Why do scientists use the word beauty to describe the universe? Gaze at the universe with a knowing eye. There’s beauty on every level—simplicity and regularity, even...
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Topic Series
6 videos
1:16
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In the far, far future, what happens to planets, stars, galaxies, black holes? What’s the ‘Big Rip’ and the ‘Big Crunch’? And if ‘multiple universes’ exist,...
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Episode
Episode 04
Season 13
26:46
What do scientists mean when they call the laws and regularities of nature beautiful? On the largest supra-cosmic scales, and on the smallest sub-atomic scales, why do...
5 videos
55:55
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Have we underestimated the risks of global catastrophe and human extinction? There is an odd argument that claims to justify end-of-the-world worries with raw statistics.
Episode 02
Season 16
26:47
It seems absurd in a universe with 100 billion galaxies, each with billions of stars and planets, that we are the only intelligent life. So where are all the others? This is...
9 videos
1:19:59
Here’s the claim: cosmic conditions that allow complex structures — galaxies, stars, planets, people — depend on a few “constants of nature” lying within tight...
Season 19
26:48
The universe works for us because deep physical laws seem to work. But if the values of these laws would much change, in either direction, then all we see and know could not...
7 videos
53:34
Why do the “constants of nature” — masses of subatomic particles and strengths of forces like gravity and electromagnetism — have the values they do? Does fine-tuning...
Episode 03
How can so many numbers of nature—the constants and relationships of physics—be so spot-on perfect for humans to exist? Coincidence and luck seem wildly unlikely. This...
56:15
Here’s the claim: conditions of the universe relate to the presence of observers. Does the Anthropic Principle convey deep insights? Or thwart science? For sure, it’s...
The Copernican Principle asserts that humans are not special, that we should expect to find ourselves in an ordinary place or position. But if humanity continues for billions...
50:35