399 episodes

A podcast about how we understand the world, scientifically and as humans. Each conversation brings together visionaries from the worlds of arts, sciences, humanities, and technology discussing the nature of reality and how we collaborate to create the future. Hosted by Dr Brian Keating, Chancellor’s Distinguished Professor of Physics at UC San Diego. For show notes go to: https://briankeating.com/podcast

Into the Impossible With Brian Keating Big Bang Productions Inc.

    • Science
    • 4.7 • 51 Ratings

A podcast about how we understand the world, scientifically and as humans. Each conversation brings together visionaries from the worlds of arts, sciences, humanities, and technology discussing the nature of reality and how we collaborate to create the future. Hosted by Dr Brian Keating, Chancellor’s Distinguished Professor of Physics at UC San Diego. For show notes go to: https://briankeating.com/podcast

    Brian Keating Discusses the Ultimate Issues of Life With Dennis Prager

    Brian Keating Discusses the Ultimate Issues of Life With Dennis Prager

    Join my mailing list https://briankeating.com/list to win a real 4 billion year old meteorite! All .edu emails in the USA 🇺🇸 will WIN!

    How are cosmology and cosmetology linked? Has the Big Bang happened an infinite number of times? And why has no one ever seen a perfect triangle? 

    I recently had the opportunity to discuss these and other exciting topics with Dennis Prager! Dennis is the host of the nationally syndicated radio talk show The Dennis Prager Show, which can be heard nationwide on nearly 400 stations! He is also the founder of Prager University (PragerU), the world's most-watched conservative video website with a billion views a year, more than half of them by people under 35. 

    Enjoy our insightful conversation! 

    Key Takeaways:


    00:00:00 Intro

    00:00:55 Cosmology and cosmetology 

    00:04:58 The origin of the universe 

    00:09:01 The perfect triangle 

    00:13:01 The first scientific crack in cosmology and Olber’s paradox

    00:18:26 Do most physicists believe in the Big Bang? 

    00:22:59 My predictions about the past

    00:27:50 Outro 




    Additional resources:

    📝 Get one month of Snipd Premium for free with this link: https://get.snipd.com/Cx7S/brianSnipd Snipd lets you take Smart Notes 🧠 with AI 💡 — it’s my favorite podcast player 😀 !

    ➡️ Connect with Dennis Prager:
    💻 Website: https://dennisprager.com/ 
    ✖️ Twitter: https://twitter.com/DennisPrager/

    ➡️ Follow me on your fav platforms:
    ✖️ Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrBrianKeating 
    🔔 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/DrBrianKeating?sub_confirmation=1 
    📝 Join my mailing list: https://briankeating.com/list 
    ✍️ Check out my blog: https://briankeating.com/cosmic-musings/ 
    🎙️ Follow my podcast: https://briankeating.com/podcast

    Into the Impossible with Brian Keating is a podcast dedicated to all those who want to explore the universe within and beyond the known.

    Make sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode!
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    • 31 min
    Searching for Alien Earths with Lisa Kaltenegger

    Searching for Alien Earths with Lisa Kaltenegger

    Please join my mailing list here 👉 https://briankeating.com/list to win a meteorite 💥

    Is Earth unique, or are there other Earth-like planets full of life? If so, what might life be like on these other planets? Could we even detect it? These questions have puzzled people for millennia.

    Now, we finally have the technology to explore it. Among the people who have taken up the search for other Earth-like planets and extraterrestrial life is today's guest, Lisa Kaltenegger!

    Lisa Kaltenegger is an award-winning astrophysicist and astrobiologist and the founding director of the Carl Sagan Institute at Cornell. She is a pioneer and world-leading expert in modeling habitable worlds and their light footprints. For the last decade, she has been finding new ways to discover life in space, working with NASA and ESA from Austria to the Netherlands, Harvard, Germany, and now Cornell. 

    Today, she will take us on an exciting journey through space in search of habitable planets and life. 

    Tune in! 

    Key Takeaways: 


    00:00:00 Intro

    00:03:00 Judging a book by its cover

    00:06:16 What kind of aliens is Lisa looking for? 

    00:10:50 The key technology for planet hunting 

    00:16:51 Modeling habitable planets

    00:24:09 A trip through probability space 

    00:33:58 Panspermia and life on Mars

    00:38:02 Proof of life

    00:44:51 Information theory and identifying signs of life

    00:48:11 The implications of discovering extraterrestrial life

    00:53:16 The future of pedagogy 

    00:57:39 Outro


    Additional resources: 

    ➡️Win a copy of ALIEN EARTHS! enter here: https://kingsumo.com/g/mkl3j6/win-a-copy-of-dr-lisa-kaltenegger-s-hit-book-alien-earths 

    ➡️Learn more about Lisa Kaltenegger:
    📚 Alien Earths: https://a.co/d/bKobTOp 
    ✖️ Twitter: https://twitter.com/KalteneggerLisa/ 

    ➡️ Follow me on your fav platforms:
    ✖️ Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrBrianKeating 
    🔔 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/DrBrianKeating?sub_confirmation=1 
    📝 Join my mailing list: https://briankeating.com/list 
    ✍️ Check out my blog: https://briankeating.com/cosmic-musings/ 
    🎙️ Follow my podcast: https://briankeating.com/podcast 



    Into the Impossible with Brian Keating is a podcast dedicated to all those who want to explore the universe within and beyond the known.

    Make sure to follow/subscribe so you never miss an episode!
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    • 58 min
    Exploring the Scientific Validity of the Multiverse Theory w/ Paul Halpern

    Exploring the Scientific Validity of the Multiverse Theory w/ Paul Halpern

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    The multiverse has captured the imagination of scientists and thinkers for centuries, sparking debates in physics, philosophy, and beyond.

    But is it a valid scientific theory or just science fiction? 

    I’ve had the pleasure of exploring this issue with the leading expert in this field, physicist and author Paul Halpern. Halpern is a professor of physics at Saint Joseph’s University and the author of eighteen popular science books, including Flashes of Creation, The Quantum Labyrinth, Einstein's Dice, Schrodinger's Cat, and Synchronicity. He is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and is a Fellow of the American Physical Society. 

    Halpern recently published The Allure of the Multiverse: Extra Dimensions, Other Worlds, and Parallel Universes, which tells the epic story of how science became besotted with the multiverse and the controversies that ensued. Today, we’re going to dive headfirst into this fascinating investigation!

    Tune in.

    Key Takeaways:


    00:00:00 Intro

    00:01:17 Judging a book by its cover

    00:06:39 Bruno’s speculations about exoplanets

    00:11:20 Why is the multiverse such a controversial theory? 

    00:16:54 Richard Feynman And John Wheeler

    00:23:31 Can we falsify the multiverse?

    00:30:30 Has anyone ever written a biography of Bob Dickey? 

    00:39:11 Inflationary models, multiverse and cyclic cosmology

    00:45:36 Evidence of bubble collisions in the CMB? 

    00:57:45 String theory and the multiverse

    01:01:41 Outro




    Additional resources:

    📝 Get one month of Snipd Premium for free with this link: https://get.snipd.com/Cx7S/brianSnipd Snipd lets you take Smart Notes 🧠 with AI 💡 — it’s my favorite podcast player 😀 !

    ➡️ Follow me on your fav platforms:
    ✖️ Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrBrianKeating 
    🔔 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/DrBrianKeating?sub_confirmation=1 
    📝 Join my mailing list: https://briankeating.com/list 
    ✍️ Check out my blog: https://briankeating.com/cosmic-musings/ 
    🎙️ Follow my podcast: https://briankeating.com/podcast

    Into the Impossible with Brian Keating is a podcast dedicated to all those who want to explore the universe within and beyond the known.

    Make sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode!
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    • 1 hr 4 min
    Daniel Dennett: Do We Have Free Will?

    Daniel Dennett: Do We Have Free Will?

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    Welcome everyone to a fascinating deep dive with the late Daniel Dennett!

    In our interview, we tackled fascinating problems like free will, human consciousness, ethics, and the philosophy of science. He also explained why he’s sounding the alarm on AI!

    Shortly after our interview, Daniel sadly passed away at the age of 82. He was a renowned philosopher, thought-provoking writer, brilliant cognitive scientist, and vocal atheist. He was the co-director of the Center for Cognitive Studies, the Austin B. Fletcher Professor of Philosophy at Tufts University in Massachusetts, a member of the editorial board for The Rutherford Journal, and a co-founder of The Clergy Project.

    Known as one of the "Four Horsemen" of New Atheism, he was at the forefront of discussions on consciousness, free will, and the impact of Darwinian evolution on religious belief. Dennett's works, including "Breaking the Spell" and "Consciousness Explained," have provoked both admiration and controversy, challenging readers to reconsider deeply held beliefs about the mind and its relationship to the physical world. Needless to say, I was thrilled to have Dan on the show!

    The world has truly lost an extraordinary soul and a groundbreaking thinker.

    RIP

    Key Takeaways:


    00:00:00 Intro

    00:09:27 Judging a book by its cover

    00:12:29 Dan's critique of Sam Harris's position on free will

    00:21:43 The evolutionary advantage of music

    00:29:01 Language, nonverbal communication, and artificial intelligence 

    00:34:33 Are brains computers?

    00:46:04 Sounding the alarm on AI

    00:51:38 Bioengineering and bioethics 

    00:57:21 Philosophy of physics 

    01:02:47 The evolution of academia

    01:09:08 Audience questions 

    01:23:10 Outro




    Additional resources:

    📝 Get one month of Snipd Premium for free with this link: https://get.snipd.com/Cx7S/brianSnipd Snipd lets you take Smart Notes 🧠 with AI 💡 — it’s my favorite podcast player 😀 !

    ➡️ Follow me on your fav platforms:
    ✖️ Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrBrianKeating 
    🔔 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/DrBrianKeating?sub_confirmation=1 
    📝 Join my mailing list: https://briankeating.com/list 
    ✍️ Check out my blog: https://briankeating.com/cosmic-musings/ 
    🎙️ Follow my podcast: https://briankeating.com/podcast

    Into the Impossible with Brian Keating is a podcast dedicated to all those who want to explore the universe within and beyond the known.

    Make sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode!
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    • 1 hr 27 min
    Does Time Really Exist and How Can We Measure It w/ Chad Orzel

    Does Time Really Exist and How Can We Measure It w/ Chad Orzel

    Join my mailing list https://briankeating.com/list to win a real 4 billion year old meteorite! All .edu emails in the USA 🇺🇸 will WIN!

    Today on Into the Impossible, we’re exploring the fascinating realm of time with none other than the timekeeper himself – Chad Orzel. 

    Chad is a professor of physics and science communicator renowned for his popular science books, How to Teach Quantum Physics to Your Dog, Breakfast with Einstein, and How to Teach Relativity to Your Dog. He is also a regular contributor to Forbes.com. 

    In his most recent book, A Brief History of Timekeeping, Chad revisits the delicate negotiations involved in Gregorian calendar reform, the intricate and entirely unique system employed by the Maya, and how the problem of synchronizing clocks at different locations ultimately required us to abandon the idea of time as an absolute and universal quantity. 

    From sundials to sandglasses and mechanical clocks, this sharp and engaging story isn't just about the science of timekeeping—it's a riveting tale encompassing politics, philosophy, and the very essence of space and time.

    Tune in!

    Key Takeaways:


    00:00:00 Intro

    00:01:07 Judging a book by its cover

    00:05:07 Galileo’s telescope helmet

    00:10:23 The connection between time and astronomy

    00:13:11 Why is longitude so hard to measure?

    00:15:32 The relativity of simultaneity

    00:22:12 The future of education after COVID

    00:25:55 The standard definition of time

    00:31:19 Attosecond clocks

    00:36:33 Why time is so much more perplexing than space

    00:40:23 How to teach students new things

    00:43:14 On education  

    00:49:05 Outro




    Additional resources:

    📝 Get one month of Snipd Premium for free with this link: https://get.snipd.com/Cx7S/brianSnipd Snipd lets you take Smart Notes 🧠 with AI 💡 — it’s my favorite podcast player 😀 !

    ➡️ Learn more about Chad Orzel:
    ✖️ Twitter: https://twitter.com/orzelc/ 
    📚 Website: https://chadorzel.com/

    ➡️ Follow me on your fav platforms:
    ✖️ Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrBrianKeating 
    🔔 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/DrBrianKeating?sub_confirmation=1 
    📝 Join my mailing list: https://briankeating.com/list 
    ✍️ Check out my blog: https://briankeating.com/cosmic-musings/ 
    🎙️ Follow my podcast: https://briankeating.com/podcast

    Into the Impossible with Brian Keating is a podcast dedicated to all those who want to explore the universe within and beyond the known.

    Make sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode!
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    • 52 min
    The Science and Wonder of Solar Eclipses: 4/8/24

    The Science and Wonder of Solar Eclipses: 4/8/24

    Join my mailing list https://briankeating.com/list to win a real 4 billion year old meteorite! All .edu emails in the USA 🇺🇸 will WIN!

    On April 8th, 2024, the USA will be treated to a rare celestial phenomenon—a total solar eclipse. During a total solar eclipse, the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun, casting a shadow that temporarily darkens parts of the Earth. Astronomers and enthusiasts eagerly await the chance to witness this remarkable event and delve deeper into the mysteries of our solar system. 

    Today, I want to do a deep dive into solar eclipses so that you can better appreciate them, whether you’ll be able to see the one on Monday or not. Eclipses are awe-inspiring phenomena that bridge the gap between wonder and discovery and have fascinated humanity for millennia. So, without further ado, let’s dive right in! 

    Key Takeaways:


    00:00:00 Intro 

    00:01:37 Ancient observations 

    00:03:02 Cultural and religious significance 

    00:04:27 Scientific contributions 

    00:05:47 Practical applications 

    00:09:09 Solar eclipse of 2024

    00:10:40 Outro




    Additional resources:

    😎 Buy solar eclipse glasses here: https://a.co/d/4LuQa5u

    ☀️ Check out how to make a solar eclipse viewer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMPBWLSYKaw

    📝 Get one month of Snipd Premium for free with this link: https://get.snipd.com/Cx7S/brianSnipd Snipd lets you take Smart Notes 🧠 with AI 💡 — it’s my favorite podcast player 😀 !

    ➡️ Follow me on your fav platforms:
    ✖️ Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrBrianKeating 
    🔔 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/DrBrianKeating?sub_confirmation=1 
    📝 Join my mailing list: https://briankeating.com/list 
    ✍️ Check out my blog: https://briankeating.com/cosmic-musings/ 
    🎙️ Follow my podcast: https://briankeating.com/podcast

    Into the Impossible with Brian Keating is a podcast dedicated to all those who want to explore the universe within and beyond the known.

    Make sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode!
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    • 11 min

Customer Reviews

4.7 out of 5
51 Ratings

51 Ratings

lancewessihos ,

A MUST LISTEN!

Dr. Brian Keating's podcast brilliantly showcases his wisdom, with captivating discussions and outstanding guests. Having hosted him on my show years ago, it's truly exciting to see him thriving!

a Spiral ,

Not afraid …

… to hear and debate countrovertial topics or guests. Good voice and sound. That’s the positive. Some topics leave me lost in the outer space. So be it.

MC54. ,

Re episode 270: lazer fusion

That was a very interesting conversation with the usual sprinkling of humour. Brian, do you have any thoughts on the work of another Brian (McManus) at Real Engineering?

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