Episode 51 · · 01:37:34
Are data centers in space physically possible, or just another overhyped idea?In this episode, we speak with Philip Johnston, CEO of Starcloud, about the technical and economic case ...
Episode 50 · · 02:03:47
How do you actually make quantum algorithms work on real hardware?Build your own quantum circuits in Crumble: https://algassert.com/crumbleIn this episode, we speak with Craig Gidney...
Episode 49 · · 01:30:27
How do neurons convert electrical signals into chemical messages in under a millisecond?In this episode, we speak with Thomas Südhof, Stanford neuroscientist and Nobel laureate whose...
Episode 48 · · 02:03:45
How do engineers solve problems that seem to violate the laws of physics?In this episode, we speak with Dan Gelbart, a prolific inventor and precision engineer, about what it really ...
Episode 47 · · 01:55:42
How does experience rewire the brain—and why is vision the ideal system for understanding neuroplasticity?In this episode, we speak with Mark Bear, MIT neuroscientist and a pioneer i...
Episode 46 · · 02:13:09
How can flat surfaces shape light as powerfully as bulky lenses?In this episode, we speak with Federico Capasso, Harvard physicist and pioneer of metasurfaces, metalenses, and nanoph...
Episode 45 · · 02:47:03
How do electrons behave when they’re confined to a single layer, and why do entirely new laws of physics emerge when dimensions shrink?Papers discussed in this episode:Experimental o...
Episode 44 · · 02:34:48
What makes high-temperature superconductors and “strange metals” some of the most perplexing systems in modern physics?In this episode, we speak with Dr. Subir Sachdev: Harvard physi...
Episode 43 · · 01:50:14
Would we get a quantum computer sooner if everything was open source?In this episode, we speak with Austin Fowler, one of the architects of quantum error correction and a pioneer of ...
Episode 42 · · 02:04:26
Why is syncing atomic clocks still one of the hardest problems in physics and engineering?In this episode, we speak with Judah Levine—legendary NIST physicist and one of the key arch...
Episode 41 · · 01:18:29
Why do civilizations rise, prosper, and then collapse? Here's what the math tells us.In this episode, we sit down with Peter Turchin, complexity scientist and founder of the field of...
Episode 40 · · 01:00:47
You can’t copy a qubit. So how do quantum computers remember anything?In this episode, we sit down with Mikhail Lukin, Harvard physicist and co-director of the Harvard Quantum Initia...
Episode 39 · · 01:05:36
The scientific stories behind this year's research that made people LAUGH, then THINK.Watch the 2025 Ig Nobel Ceremony here: https://youtu.be/z1cP4xKd_L4In this episode, we bring tog...
Episode 38 · · 01:41:22
Science has stalled. And Adam Marblestone thinks he knows why.Check out the Research Gap Map here: https://www.gap-map.org/?sort=rankIn this episode, we sit down with Adam Marbleston...
Episode 34 · · 01:52:35
Times have changed. And cesium clocks can't keep up.In this episode, we sit down with Jun Ye, Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics (JILA) Fellow and pioneer of optical lattice...
Episode 33 · · 02:24:10
How did cooling atoms with lasers revolutionize our understanding of time?In this episode, we speak with Bill Phillips, Nobel Laureate in Physics, about his groundbreaking work on la...
Episode 32 · · 02:38:02
What does it take to turn a banned psychedelic into an FDA-approved medicine?Visit MAPS to read about the latest progress is psychedelic research: https://maps.org/In this episode, w...
Episode 31 · · 01:31:04
Life’s First Blueprint Wasn’t DNA; it was RNA.Read Jacob Fine’s latest publication here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022283625001901Today we spoke with Jacob ...
Episode 30 · · 02:15:37
One of Keith Johnson’s final interviews: a brilliant mind on dark matter, water, and fusion.Read about Keith’s legacy here: https://news.mit.edu/2025/keith-johnson-materials-scientis...
Episode 29 · · 01:43:30
Did the Big Bang really happen? Telescopes, dark matter & cosmic origins explored.Join cosmologist Brian Keating as we explore the mysteries of the universe, from building telescopes...