention Trilogy" along with some other material - in particular an interview with one of the au ... Show More
1h 22m
Dec 25
Ep 254: Australia: The Land of Bans. (Social Media prohibited for under-16s. Analysis of the arguments "for".)
This is effectively part 3 in a series of responses to the Prime Minister of Australia about censorship, legislation, policy, philosophy, Bondi and Social Media. The Prime Minister attempted to explain, as best he could, the reasons for banning under-16 year olds from certain soc ... Show More
1h 33m
Recommended Episodes
Nov 2007
Lecture 46: Are We Alone? Life in the Universe
Are we alone in the Universe? This lecture explores the question of how we might go about finding life on planets around other stars. Rather than talking about speculative ideas, like the Drake Equation or SETI, I am instead taking the approach of posing it as a problem of what t ... Show More
41m 23s
Jun 2022
What Is Life?
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">Scientists don’t really agree on a definition for life. We may recognize life instinctively most of the time, but any time we try to nail it down with set criteria, some stubborn counterexample spoils the effort. Still, can we really search for l ... Show More
41m 58s
Oct 2021
A Geochemical HIstory of LIfe on Earth: 5. The Anthropocene
Could human engineering stabilise the Earth's climate and chemistry in the long term? Tim Lenton of Exeter University explains why the Gaia hypothesis is the key to understanding the future of life on Earth. But what about life beyond Earth? Justin Rowlatt speaks to astronomer Li ... Show More
23m 47s
May 2019
Will we ever find alien life?
3/6 In this instalment of The Curious Cases of Rutherford & Fry, Hannah and Adam boldly go in search of scientists who are hunting for ET, spurred on by questions sent in by listeners across the globe, from Australia to Columbia. They start by asking how we define life and why we ... Show More
27m 29s
Apr 2022
We could kickstart life on another planet. Should we? | Betül Kaçar
"Life makes our planet an incredibly exotic place compared to the rest of the known universe," says astrobiologist Betül Kaçar, whose research uses statistics and mathematical models to simulate ancient environments and gather insights into the origins of existence. In this fasci ... Show More
10m 50s
Jun 2021
#252 — Are We Alone in the Universe?
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sam Harris speaks with Neil deGrasse Tyson about our place in the universe. They discuss our current understanding of extra-solar planets, the prospect that there is complex life elsewhere in the galaxy, the Fermi problem, the possibility that a ... Show More
52m 6s
Jan 2023
Cosmic Queries – Silicon Aliens with David Grinspoon
<p>Can there be life on planets without magnetic fields? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comedian Chuck Nice discuss exoplanets, extraterrestrials, and answer extraordinary questions from our fans with astrobiologist, David Grinspoon. </p><p>NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can listen to this ent ... Show More
50m 50s
Jul 2021
Let’s Go Planet-Hunting!
What do we know about the planets outside our solar system? NASA planet hunters Jessie Christiansen and Knicole Colon take us beyond...into the exciting world of exoplanets.   
19m 8s