There are two basic theories about how the universe will end. Neither are pleasant. The first spells out an inward-rushing, squashing-together of all things and the second...
video
Roundtable
27:39
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We should expect to observe that the universe in which we live must conform to the conditions required for our presence as observers. This is the unremarkable “Weak...
playlist
Topic Series
5 videos
36:34
Two planetary scientists and an astrophysicist make the case that the search for life in other parts of our universe has been made all the more valid by two recent...
26:24
We know that the very early universe was a cauldron of immensely hot plasma gas that seemed uniform and undifferentiated, the paragon of simplicity. And yet, over time,...
4 videos
33:47
Most scientists assume that the universe must be populated with innumerable alien intelligences and civilizations – after all, we humans can’t be so special. OK,...
Episode
Episode 05
Season 03
26:46
What is “human” nature? While human beings are animals, we believe we are special, radically different from other animals. Why? What traits are unique to humans? Are we...
55:38
News
04.14.20
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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,...
Episode 03
Can an evolutionary perspective help explain culture and various social behaviors? Is it proper to use “culture” for non-human animals? If so, what is “animal...
6 videos
52:25
03.09.21
If the universe had been ever so slightly different, human beings wouldn’t, couldn’t, exist. All explanations of this exquisite fine-tuning, obvious and...
Episode 02
What can evolution reveal about the developmental history of thinking and feeling? How did cognition and emotion (affect) co-develop over evolutionary time? Moreover, what...
48:25