Épisodes

  • Exploring the Edge of the Universe: Brian Keating on Telescopes, CMB, and Scientific Discovery

    Exploring the Edge of the Universe: Brian Keating on Telescopes, CMB, and Scientific Discovery
    Aug 1 2025
    Please join my mailing list here 👉 https://briankeating.com/yt to win a meteorite 💥 In this captivating conversation, we dive deep into the cosmos with renowned cosmologist, podcaster, and UC San Diego professor Dr. Brian Keating. Joined by Mike Misha and Xinghui, Brian takes us on a journey from the childhood wonder inspired by the Moon to the high-altitude peaks of Chile and the frigid expanse of the South Pole, where he's helped pioneer the development of cutting-edge telescopes aimed at unlocking the secrets of the universe. This episode is from the 632nm Podcast - Takeaways: 00:00 Moon Fascination and Antarctic Astronomy 09:38 "Proof of Earth's Orbit via Parallax" 14:36 Uncharted Light Polarization Exploration 19:45 Challenges in Measuring Polarization 23:41 "Transistor Tech for Microwave Signals" 26:52 Optimal Telescope Size for Science 31:13 Collaborative Scientific Learning Journey 37:20 "Steady State vs. Big Bang" 46:43 Universe's Earliest Light Revealed 51:25 Rapid Advances in Observational Technology 58:01 Motel Suicide and Leadership Shift 58:50 Near-Miss: Nobel Prize Revelation 01:04:13 Missed Signals, Planck Pressure 01:13:54 Detecting Cosmic Phenomena with Telescopes 01:18:42 Balanced Research in Cosmology 01:23:27 Space Telescope Vision Expansion 01:26:51 AI's Limits in Predicting Relativity 01:31:28 Reevaluating the Nobel Prize Criteria 01:38:20 Musk's Mars Vision: Science Disruption 01:41:46 Balancing Science and Personal Life - Watch the episode on other platforms: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5z3THHIQorc&list=PL87anKnyrxSINa7feABRBcXA_fIQzqPH0 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-we-build-telescopes-to-explore-the-early-cosmos/id1751170269?i=1000719643327 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/60hbFQNpmBJvDsdHM5WgDW?si=e91b6fbc60a5411d Twitter: https://x.com/632nmPodcast/status/1950231216143126552 Substack: https://open.substack.com/pub/632nmpodcast/p/listening-to-the-echoes-of-the-big?r=409hsq&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true ------------------------------------------------------------------- Join this channel to get access to perks like monthly Office Hours: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmXH_moPhfkqCk6S3b9RWuw/join 📚 Get a copy of my books: Think Like a Nobel Prize Winner, with life changing interviews with 9 Nobel Prizewinners: https://a.co/d/03ezQFu My tell-all cosmic memoir Losing the Nobel Prize: http://amzn.to/2sa5UpA The first-ever audiobook from Galileo: Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems: Ptolemaic and Copernican https://a.co/d/iZPi9Un 📺 Watch my most popular videos:📺 Neil Turok https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dt5cFLN65fI Frank Wilczek https://youtu.be/3z8RqKMQHe0?sub_confirmation=1 Eric Weinstein vs. Stephen Wolfram https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI0AZ4Y4Ip4?sub_confirmation=1 Sir Roger Penrose: https://youtu.be/AMuqyAvX7Wo Sabine Hossenfelder: https://youtu.be/g00ilS6tBvs Avi Loeb: https://youtu.be/N9lUceHsLRw Follow me to ask questions of my guests: 🏄‍♂️ Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrBrianKeating 🔔 Subscribe https://www.youtube.com/DrBrianKeating?sub_confirmation=1 📝 Join my mailing list; just click here http://briankeating.com/list ✍️ Detailed Blog posts here: https://briankeating.com/blog 🎙️ Listen on audio-only platforms: https://briankeating.com/podcast #universe #podcast #briankeating #intotheimpossible #science #astronomy #cosmology #cosmicmicrowavebackground #intotheimpossible #briankeating Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 h et 51 min
  • Is There A WAR On Science? Lawrence Krauss

    Is There A WAR On Science? Lawrence Krauss
    Jul 30 2025
    Please join my mailing list here 👉 https://briankeating.com/list to win a meteorite 💥 In a sweeping conversation sparked by his new book The War on Science, Lawrence Krauss charts how well-intentioned campus DEI bureaucracies, politicized funding mandates, and “language-as-violence” taboos are eroding the core scientific virtues of open inquiry and empirical scepticism, while drawing historical parallels from Lysenkoism to today’s hiring rubrics and challenging listeners to defend freedom of thought with the same passion they reserve for social justice. He then pivots from diagnosis to remedy, outlining a five-point rescue plan—slashing ideological litmus tests, restoring merit-based evaluation, insulating grant agencies from mission creep, teaching students to steel-man opposing views, and benchmarking success against China’s unencumbered research surge—arguing that only by re-centering evidence over ideology can science remain humanity’s most reliable truth-seeking enterprise. — Key Takeaways: 00:00 Intro 01:04 The most dangerous idea threatening science today 02:35 The role of universities and academic freedom 10:26 Tenure and indirect costs in academia 14:58 Sanctions against free speech 17:39 The problem with tuition 18:42 Decolonializing STEM 23:57 What Trump is doing to address these issues 28:03 Free market education? 36:46 Judging a book by its cover 38:44 The distortion of science during COVID 44:12 Inequality in science 48:43 If Lawrence were president of the US 52:33 Audience questions 55:28 Outro — Additional resources: 📚 The War On Science by Lawrence Krauss: https://a.co/d/6ntEbll — ➡️ 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
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    1 h et 2 min
  • Our Universe Almost Didn’t Exist (ft. Fred Adams)

    Our Universe Almost Didn’t Exist (ft. Fred Adams)
    Jul 25 2025
    Please join my mailing list here 👉 https://briankeating.com/list to win a meteorite 💥 Is the universe fine-tuned for life, or is it just a lucky accident? Could the multiverse explain why our universe is so perfectly suited for life? And how much can the fundamental constants change before life becomes impossible? Today, I’m joined by Fred Adams, a theoretical physicist from the University of Michigan. Fred works in the general area of theoretical astrophysics with a focus on the study of star formation and cosmology. He is internationally recognized for his work on the radiative signature of the star formation process, the dynamics of circumstellar disks, and the theory of the initial mass function for forming stars. Fred is the author of The Five Ages of the Universe and Origins of Existence, and has dedicated much of his career to understanding the structure and fate of the cosmos. In this episode, we break down the concepts of fine-tuning, the anthropic principle, and the multiverse. Could the universe's perfect conditions for life point to a deeper, purposeful design, or is it just a product of chance? What if there are other universes out there with completely different rules, maybe even with their own forms of life? Trust me, this episode is going to make you rethink everything you thought you knew about existence, so don’t miss out! — Key Takeaways: 00:00 Intro 01:29 Judging a book by its cover 02:12 DESI results and the equation of state 06:39 The cosmological constant and its role in our universe 12:31 Fine-tuning as a tool 32:37 The Hoyle resonance and carbon production 39:28 Probability distribution and fundamental theory 45:11 Intelligent design and anthropic arguments 52:30 The multiverse and its implications 58:14 Outro — Additional resources: Learn more about Adam: 💻 Website: ⁠https://freelanceastrophysicist.com/⁠ 📚 More Everything Forever: ⁠https://a.co/d/ajlYHvZ⁠ — ➡️ 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
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    1 h
  • We MUST Save Earth Because We Can’t Live on Mars (ft. Adam Becker)

    We MUST Save Earth Because We Can’t Live on Mars (ft. Adam Becker)
    Jul 18 2025
    Please join my mailing list here 👉 https://briankeating.com/list to win a meteorite 💥 What if the future tech billionaires keep promising us isn’t the answer, but part of the problem? In this episode of Into the Impossible, I talk with Adam Becker, author of More Everything Forever, about the big dreams coming out of Silicon Valley—especially when it comes to AI and the future of humanity. We take a hard look at the idea that AI is going to fix everything, launch us into space, and solve all our problems along the way. It’s a powerful story, and a lot of very smart, very rich people believe it. But what if they’re getting the science—and the big picture—wrong? Becker argues that people like Elon Musk and Marc Andreessen are chasing a future that ignores some pretty basic realities: limits on energy, physics, and even society itself. Instead of creating a better world, their vision might actually make things worse, deepening inequality, spreading bias, and putting even more power into the hands of a few. If you’re excited about AI, curious about space, or just wondering where all this is heading, this is a conversation you’ll want to hear. — Key Takeaways: 00:00 Intro 00:44 AI boom or AI doom? 03:40 What are tech billionaires wrong about? 06:10 Influence of science fiction on tech billionaires 11:05 Religious parallels in AI and space exploration 15:37 The search for extraterrestrial intelligence 24:16 Effective altruism and long-termism 35:28 Optimism and skepticism about AI 44:46 Judging a book by its cover 47:53 Impact of AI on underrepresented communities — Additional resources: Learn more about Adam: 💻 Website: https://freelanceastrophysicist.com/ 📚 More Everything Forever: https://a.co/d/ajlYHvZ — ➡️ 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
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    56 min
  • Another Alien Asteroid | Avi Loeb

    Another Alien Asteroid | Avi Loeb
    Jul 17 2025
    In this episode, I sit down with Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb to explore his provocative new article analyzing the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS — a visitor from beyond our solar system that might not be natural. 🛰️ We dive into his recent article on Medium https://avi-loeb.medium.com/is-the-interstellar-object-3i-atlas-alien-technology-b59ccc17b2e3 and get into: • The strange anomalies in 3I/ATLAS’s orbit, size, and speed 🌌 • How the Dark Forest Hypothesis could change the search for intelligent life 🕵️‍♂️ • Why even unlikely cosmic risks deserve serious scientific attention 🧠 • What Pascal’s Wager teaches us about ignoring possible extraterrestrial probes 🪐 💥 Plus, Avi answers 5 gripping questions designed to maximize your curiosity — from the first signs of alien tech to the biggest risks humanity faces if we stay silent. 🎧 Don’t miss this mind-expanding conversation with one of the boldest thinkers in astrophysics. 1️⃣ “Is This Alien Tech Hiding in Plain Sight?” 2️⃣ “The Dark Forest Theory Just Got Real” 3️⃣ “Avi Loeb: The Alien Probe We Can’t Ignore” 4️⃣ “3I/ATLAS: Interstellar Visitor… or Something Else?” 5️⃣ “What If They’re Watching Us? (The 3I/ATLAS Mystery)” For those of you who don't know him, Avi is a professor of science at Harvard University, theoretical physicist, astrophysicist, and cosmologist. He is also a bestselling author and a dear friend of mine. By the time you see this, Avi will have published his new book, Interstellar: The Search for Extraterrestrial Life and Our Future in the Stars. In it, he explains why we need to become an interstellar species to ensure our survival and lays out a plan for how we can settle among the stars. As usual, we take some time to judge a book by its cover and discuss what went into the making of this book. We also dig into the recent Galileo Project expedition to the Pacific Ocean to retrieve spherules of the first recognized interstellar meteor, IM1, which was led by Avi, and discuss whether they found evidence of alien life. - Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmXH_moPhfkqCk6S3b9RWuw/join Intro (00:00) Asteroids that are Interstellar (00:44) On extraordinary evidence (08:13) Does Avi have proof of alien technology (13:55) On David Grusch and government obligations (78:01) More on Interstellar and what it means to become an interstellar species (1:16:56) Rapid fire audience questions (1:19:20) Outro (1:50:57) — Additional resources: 📚 Interstellar by Avi Loeb: https://a.co/d/gN18ylO 📺 Watch my most popular videos: Neil Turok https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dt5cFLN65fI Frank Wilczek https://youtu.be/3z8RqKMQHe0?sub_confirmation=1 Eric Weinstein vs. Stephen Wolfram https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI0AZ4Y4Ip4?sub_confirmation=1 Sir Roger Penrose: https://youtu.be/AMuqyAvX7Wo Sabine Hossenfelder: https://youtu.be/g00ilS6tBvs Avi Loeb: https://youtu.be/N9lUceHsLRw ➡️ 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/mailing_list ✍️ Check out my blog: https://briankeating.com/blog.php 🎙️ 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 h et 30 min
  • Celebrating 500 Episodes!

    Celebrating 500 Episodes!
    Jul 14 2025
    Please join my mailing list here 👉 https://briankeating.com/list to win a meteorite 💥 What drives someone to keep exploring the universe after a lifelong career in cosmology and 500 podcast episodes? In this milestone episode, I finally take the mic solo to answer that and other questions—from the origin of the podcast during the pandemic to why I'm still obsessed with cosmology, teaching, and yes, even faculty meetings (sometimes). I open up about the childlike curiosity that fuels my work and share some spicy takes on academia, dark energy, and controversial theories shaking up our entire industry. Join me for a personal, unfiltered exploration of why, after all these episodes, I’m still as fascinated as ever by the vast cosmos—and the sometimes messy world of academia that surrounds it. — Key Takeaways: 00:00:00 The origin of Into The Impossible 00:01:49 What drives me to do what I do? 00:05:22 The search for a TOE 00:08:11 The limits of human understanding 00:10:09 Become a channel member 00:12:52 Early galactic formation and JWST 00:18:29 Eric Weinstein’s theory 00:28:02 A new cosmological model? 00:31:06 String theory and black holes 00:36:54 Entanglement and geometric unity 00:49:06 My thoughts on JWST so far 00:55:37 Impact of Trump’s cuts and the role of universities 01:03:07 My thoughts on Chile 01:05:38 The most important piece of information 01:07:34 Why Eric Weinstein? 01:10:57 Answering criticism 01:12:51 Outro — Additional resources: — ➡️ 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
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    1 h et 20 min
  • The Scientists Ep. 7: Galileo Founded The First Tech Unicorn

    The Scientists Ep. 7: Galileo Founded The First Tech Unicorn
    Jul 13 2025
    Please join my mailing list here 👉 https://briankeating.com/list to win a meteorite 💥 In this episode, we’re diving into the untold story of one of science’s greatest icons: Galileo Galilei. You might know him as the father of modern astronomy—the man with the telescope who challenged the universe. But forget the dusty textbook legend. This episode peels back the curtain to reveal Galileo as a cunning innovator, unapologetic monopolist, and the original scientific entrepreneur. Settle in for a journey through ambition, ingenuity, and the eternal tension between genius and fallibility. This is Galileo as you’ve never seen him before! - Key Takeaways: 00:00 Galileo: Science, Success, and Bias 05:23 Galileo's Race Against Time 07:49 Kepler's Unfulfilled Telescope Wish 11:06 Galileo: Scientist and Businessman 16:13 "Balancing Passion and Scientific Objectivity" 19:19 Technological Lock-In and Tunnel Vision 23:10 Incentives and Scientific Discoveries 24:13 "Galileo: Discovery and Intellectual Humility" - Resources: Mario Biagioli's Books: 📚 Galileo, Courtier: The Practice of Science in the Culture of Absolutism - https://books.google.com.ph/books/about/Galileo_Courtier.html?id=P-KJeS6ocsoC&redir_esc=y 📚 Galileo's Instruments of Credit - https://books.apple.com/us/book/galileos-instruments-of-credit/id6503622255 Brian Keating's Book: 📚 Losing the Nobel Prize - http://amzn.to/2sa5UpA - The Scientists is a documentary-style podcast series hosted by astrophysicist Brian Keating. Each episode explores the untold stories behind history’s greatest minds—from Nobel laureates to visionary misfits—revealing the personal struggles, intellectual triumphs, and paradigm-shifting ideas that changed the world. Each week, I dive into the life and legacy of a legendary scientist—experimentalists, theorists, and observers alike—and uncover insights you can apply to your own work and worldview. Science didn’t appear fully formed; it was built by real people solving real problems under pressure. Their ideas still shape our future. We’ll examine not just what they discovered, but who they were—from their obsessions and honors to their most spectacular ideas, brilliant blunders, and beautifully human flaws. New episodes weekly. Learn more at BrianKeating.com. 🎙️ Subscribe for compelling science storytelling. 📚 Listen to our companion series Into the Impossible for interviews with living legends. #science #sciencepodcast #historyofscience #nobelprizewinners #famousscientists #scientificdiscoveries #physics #chemistry #thescientistsbriankeating #intotheimpossible #sciencecommunication Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    28 min
  • Did She Just Prove the Multiverse Is Real? (Ft Laura Mersini-Houghton) [Ep. 501]

    Did She Just Prove the Multiverse Is Real? (Ft Laura Mersini-Houghton) [Ep. 501]
    Jul 9 2025
    What if the Big Bang wasn’t the beginning? What if our universe is just one in a vast cosmic ocean of universes, and we have the evidence to prove it? In this episode of Into the Impossible, I’m joined by theoretical physicist Laura Mersini-Houghton to explore one of the most provocative ideas in modern cosmology: the multiverse is not only real—it’s testable. Mersini, author of Before the Big Bang, walks us through her bold predictions about the structure of the cosmos, including the mysterious cold spot in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) that she foresaw years before it was confirmed by the Planck satellite. Together, we dissect her groundbreaking theory that our universe began as one branch of a quantum wave function stretching across a multiverse landscape. We talk quantum decoherence, cosmic scars, and how entanglement with other universes could leave measurable fingerprints in our sky. We also debate criticisms from fellow physicists and dive into what these revelations mean for the future of dark energy and cosmological theory. — Key Takeaways: 00:00 What happened before the Big Bang? 01:56 The CMB cold spot prediction 05:16 Quantum entanglement and decoherence 11:31 Criticism and evidence for the multiverse 17:06 The wave function of the universe 20:48 The string landscape and constants of nature 23:54 The cold spot and the hemispherical anomaly 37:20 Thoughts on the recent DESI suggestions 40:46 Judging a book by its cover 47:31 The multiverse and religion 57:29 Outro — Additional resources: ➡️ 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
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    59 min