Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas

Einstein's general theory of relativity, plus some reasonable assumptions about the universe and what it's made of, has a remarkable implication: that as we trace cosmic evolution into the far past, we ultimately hit a singularity of infinite density and curvature, the Big Bang. Did that really happen? Einstein's theory is classical, after all, and the world is quantum. And whose to say what assumptions are reasonable? Niayesh Afshordi and Phil Halper have written a new book, Battle of the Big Bang: The New Tales of Our Cosmic Origins [https://nafshordi.com/2024/10/19/battle-of-the-big-bang-new-tales-of-our-cosmic-origins/], that surveys all of the mind-bending possibilities. Blog post with transcript: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2025/05/26/316-niayesh-afshordi-and-phil-halper-on-the-big-bang-and-before/ [https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2025/05/26/316-niayesh-afshordi-and-phil-halper-on-the-big-bang-and-before/] Support Mindscape on Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/seanmcarroll]. Niayesh Afshordi received a Ph.D. in astrophysics from Princeton University. He is currently a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Waterloo, and associate faculty in the cosmology and gravitation group at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. * Web site [https://nafshordi.com/] * Perimeter web page [https://perimeterinstitute.ca/people/niayesh-afshordi] * Waterloo web page [https://uwaterloo.ca/physics-astronomy/profile/nafshord] * Google scholar publications [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=xWZGFlEAAAAJ&hl=en] Phil Halper is a science communicator and a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society. His astronomy images have been featured in major media outlets including The Washington Post, the BBC, and The Guardian, and he has published several papers in peer-reviewed journals. * YouTube channel (Skydivephil) [https://www.youtube.com/@PhilHalper1] See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy [https://art19.com/privacy] and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info [https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info].

Every time you see an apple spontaneously break away from a tree, it falls downward. You therefore claim that there is a law of physics: apples fall downward from trees. But how can you really know? After all, tomorrow you might see an apple that falls upward. How is science possible at all? Philosophers, as you might expect, have thought hard about this. Branden Fitelson explains how a better understanding of probability can help us decide when new evidence is actually confirming our beliefs. Blog post with transcript: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2025/05/19/315-branden-fitelson-on-the-logic-and-use-of-probability/ [https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2025/05/19/315-branden-fitelson-on-the-logic-and-use-of-probability/] Support Mindscape on Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/seanmcarroll]. Branden Fitelson received a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is currently Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Northeastern University. He is a co-founder of the Formal Epistemology Workshop, and winner of the 2020 Wolfram Innovator Award. * Web site [https://fitelson.org/] * Northeastern web page [https://cssh.northeastern.edu/faculty/branden-fitelson/] * PhilPapers profile [https://philpeople.org/profiles/branden-fitelson] * Google Scholar publications [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=guuEvwUAAAAJ&hl=en] * Wikipedia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Branden_Fitelson] See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy [https://art19.com/privacy] and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info [https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info].

There are living creatures dwelling deep below the surface of the Earth, as deep as we are able to drill. These hearty microorganisms are related to more familiar life forms on land and under water, but the operate and survive in ways that are quite different from what we're familiar with. They live off of nutrients that have penetrated from the surface, or sometimes off of pure electrons. Karen Lloyd is a scientist who has traveled around the world studying these organisms, as she explains in her new book Intraterrestrials: Discovering the Strangest Life on Earth [https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691236117/intraterrestrials]. Blog post with transcript: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2025/05/12/314-karen-lloyd-on-the-deep-underground-biosphere/ [https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2025/05/12/314-karen-lloyd-on-the-deep-underground-biosphere/] Support Mindscape on Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/seanmcarroll]. Karen Lloyd received a Ph.D. in marine sciences from the University of North Carolina. She is currently the Wrigley Chair in Environmental Studies and Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Southern California. Among her awards are a Sloan Fellowship, a Simons Early Career Investigator, and a NASA Early Career Fellowship. * Lab web site [https://lloydlab.utk.edu/] * USC web page [https://dornsife.usc.edu/profile/karen-lloyd/] * Google Scholar publications [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=cwNS_2EAAAAJ&hl=en] * Bluesky [https://bsky.app/profile/karenlloyd.bsky.social] See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy [https://art19.com/privacy] and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info [https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info].

Medical science is advancing at an astonishing rate. Today we talk with leading expert Eric Topol about two aspects of this story. First, the use of artificial intelligence in medicine, especially in diagnostics. This is an area that is a perfect match between an important question and the capabilities of machine learning, to the point where AI can out-perform human doctors. And second, our understanding of aging and what to do about it. Eric even gives some actionable advice on how to live more healthily into our golden years. Blog post with transcript: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2025/05/05/episode-313-eric-topol-on-the-changing-face-of-medicine-and-aging/ [https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2025/05/05/episode-313-eric-topol-on-the-changing-face-of-medicine-and-aging/] Support Mindscape on Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/seanmcarroll]. Eric Topol received and M.D. from the University of Rochester. He is currently the Gary and Mary West Chair of Innovative Medicine in the Department of Translational Medicine at Scripps Research. He is also the Founder, Scripps Research Translational Institute, and Senior Consultant, Scripps Clinic, Division of Cardiovascular Diseases. Among his awards are the Hutchinson Medal from the University of Rochester and membership in the National Academy of Sciences. His books include Deep Medicine: How Artificial Intelligence Can Make Healthcare Human Again [https://bookshop.org/p/books/deep-medicine-how-artificial-intelligence-can-make-healthcare-human-again-eric-topol/12786538], and Super Agers: An Evidence-Based Approach to Longevity [https://bookshop.org/p/books/super-agers-an-evidence-based-approach-to-longevity-eric-topol/21872909]. * Web site [https://drerictopol.com/] * Scripps web page [https://www.scripps.edu/faculty/topol/] * Google Scholar publications [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=E2-uIQYAAAAJ&hl=en] * Wikipedia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Topol] * Substack [https://substack.com/@erictopol] * Bluesky [https://bsky.app/profile/erictopol.bsky.social] See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy [https://art19.com/privacy] and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info [https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info].

Welcome to the May 2025 Ask Me Anything episode of Mindscape! These monthly excursions are funded by Patreon supporters [https://www.patreon.com/seanmcarroll] (who are also the ones asking the questions). We take questions asked by Patreons, whittle them down to a more manageable number -- based primarily on whether I have anything interesting to say about them, not whether the questions themselves are good -- and sometimes group them together if they are about a similar topic. Enjoy! Blog post with AMA questions and transcript: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2025/04/28/ama-may-2025/ [https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2025/04/28/ama-may-2025/] Support Mindscape on Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/seanmcarroll]. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy [https://art19.com/privacy] and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info [https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info].