From StarTalk.
Could we have reached the moon in 1700? Neil deGrasse Tyson answers the burning questions co-hosts Chuck Nice and Gary O’Reilly’s have been saving all year about immortality, redshifting photons, altering the laws of physics, and more!
Is humanity destined to merge with technology, or will we cling to our biological roots? Gary questions whether we’ll resist becoming hybrids when our tech already fits in the palm of our hands, while Chuck dreams of a neural chip to help humanity overcome its neurochemical flaws. But would you let Elon implant it?
Next, they reflect on the evolution of flight, recalling the rapid progress from the Wright brothers to supersonic speeds. Why did humanity’s urge to fly faster fade? Turns out, impatience drives innovation—until it doesn’t. What happens to a photon’s energy as it redshifts toward infinity at the universe’s edge? Then, if given the power to bend the laws of physics, what would you change? We discuss what changing Planck’s constant would do to the universe.
Was human civilization contingent on fossil fuels? Could we have reached the moon in the 1700s without them? They discuss how war has often set humanity back, even as energy consumption drives progress. Chuck raises a powerful question: What if enlightenment, not survival, was humanity’s ultimate motivator?
Could alien civilizations have abandoned biology to live as AI in virtual worlds, stuck in a self-made "Matrix"? We also examine the limits of thermodynamics: Could entropy prevent us from living forever, or does being an open system offer a loophole?
Finally, we explore humanity’s potential to communicate with alien life. Could we use geometry, like the Pythagorean theorem, to prove intelligence? Or might extraterrestrials miss the message entirely? Could advanced alien civilizations be humming data centers, living in their "Matrix"? Can entropy be defied to achieve immortality? And what geometric proof might convince aliens of our intelligence?
Timestamps:
00:00 – Chuck and Gary’s Burning Questions
01:43 – Are We Going to Merge with Machine?
06:41 – Redshifting to Infinity
07:59 – If You Could Change Physics
12:28 – Could We Have Gone to the Moon in 1700?
21:45 – AI & Energy
24:51 – How We Use Electrons as a Wave
28:41 – Are The Aliens Trapped in the Matrix?
33:19 – Does Physics Prevent Us From Living Forever?
36:07 – Communicating with Aliens
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About StarTalk:
Science meets pop culture on StarTalk! Astrophysicist & Hayden Planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson, his comic co-hosts, guest celebrities & scientists discuss astronomy, physics, and everything else about life in the universe. Keep Looking Up!
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