From First Principles

Krishna Choudhary and Lester Nare

From First Principles is a fast, funny, and rigorous breakdown of the biggest science stories of the week, hosted by Lester Nare and physicist Krishna Choudhary, PhD. We go past headlines into the actual mechanics: what happened, why it matters, and what everyone’s missing. Expect physics, space, AI, energy, biotech, and the occasional “wait… is that real?” story. If you’re curious, skeptical, and you like learning in public — you’re in the right place.

  1. 2D AGO

    Ant Scans, Lunar Chickpeas, Hidden Galaxies & Superconductivity (EP 40)

    Hosted by Lester Nare and Krishna Choudhary, this rundown episode covers four new science stories at a high level: a huge new 3D ant imaging database built with synchrotron X-ray microtomography, a lunar agriculture experiment that grew chickpeas in simulated moon soil using fungi and worm waste, AI-assisted discovery of strange objects in the Hubble archive, and a new programmatic roadmap for room-temperature superconductivity. There is also another round of Are You Smarter Than a Scientist? in the middle. Summary Particle accelerators meet biodiversity — researchers built a massive high-resolution ant imaging resource, covering nearly 800 species and thousands of specimens, with AI-assisted 3D reconstruction. Moon farming gets weird — chickpeas were grown in lunar regolith simulant with help from mycorrhizal fungi and worm-derived compost, a first step toward sustainable off-world agriculture. AI found hidden anomalies in Hubble’s archive — AnomalyMatch sifted through roughly 100 million source cutouts in just days and surfaced new candidate lenses, mergers, and other rare objects. The superconductivity long game — a new PNAS perspective argues that room-temperature superconductivity is not ruled out by physics, and calls for a coordinated push to get there. Support the showDonate: FFPod.com/donateFollow: @FFPod on X / Instagram / TikTok / Facebook Show Notes High-throughput phenomics of global ant biodiversity — Nature Methods Bioremediation of lunar regolith simulant through mycorrhizal fungi and plant symbioses enables chickpea to seed — Scientific Reports Identifying astrophysical anomalies in 99.6 million source cutouts from the Hubble legacy archive using AnomalyMatch — Astronomy & Astrophysics The path to room-temperature superconductivity: A programmatic approach — PNAS

    37 min

  2. APR 21

    The Prometheus Constellation: Dramaturgical and Scientific Analysis of the Physicists in Oppenheimer (EP 39)

    Hosted by Lester Nare and Krishna Choudhary, this special episode ranks the 26 scientists shown in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer by one standard only: their contribution to fundamental science. Starting with the Manhattan Project figures near the bottom and working up through the giants of quantum mechanics, relativity, nuclear physics, and logic, the episode turns a movie cast list into a surprisingly deep walk through the history of modern physics. Summary A ranking framework that actually means something — this list is based on scientific achievement, not movie prominence, clout, or vibes. A tour of 20th-century science — from nuclear chain reactions and black holes to MRI, GPS, quantum mechanics, and information theory. The great debates — several placements are designed to provoke real argument, especially around how Oppenheimer compares to the physicists around him. A top tier full of monsters — the back half of the episode becomes a speedrun through some of the most influential scientific minds of the modern era. Support the showDonate: FFPod.com/donateFollow: @FFPod on X / Instagram / TikTok / Facebook

    1h 37m

  3. APR 15

    Harder Than Diamond? The New Hexagonal Diamond Breakthrough (EP 38)

    Hosted by Lester Nare and Krishna Choudhary, this episode is a deep dive into one of the strangest and most hard-fought materials science stories in decades: the claim that researchers have finally synthesized bulk hexagonal diamond, also known as lonsdaleite. They break down why this material matters, how it differs from ordinary cubic diamond, why scientists argued about its existence for more than 50 years, and what the new Nature paper actually did to convince skeptical reviewers. Summary Why hexagonal diamond matters — if real, it is a long-sought carbon phase that could be slightly harder than conventional diamond and useful in extreme industrial settings. The first-principles chemistry — carbon allotropes, x-ray crystallography, cubic diamond, and the ABAB stacking that makes hexagonal diamond different. The experimental breakthrough — how the new team engineered around the default pathway to ordinary diamond by controlling graphite orientation and pressure direction. The controversy — why the peer review was intense, and how the new paper relates to an earlier 2025 Nature paper with a similar claim. Support the showDonate: FFPod.com/donateFollow: @FFPod on X / Instagram / TikTok / Facebook

    58 min

  4. APR 9

    Artemis II: Deep Dive on the Moon Flyby, Earthset, and Reentry (EP 37)

    Hosted by Lester Nare and Krishna Choudhary, this episode is a full deep dive on Artemis II as the crew returns from humanity’s first crewed lunar flyby in more than 50 years. Lester and Krishna break down the mission photo by photo, from launch and translunar injection to Earthset, Earthrise, the in-space solar eclipse, the science of lunar observations, and the skip-entry reentry profile bringing Orion home. Summary Why Artemis II is historic, what the crew saw on the far side of the Moon, and why this mission matters for the long-term return to the lunar surface.Why NASA relied on the Nikon D5 for deep-space photography, and what camera physics, low-light performance, and radiation tolerance have to do with getting these images home.The standout observations from the flyby: Earthset, Earthrise, a rare in-space solar eclipse, planetary alignment during eclipse, and the first crewed visual observations of meteoroid impact flashes on the Moon.How Orion’s reentry works, why Artemis II uses skip entry, what happened to Artemis I’s heat shield, and what NASA changed for the crewed return.Support the showDonate: FFPod.com/donateFollow: @FFPod on X / Instagram / TikTok / Facebook

    1h 26m

  5. APR 3

    Artemis II, Claude Code Leak, iPhone Spyware & Project Hail Mary (EP 36)

    Hosted by Lester Nare and Krishna Choudhary, this rundown episode covers five new science and tech stories at a high level: NASA’s Artemis 2 moon mission, what actually leaked in the Claude Code incident, a new cancer genomics paper suggesting domesticated cats may be unusually useful real-world models for human cancer, two leaked iPhone spyware toolkits, and a science-focused review of Project Hail Mary. Summary Artemis 2 is finally flying — why this mission matters, why it is not landing yet, and why the moon race is back in geopolitical focus. Claude Code leaked, but not Claude itself — what was exposed, why people got confused, and why the distinction between source code and model weights matters. Cats and cancer — why domesticated cats may offer a more realistic environmental cancer model than traditional lab rodents. iPhone spyware in the wild — what Dark Sword and Coruna are, what they can do, and why this signals a broader shift in cyber risk. Project Hail Mary science review — what the film gets right, what it gets wrong, and which scientific liberties are hardest to buy. Support the showDonate: FFPod.com/donateFollow: @FFPod on X / Instagram / TikTok / Facebook

    1h 1m

  6. MAR 31

    Can AI Help Wake Coma Patients? The Science of Consciousness (EP 35)

    Hosted by Lester Nare and Krishna Choudhary, this episode is a deep dive into one of the hardest questions in neuroscience: what breaks in the brain during a coma, and can we figure out how to turn consciousness back on? We unpack a new paper from Daniel Toker et al. that uses an interpretable AI framework — not a generic black box chatbot model — to reverse engineer the biological mechanisms of prolonged unconsciousness, recover known features of coma, predict new ones, and propose a possible new target for deep brain stimulation. Summary Why diagnosis is so hard — disorders of consciousness are not just about whether a patient is awake, but whether awareness is still present even when motor output is gone. The mesocircuit hypothesis — the episode explains how the cortex, thalamus, and basal ganglia may work together like an electrical grid to support consciousness. Interpretable AI, not black-box hype — Daniel Toker’s team built a biophysically grounded model that rediscovered known coma features and predicted two new biological mechanisms. A possible stimulation target — the subthalamic nucleus emerged as a standout candidate for deep brain stimulation, suggesting a new path toward restoring wakefulness. Support the showDonate: FFPod.com/donateFollow: @FFPod on X / Instagram / TikTok / Facebook Show Notes Daniel Toker et al. — Adversarial AI reveals mechanisms and treatments for disorders of consciousness Nicholas Schiff et al. — deep brain stimulation in a minimally conscious patient Adrian Owen et al. — fMRI evidence of covert awareness in a patient diagnosed as vegetative

    1h 9m

  7. MAR 27

    AI Cancer Vaccines, Strange Fish, Ketamine, and Ancient Life (EP. 34)

    Hosted by Lester Nare and Krishna Choudhary, this episode is a fast-moving science rundown covering four remarkable stories from across AI, genetics, neuroscience, and paleontology. We dig into the story of a machine learning engineer who used AI tools to help design a personalized cancer vaccine for his dog, explore how an all-female fish species has survived far longer than evolutionary theory would predict, unpack new brain-scan evidence for how ketamine may rapidly relieve severe depression, and look at new research suggesting life rebounded shockingly fast after the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs. Summary AI and personalized medicine — a striking case study in how AI tools may help accelerate highly customized treatments, starting with a rescue dog named Rosie. Evolution gets weird — the Amazon molly fish appears to challenge the usual assumptions about why asexual reproduction should fail over long time scales. Why ketamine works so fast — new PET imaging research points to brain-region-specific changes in AMPA receptors in treatment-resistant depression. Life after catastrophe — microscopic plankton may have evolved into new species within just a few thousand years after the Chicxulub impact. Support the showDonate: FFPod.com/donateFollow: @FFPod on X / Instagram / TikTok / Facebook Show Notes AI-designed dog cancer vaccine story https://finance.yahoo.com/news/mans-dog-riddled-tumors-dying-210500037.html?guccounter=1 Amazon molly / gene conversion paper https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10180-9 Ketamine / AMPA receptor PET imaging paper https://www.nature.com/articles/s41380-026-03510-w Post-asteroid plankton recovery paper https://www.yokohama-cu.ac.jp/english/news/20260306takahashi.html

    45 min

  8. MAR 24

    Can Human Neurons Really Play Doom? The Science Behind Wetware (EP. 33)

    Hosted by Lester Nare and Krishna Choudhary, this episode is a deep dive into one of the strangest science stories of the year: a dish of human neurons allegedly learning to play Doom. We go back to the original 2022 DishBrain paper out of Cortical Labs, unpack how biological neurons can be read and written with multi-electrode arrays, and then compare the peer-reviewed Pong result to the much newer Doom claim. The result is a story that is both genuinely impressive and, in places, probably overhyped. Summary Wetware engineering — replacing artificial neurons with real biological neurons plus electronics, and why some people think this could become a new computing paradigm. How DishBrain worked — human stem-cell-derived cortical neurons grown on a multi-electrode array, trained through sensory encoding and a “minimize surprise” feedback loop. Where the Doom story gets messy — the newer system appears to include a reinforcement-learning layer in the loop, raising the key question: are the neurons actually doing the learning? The big idea underneath the hype — even if Doom is overstated, the broader platform is still a remarkable step toward programmable biocomputing. Support the showDonate: FFPod.com/donateFollow: @FFPod on X / Instagram / TikTok / Facebook

    1h 13m
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About

From First Principles is a fast, funny, and rigorous breakdown of the biggest science stories of the week, hosted by Lester Nare and physicist Krishna Choudhary, PhD. We go past headlines into the actual mechanics: what happened, why it matters, and what everyone’s missing. Expect physics, space, AI, energy, biotech, and the occasional “wait… is that real?” story. If you’re curious, skeptical, and you like learning in public — you’re in the right place.

Information

  • Creator
    Krishna Choudhary and Lester Nare
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    40
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Krishna Choudhary and Lester Nare
  • Show Website
    From First Principles

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