logo
episode-header-image
Feb 2024
30m 39s

What Is the Nature of Time?

Steven Strogatz, Janna Levin, and Quanta Magazine
About this episode

Time seems linear to us: We remember the past, experience the present and predict the future, moving consecutively from one moment to the next. But why is it that way, and could time ultimately be a kind of illusion? In this episode, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Frank Wilczek speaks with host Steven Strogatz about the many “arrows” of time and why most of them seem irreversible, the essence of what a clock is, how Einstein changed our definition of time, and the unexpected connection between time and our notions of what dark matter might be.

Up next
Today
How Can Regional Models Advance Climate Science?
Climate models have changed the way we view the world. While effective, these models are imperfect, and scientists are constantly looking at ways to improve their accuracy and predictability. MIT professor Elfatih Eltahir has spent decades developing complex models to understand ... Show More
45m 5s
Jun 26
How Does Graph Theory Shape Our World?
Born in the 18th century when Leonhard Euler solved the puzzle of the seven bridges of Königsberg, graph theory has become a foundational tool in mathematics. It studies relationships through nodes (vertices) and the links (edges) that connect them, transforming the complexity of ... Show More
34m 14s
Jun 12
Does Form Really Shape Function?
What links a Möbius strip, brain folds and termite mounds? The answer is Harvard University’s L. Mahadevan, whose career has been devoted to using mathematics and physics to explore the form and function of common phenomena. Mahadevan, or Maha to his friends and colleagues, has l ... Show More
47m 25s
Recommended Episodes
Nov 2022
From the Vault: Time Traveler Zero, Part 1
Today, time travel fiction is everywhere – and we understand the cosmos enough to even speculate what is and isn’t possible. But how old is the notion of travel through time? What sorts of attitudes and ideas concerning the nature of time were seemingly necessary before humans fi ... Show More
53m 26s
Dec 1999
Time
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the history of mankind’s attempt to understand the nature of time. At the end of the 19th century, H.G.Wells imagined travelling through time in The Time Machine; “The palpitation of night and day merged into one continuous greyness; the sky took o ... Show More
28m 16s
Dec 2021
Time Traveler Zero, Part 1
Today, time travel fiction is everywhere – and we understand the cosmos enough to even speculate what is and isn’t possible. But how old is the notion of travel through time? What sorts of attitudes and ideas concerning the nature of time were seemingly necessary before humans fi ... Show More
52m 45s
Dec 2021
Time Traveler Zero, Part 2
Today, time travel fiction is everywhere – and we understand the cosmos enough to even speculate what is and isn’t possible. But how old is the notion of travel through time? What sorts of attitudes and ideas concerning the nature of time were seemingly necessary before humans fi ... Show More
59m 38s
Jan 2024
Our Lives Are Ruled By The Illusion Of Time
Time is a concept so central to our daily lives. Yet, the closer scientists look at it, the more it seems to fall apart. Time ticks by differently at sea level than it does on a mountaintop. The universe's expansion slows time's passage. "And some scientists think time might not ... Show More
13m 45s
Aug 2020
Does Time Exist?
Brian Cox and Robin Ince are joined by actor and writer Mark Gatiss, theoretical physicists Carlo Rovelli and Fay Dowker to ask timely questions about time. Is time real, does it exist in the fundamental laws of physics, and if it doesn't, why do we experience the sensation of ti ... Show More
43m 36s
Dec 2017
This Present Moment: Philosophy & Neuroscience
What is now? What is the present moment? These questions continue to stagger us, for nothing is so simultaneously familiar and alien than the passage of time. Nothing seems more “real” to us that the present, yet it vanishes into nothing at every attempt to capture or quantify it ... Show More
53m 55s
Dec 2022
Time Is Way Weirder Than You Think
It’s not an exaggeration to say that “clock time” runs our lives. From the moment our alarms go off in the morning, the clock reigns supreme: our meetings, our appointments, even our social plans are often timed down to the minute. We even measure the quality of our lives with re ... Show More
53m 42s
Jan 2025
Was ist Zeit? – Zwischen Physik und Psychologie
Ist Zeit das, was man auf der Uhr abliest? Oder ist Zeit die Dauer, die man fühlt? Warum vergeht Zeit mal furchtbar schnell und mal entsetzlich langsam? Und wie passen physikalische Erklärungen zu Befunden der Psychologie? Von Marco Wehr (SWR 2022) | Manuskript und mehr zur Sendu ... Show More
29m 6s
Jan 2024
How to Keep Time: Time Tips From the Universe
Time can feel like a subjective experience—different at different points in our lives. It’s also a real, measurable thing. The universe may be too big to fully comprehend, but what we do know could help inform the ways we approach our understanding of ourselves, our purpose, and ... Show More
36m 24s