Cosmology, Episode I: In The Beginning

FromPhysical Attraction

Start listening View podcast show

Cosmology, Episode I: In The Beginning

FromPhysical Attraction

ratings:

Length:

24 minutes

Released:

Jun 15, 2021

Format:

Podcast episode

Description

When you're trying to narrate the history of the entire Universe, where do you begin? I decided to start in a radio studio in London in March 1949, when the term "Big Bang" was first coined, in the first on our series on cosmology.

Released:

Jun 15, 2021

Format:

Podcast episode

Titles in the series (100)

Physical Attraction is the show that explores topics in science, technology, and the future - from a physicist's perspective. From the birth of stars to the end of the world, from interviews with experts to meticulously-researched deep dives, we'll explore the topics that shape our world.

Skip carousel

TEOTWAWKI 7 - Supervolcanoes: 75,000 years ago, the human race was on the brink of extinction. The cause was the Toba supervolcanic eruption, which had plunged the earth into a volcanic winter and killed all but a few thousand remaining humans. This moment was the closest we have... by Physical Attraction
23 min listen
Rafael Alves-Batista: Resilience of Life, Astrobiology and Fine-Tuning: Joining me today is Dr Rafael Alves-Batista. Rafael is a post-doctoral research associate at the University of Oxford. He received his Bachelor’s Degree and his Masters’ at the State University of Campinas in Brazil, moved to Hamburg, Germany for... by Physical Attraction
51 min listen
Fermi and Drake: Are we alone in the Universe? Or are there alien civilisations out there? And if there are, where are they, and why aren't they talking to us? We'll explore the Fermi paradox, the Drake equation, and, of course... the simple fact that we're all... by Physical Attraction
32 min listen
Physics Gets Hot and Heavy II: Physics gets hot and heavy, part two. This episode we'll be looking at what happens to stars after they join the main sequence - one of the most beautiful theories in astrophysics. Neutron stars, black holes, supernovae... Things are only going to get... by Physical Attraction
20 min listen
Seduced By A Robot: OK Computer, seduce me. What happens when Japanese scientists try to programme an AI to give love advice? Are we going to be able to talk to robots in our lifetimes and have them say anything that makes an earthly lick of sense? Should you stop... by Physical Attraction
31 min listen
Physics Gets Hot and Heavy I: Our inaugural episode! Explaining physics, one chat-up line at a time. This episode, I'm going to explain some of my motivations behind creating the show, and then we're going to be looking at how stars are born, how they're formed, and how... by Physical Attraction
23 min listen
TEOTWAWKI 9: It Came From Outer Space: It's easy to forget that we are on a pale, blue dot - the one habitable place we know of in the whole, wide, Universe. Fragile. Perhaps too fragile. It's not that the Universe wants to kill us; it's just that astrophysics doesn't care too much... by Physical Attraction
31 min listen
TEOTWAWKI 10: Earthquakes: Let’s talk about earthquakes. As we know, the Earth’s crust is made up of tectonic plates – vast plates of rock that shift around due to convection and the motion of fluid in Earth’s mantle. They, roughly speaking “join together” at... by Physical Attraction
25 min listen
TEOTWAWKI 8: Cyberwarfare: We know that a great deal of our critical national infrastructure depends on complex cyber-systems; but in the fast-changing world of the internet and computer systems, it's become impossible for slow-moving legislators to catch up to the shifting... by Physical Attraction
28 min listen
Unusually Hot: The Radiation Episode: What is radiation, and why won't it give you superpowers? How can we shield future generations from nuclear waste? What's the Oh-My-God particle? And, most crucially of all, how many bananas does it take to crush a person to death? ... by Physical Attraction
23 min listen
TEOTWAWKI 6: Malthus' Revenge: The human population has been growing exponentially for a long time. It’s been continuously growing since the Black Death in the 1300s – and although wars, famines, and plagues cause occasional blips in the growth since, it’s been pretty close... by Physical Attraction
28 min listen
Climate Conversation with Ben Franta: Scientist, Historian, Activist (I): We have a guest on the show today - Ben Franta. Ben is a scientist, science historian, science writer, and activist. He studied for a PhD at Harvard working on solar cells; while he was at Harvard, he became involved in the movement to persuade that... by Physical Attraction
40 min listen
2017 Nobel Prize Special: Gravitational Waves: As you may already know, yesterday, the Nobel Prize in Physics, 2017 was announced: it went to Kip Thorne, Barry Barish, and Rainer Weiss for their contributions towards the LIGO collaboration that detected gravitational waves. In this special... by Physical Attraction
33 min listen
TEOTWAWKI 4, Supervirus Part I: Nature: Human beings have been facing apocalyptic circumstances for thousands of years. Our competitors, our nemesis have been pathogens like malaria, Yersinia Pestis, smallpox... every few generations, a cataclysmic plague would tear through human... by Physical Attraction
33 min listen
TEOTWAWKI 4, Supervirus II: The Human Factor: Earlier this year, a couple of scientists in a laboratory did something incredible. Using nothing but the genetic code and a well-equipped lab, they raised the dead. Specifically, the extinct horsepox virus was brought back to life. The... by Physical Attraction
36 min listen
Get Ready for the Apocalypse: We're going to be presenting a very special series of episodes over the next few months. The end of the world. Is it going to end in fire, or ice? And is there anything we can do about it? Get ready for the apocalypse. by Physical Attraction
2 min listen
Good Vibrations: Can you really explain a huge chunk of what we know about physics with a single equation? What does this equation look like, and how does it behave? And - most importantly - what happens when a platoon of soldiers try to flirt with a bridge? ... by Physical Attraction
19 min listen
XRiskology: Existential Risks with Phil Torres, Part I: We have a guest on the show today – Phil Torres. Phil Torres is an author, Affiliate Scholar at the , former contributor at the , and founding Director of the . He has published in Bulletin of the Atomic... by Physical Attraction
47 min listen
Physical Attraction: Trailer: The show that explains physics, one chat-up line at a time. Coming soon to an internet near you. by Physical Attraction
1 min listen
TEOTWAWKI 3 - The Singularity, Part I: Stephen Hawking, Elon Musk, Martin Rees... all have warned about the risk from Artificial Intelligence. Centres like the Future of Humanity Institute in Oxford, and the Centre for Existential Risk at Cambridge, rate the risk from artificial... by Physical Attraction
41 min listen
News: Neutron Star Merger, Yay Science!: LIGO hold a big press conference and announce the merger of Neutron Stars detected via gravitational waves and optical instruments for the first time. We now know about types of gamma ray burst, and where gold and platinum come from. Since we... by Physical Attraction
16 min listen
TEOTWAWKI 5: Peak Oil: This episode of the TEOTWAWKI specials, we're focusing on every crazed doom-prepper's favourite scenario for the end of the world - Peak Oil. Our society runs on oil and petroleum products (sadly, still). These fossil fuels are the fossilised remains... by Physical Attraction
30 min listen
Bonus Episode: Solar Panels + Splitting Sunbeams: Occasionally, in the world, we observe empirical laws – the laws of experiment - that seem to be spookily accurate. There’s no theoretical reason why they should be obeyed, but they just happen to describe the world remarkably well. Perhaps the... by Physical Attraction
21 min listen
Bonus: AI Shakespeare vs. AI Trump, call for Listener Questions: Bonus midweek edition, coming to you as close to LIVE as is humanly possible... Inspired by last week's episode, Seduced By A Robot, I downloaded a neural network and started to play around with it. See what happens when I feed it: The works of... by Physical Attraction
16 min listen
TEOTWAWKI: The Singularity, Part II: Stephen Hawking, Elon Musk, Martin Rees... all have warned about the risk from Artificial Intelligence. Centres like the Future of Humanity Institute in Oxford, and the Centre for Existential Risk at Cambridge, rate the risk from artificial... by Physical Attraction
46 min listen
Announcing Patreon and how to Support the Show: www.patreon.com/PhysicalAttraction, that's www.patreon.com/PhysicalAttraction . If you go there, and subscribe selecting the $3/episode option, the RSS feed and access to all of the online bonus episodes will be yours. I want to make the subscription... by Physical Attraction
5 min listen
Units and Dimensional Analysis, Pt I: The Metric Revolution: Units and Dimensional Analysis, Pt I: The Metric Revolution No physicist would be anywhere without dimensional analysis. In this episode, we answer the surprisingly complicated question - how long is a metre? for previous shows, information,... by Physical Attraction
25 min listen
TEOTWAWKI 2.1: Ecotastrophe: Our environment links us all: and we know that we are doing immense harm to that natural environment with our human activities. But where are the weak links? What are the potential pitfalls for the natural world, and for civilisation? In other words -... by Physical Attraction
52 min listen
BONUS: Autocracy Now, Stalin I: Rebel to Revolutionary: This is a bonus episode coming out on the Physical Attraction feed. The topic is even less related to physics than usual, but since it's extra, I hope you'll forgive me. As I mentioned a few episodes ago, this wasn't the first podcast I ever made. In... by Physical Attraction
39 min listen
TEOTWAWKI Bonus: Alien Attack (Free Episode): Things have been very serious and very depressing on our TEOTWAWKI specials; so I thought it was about time to do a little bit of light-hearted debunking, rather than ranting about the genuine dangers of apocalypse that might await us in the future. ... by Physical Attraction
24 min listen

More Episodes from Physical Attraction

Skip carousel

Climate 201: Climate Doomism (II): In the last episode, we briefly introduced "climate change doomers" and some of their misleading claims. In this episode, I talk about despair, and why we cannot give in to it. by Physical Attraction
40 min listen
Climate 201: Climate Doomism (I) by Physical Attraction
49 min listen
UNLOCKED: Book Club: Tim Wu's The Attention Merchants: A new episode released from behind the Patreon paywall. This episode, we'll review and discuss some of the issues raised by Tim Wu's The Attention Merchants, a book that details the history of the advertising industry. by Physical Attraction
37 min listen
Climate 201 NETS XI: Direct Air Capture, p2 and NETS conclusion: In this episode, we will continue our analysis of Direct Air Capture and conclude the series on negative emissions - crucial component of decarbonisation, or a techno-utopian distraction from the real problems we face? [Don't expect an actual answer] by Physical Attraction
41 min listen
Climate 201 NETS X: Direct Air Capture, part 1: Direct Air Capture - machines that suck carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. Could this be the solution to a scaleable negative emissions industry? We'll discuss the pros and cons of the technology in this episode. by Physical Attraction
38 min listen
BONUS: Black Mirror IRL pilot - Be Right Back: Hi all! This is a slightly special bonus episode. Some years ago I had plans for another series "Black Mirror IRL", which was going to be a series of episodes looking into the technologies mentioned and featured in the Netflix Series Black Mirror. Is... by Physical Attraction
40 min listen
Climate 201: NETS VII: Ecosystem Restoration and Mangroves: What are "nature-based solutions" to climate change? Can we restore the ecosystems that we've destroyed? And how can restoring mangroves help us to suck carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere? by Physical Attraction
43 min listen
Climate 201, NETS IX: Ocean Iron Fertilization: "Give me a tanker full of iron, and I'll give you a new Ice Age." It might sound like something Hank Scorpio would say, but this episode will deal with the very real idea of stimulating plankton blooms to remove CO2 from the atmosphere - ocean iron... by Physical Attraction
30 min listen
Climate 201: NETS VIII: Enhanced Weathering: How could grinding up rocks and sprinkling the dust over vast areas help to combat climate change? In this episode, we deal with "enhanced weathering" as a potential source of negative emissions. by Physical Attraction
30 min listen
Climate201 NETS VI: Planting Trees and Afforestation: Mention carbon capture, and the refrain you'll often hear is "why invent a machine that captures CO2? We already have one - it's called a tree." But is large-scale afforestation as a negative emissions solution so simple? We dig into its potential in... by Physical Attraction
51 min listen
Climate 201: NETS V: Carbon Capture, Utilisation, and Storage: N/B: Owing to a ridiculously hectic schedule until the end of the year, episodes will continue to be released on a fortnightly basis until further notice - thanks for understanding. We hear an awful lot about carbon capture, utilisation, and... by Physical Attraction
55 min listen
Climate 201: Negative Emissions IV: Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS): In this episode, we get into some of the specific technologies that might be called upon to deliver negative emissions at scale. Specifically, we're looking at the advantages, disadvantages, and concerns surrounding BECCS (Bioenergy with Carbon... by Physical Attraction
65 min listen
Climate 201, Negative Emissions III: Technological Promises, or Prevarications: In this episode, we discuss whether the promises that some new technology - like negative emissions - will come along and "solve climate change" for us are genuine, or if they have instead shaped climate policy into prevarication and procrastination. by Physical Attraction
66 min listen
Climate 201: Negative Emissions (II): We'll Always Have Paris?: Increasing levels of negative emissions are envisioned by models in climate-change scenarios that are compatible with the Paris Agreements. In this episode, we talk about some of the geopolitical implications for trying to deliver this, and the... by Physical Attraction
44 min listen
Climate 201: Negative Emissions I: The Last Thing We Should Be Talking About?: Negative emissions technologies (NETs), also called carbon dioxide removal (CDR), are seen by many as an increasingly essential part of climate change mitigation. Many of the scenarios that the IPCC suggests for meeting the Paris Agreement goals... by Physical Attraction
44 min listen
Book Club: Jason Hickel's The Divide, Part II: The book club returns, with a two-part review and overview of anthropologist Jason Hickel's book "The Divide", about global inequality, its historical origins, and possible solutions in the future. by Physical Attraction
50 min listen
Book Club: Jason Hickel's The Divide, Part I: The Origins of Global Inequality: The book club returns, with a two-part review and overview of anthropologist Jason Hickel's book "The Divide", about global inequality, its historical origins, and possible solutions in the future. by Physical Attraction
60 min listen
Cosmology, VII: Cosmological Contradictions: In this episode, we discuss the ongoing battle throughout the 1930s and 1940s between those who believed in a steady-state Universe, and those who thought it was expanding - and how it took more observations to overcome these cosmological contradictions. by Physical Attraction
34 min listen
TT: Climate, CCS Struggles as Adaptation Stalls: To close out this series of news episodes, we discuss the depressing failure of carbon capture and storage projects in Australia, as well as the far-too-slow approach to climate change adaptation across the world. by Physical Attraction
45 min listen
Thermonuclear Takes: Amazon Carbon Stocks and Global Green Recovery Progress Update: In this episode of Thermonuclear Takes, we tackle a couple of recent climate-related news stories - the "tipping point" carbon flux measurements from the Amazon rainforest, and the IEA's progress report on a global green recovery. by Physical Attraction
28 min listen
Thermonuclear Takes: The Little Robot That Couldn't: Updates on the Softbank Vision Fund and the sad fate of Pepper the robot. by Physical Attraction
25 min listen
Thermonuclear Takes: Muon Madness Melting Models... Maybe?: In this news episode, I discuss recent anomalies around the muon - B-particles decaying into muons, and the muon's anomalous magnetic moment - and whether they herald the glorious dawn of a new era of physics, or are just a mistake. by Physical Attraction
28 min listen
Thermonuclear Takes: Show updates, cosmology feedback, particle physics: In this news-y episode, I will give you some updates on how the show is progressing, share some listener emails on our cosmology series, and set up next episode's discussion of some recent results in high-energy physics. by Physical Attraction
33 min listen
Cosmology VI: Cosmic Eggs and the Edge of the Universe: In this episode, we cover the different kinds of universal horizon, whether the Universe has an edge, and talk about how theoretical physicists pondered how it all might've began. by Physical Attraction
30 min listen
Cosmology, Episode V: Einstein's Mistake: At the dawn of theoretical cosmology, Einstein introduced the so-called "Cosmological Constant" into his equations to explain how the Universe could be static and unchanging in time. He would later say that it was his greatest mistake. by Physical Attraction
42 min listen
Cosmology IV: Einstein's Cosmos: In this episode, we look at how Einstein's theory of general relativity gave rise to a theoretical framework for examining cosmology - the evolution of space, time, and the Universe in general - as a whole. by Physical Attraction
33 min listen
Cosmology III: Hubble's Law: In 1929, Edwin Hubble published his findings. The redshifts from distant galaxies were proportional to their distance away from us. Theoretical cosmologists would pounce on them as evidence that the Universe must be expanding. by Physical Attraction
29 min listen
Cosmology II: Starting From Nothing: Everything we have been able to infer about the Universe began in total ignorance. Many early theories about how the Universe was structured were wildly incorrect - but astronomers were building up the toolkits that would later allow us to understand. by Physical Attraction
25 min listen
Climate 201: Discourses of Climate Delay II: Arguments surrounding climate change have become subtler. Outright denial is gradually shifting to rhetoric that supports delaying urgent action. In this review of a paper by Steinberger, Lamb et al, I run down the new "discourses of climate delay". by Physical Attraction
43 min listen
Climate 201: Discourses of Delay, p1: As the climate change debate has advanced, the arguments surrounding it have become more subtle. Outright denial of the climate problem is rare - so rhetoric has shifted to delaying urgent action. In this review of a paper by Steinberger, Lamb et al,... by Physical Attraction
46 min listen

Related podcast episodes

Skip carousel

(Audio) John Mather: From the Big Bang to Searching for Life by The Origins Podcast with Lawrence Krauss
117 min listen
Alan Guth: Inflation of The Universe & More by The Origins Podcast with Lawrence Krauss
150 min listen
Observing Our Universe’s Past: Exploring Extragalactic Astrophysics With Marco Castellano: Joining us in this episode is physicist and astrophysicist Marco Castellano. Marco is a researcher at Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma-INAF, where he investigates galaxy formation – specifically looking at the early galaxies that formed right after... by Finding Genius Podcast
30 min listen
Trailer: Pioneers Of The Continuum by Pioneers Of The Continuum | A Time-Travelling Story for English Learners
2 min listen
19: Molecules in 3D by The History of Chemistry
23 min listen
Episode 161: The Boom Time of the Universe, with Rosemary Wyse: Feature Guest: Rosemary Wyse The universe is past its prime, by about 8 to 10 billion years. Sorry if you missed it. From the rate of star formation to the frequency of galactic mergers, the cosmos just isn’t what it used to be. Yet remarkably all... by The Star Spot
32 min listen
Episode 160: Boom to Bust Part 1: Before the Beginning, with Katrin Heitmann by The Star Spot
32 min listen
Fallen Astronaut, 1971: Fallen Astronaut, 1971 by Who Arted: Weekly Art History for All Ages
7 min listen
#39 Meteorites! We meet with noted meteoriticist Greg Brennecka to talk meteorites, the origins of life on Earth, and his new book 'Impact' by Cosmic Coffee Time with Andrew Prestage
31 min listen
112: Connect the Dots by The History of Chemistry
20 min listen
Frank Close and particle physics: Jim Al-Khalili discusses quarks and popularising particle physics with Frank Close. by The Life Scientific
42 min listen
Dr Christian Byrnes, Senior lecturer at the University of Sussex: Today I am joined by Dr Christian Byrnes, a senior lecturer at the University of Sussex who’s interest lies in the formation of the early universe. by Exploring Astrophysics
23 min listen
The Origins Podcast: Roger Penrose by The Origins Podcast with Lawrence Krauss
170 min listen
20/1/2020: Emily Thomas on Time and Subtle Pictures in the History of Philosophy by Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society
56 min listen
Mission to the Moon: Apollo 8 commander, Frank Borman, joins Space Boffins Richard Hollingham and Sue Nelson in this month's podcast. Fifty years ago Apollo 8 became the first manned mission to orbit the Moon and so the podcast has a lunar theme. Recorded at... by Space Boffins, from the Naked Scientists
50 min listen
Mission to the Moon: Apollo 8 commander, Frank Borman, joins Space Boffins Richard Hollingham and Sue Nelson in this month's podcast. Fifty years ago Apollo 8 became the first manned mission to orbit the Moon and so the podcast has a lunar theme. Recorded at... by Naked Astronomy, from the Naked Scientists
50 min listen
115: Reach for the Stars by The History of Chemistry
22 min listen
Sean Carroll’s Biggest Ideas: Sean Carroll’s Biggest Ideas by Into the Impossible With Brian Keating
88 min listen
Anne Bonny and Mary Read piracy conviction / First pulsar detected - November 28th Flashback by This Day in History Class
10 min listen
Music of the Spheres by Audio Branding
5 min listen
The Milky Way: An Autobiography with Dr. Moiya McTier: The Milky Way: An Autobiography with Dr. Moiya McTier by Into the Impossible With Brian Keating
59 min listen
38: Same but Different by The History of Chemistry
23 min listen
The Peaceful Atom by Bernice Kohn Hunt ~ Full Audiobook by Classic Audiobook Collection
53 min listen
Does HD 106906 b resemble Planet X? - Dr. Paul Kalas, astronomer, UC Berkeley - Astronomy News with The Cosmic Companion Dec. 22, 2020 by The Cosmic Companion - Astronomy, Space, Technology Advancing Humanity
27 min listen
Black Holes: Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Black Holes, the ghosts of massive stars. by In Our Time
28 min listen
Black Holes: Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Black Holes, the ghosts of massive stars. by In Our Time: Science
28 min listen
101: Totally Tubular by The History of Chemistry
23 min listen
97: Moving Atoms by The History of Chemistry
22 min listen
Episode 2: The Big Bang Theory (before TV) by It's Sedimentary, My Dear: A Geology Podcast
53 min listen
Spacetime Singularities - Roger Penrose, Dennis Lehmkuhl and Melvyn Bragg: We are on board the Oxford Mathematics Space Probe for this Oxford Mathematics Public Lecture as we explore Black Holes with a Nobel Laureate, a Professor of the History and Philosophy of Physics & a broadcasting legend. by The Secrets of Mathematics
134 min listen

Discover this podcast and so much more

Cosmology, Episode I: In The Beginning

Cosmology, Episode I: In The Beginning

Description

Titles in the series (100)

More Episodes from Physical Attraction

Related podcast episodes