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PODCAST

Physical Attraction

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.

science physics

All Episodes

01:00:19

Kit Yates on the Maths of Life and Death

Physical Attraction ·

2020/05/21

This week, we have a guest on the show - Kit Yates, who is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Mathematical Sciences and co-director of the Centre for Mathematical Biology at the University of Bath, and who's written an excellent book "The Maths of Life and Death" on various applications of maths in biology, from epidemics to exponential growth. He's been interviewed extensively in the media lately to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic, and we talked about that and the rest of his work, as well as the

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01:03:06

Smoke and Mirrors: How Hype Obscures the Future, and...

Physical Attraction ·

2020/05/15

I'm excited today to say that we have a guest on the show - Gemma Milne, who has written a book, Smoke and Mirrors, about how technological hype distorts the future. I really enjoyed the book, which deals with nine areas of considerable hype in technology, and not only takes you through some of the fascinating near-term applications for these technologies but also grounds them in reality. It was a fascinating conversation that I'm glad to be able to present you with. You can find more of her work

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58:17

Coronavirus Updates (May, part I): Interview with a...

Physical Attraction ·

2020/05/09

For the masochists who apparently can't get enough content about the coronavirus: => An interview with my friend who participated in the vaccine trials => Some discussion of the risk factors that are associated with deaths from COVID-19 => Updated discussion of "herd immunity" thresholds and the link between R0 and immunity fractions => Reports on serological testing that has taken place so far.

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32:42

Technology, Inequality, and Catastrophic Risks:...

Physical Attraction ·

2020/04/30

N/B: This series of episodes was written before the coronavirus pandemic. I've decided the best thing to do is to present them as was and maybe have another episode reflecting on what the pandemic means for their conclusions later on. ====================================== We've outlined a nexus between catastrophic risks, inequality, and accelerating developments in technology in the future. Is there a way out of the mire? Part IV in a series on Technology, Inequality, and global catastrophic

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08:46

BONUS: Walter Schiedel's Coronavirus Op-Ed

Physical Attraction ·

2020/04/26

Given that we are in the midst of a series on technology, inequality, and global catastrophic risks inspired by Walter Scheidel's book on these subjects, and he's just written an op-ed on the topic, I thought I'd release the op-ed as a bonus.

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43:43

Coronavirus Updates - The Vaccine

Physical Attraction ·

2020/04/23

In this, the last of our short series of coronavirus updates, I will be telling you everything I've found out about the hunt for a coronavirus vaccine - when we can expect it to be ready, the testing that needs to be undergone, and some of the techniques that might be used. With thanks to Derek Lowe of Science Magazine whose blog post on this I used as a main source for many of the details.

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33:40

Coronavirus Updates: Exit Strategy (For A Pandemic)

Physical Attraction ·

2020/04/17

In the latest coronavirus episode, we discuss research that has been done into the viable exit strategies from lockdown, including the idea of a contact-tracing app, and discuss some early estimates as to how effective this might be and what would be required to make it a success.

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23:45

Coronavirus Updates: Modelling, Uncertainties, and...

Physical Attraction ·

2020/04/16

Some further updates in the latest therapy session/ramble: - Discussion of the various models that have been used to try to predict the impact of the coronavirus pandemic - Discussion of scientific uncertainty (and the importance of doing science anyway) - Concerns surrounding the politicisation of science... - And some discussion of drug trials for antiviral treatments for coronavirus.

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33:41

Coronavirus Updates: Estimating R0, Serology, and...

Physical Attraction ·

2020/04/15

The first of a few quick episodes where I continue going into coronavirus therapy by ranting on to you about all of the things I've learned about the current epidemic... with references to scientific papers so you can read them and find out how wrong I was. We discuss: Estimates for the rate of disease progression in different countries Results from the early serology (antibody) tests of the virus (sadly still thin on the ground) Why Bayes' theorem means that the accuracy of antibody tests is so

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23:40

Technology, Inequality, and Catastrophic Risks III:...

Physical Attraction ·

2020/04/11

N/B: This series of episodes was written before the coronavirus pandemic. I've decided the best thing to do is to present them as was and maybe have another episode reflecting on what the pandemic means for their conclusions later on. ====================================== Increasing dependence on algorithms and other, more speculative developments in technology can serve to accelerate and exacerbate inequalities within society, potentially lining them up to be far more susceptible to catastrophic

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34:57

Technology, Inequality, and Global Catastrophic Risks...

Physical Attraction ·

2020/04/05

N/B: This series of episodes was written before the coronavirus pandemic. I've decided the best thing to do is to present them as was and maybe have another episode reflecting on what the pandemic means for their conclusions later on. ====================================== Inequality tends to increase unless there's a catastrophe. Does technology help us - either in addressing catastrophes, or in reducing inequalities?

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39:15

Technology, Inequality, and Global Catastrophic Risks...

Physical Attraction ·

2020/03/31

N/B: This series of episodes was written before the coronavirus pandemic. I've decided the best thing to do is to present them as was and maybe have another episode reflecting on what the pandemic means for their conclusions later on. ====================================================== Walter Schiedel's book The Great Leveller posits that in societies, economic inequality tends to inexorably increase over time until some catastrophe comes along that levels the entire population. Is this our

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55:49

Coronavirus: The Next 18 Months

Physical Attraction ·

2020/03/25

In this new episode, we do a deep dive into the Imperial College London paper that models the coronavirus epidemic in the UK and the effectiveness of mitigation and suppression measures, and we speculate wildly and prematurely on what the next 18 months might look like as we do battle with coronavirus globally. Also an update on the expected future of the show at the end.

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36:04

Coronavirus: Serology, Misinformation, Uncertainty

Physical Attraction ·

2020/03/25

A quick update on some news surrounding the coronavirus, including why some of the headlines you may have read recently are unlikely to be true, some public service announcements about what you can do to help, and a general urge to read scientific literature and pre-prints with a skeptical eye - especially when they've been digested by headline writers.

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01:20:39

The Coronavirus Pandemic

Physical Attraction ·

2020/03/17

For weeks I've been debating in my mind whether or not to do an episode on the coronavirus pandemic, since it's essentially been all I have been able to think about for the last few weeks as my friends and relatives, long-suffering as they are, will attest. For someone who spent so long thinking about existential risks and catastrophes, both in my day job as a doomy climate scientist and in researching the TEOTWAWKI specials for this show where it all kicked off a few years ago, it's absolutely no

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01:28

Hiatus until the New Year

Physical Attraction ·

2019/12/18

Apologies everyone... a quick note to explain why (due to illness and general exhaustion) I am putting the show on hiatus until the New Year. Watch this show for updates on future releases - we will return. Thanks for understanding + enjoy the holidays if you've got them!

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01:42:27

Interviewed by Richard Foster-Fletcher (Boundless AI)

Physical Attraction ·

2019/11/14

Hi all - something a little different this week. I was recently interviewed by Richard Foster-Fletcher, of the Boundless AI podcast, on topics as varied as artificial intelligence, nuclear fusion, and self-driving cars. As a bonus for those that just can't get enough, this is the full, unedited interview, where you can hear just how good I am at responding to questions spontaneously...

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25:00

Who Wants to Live Forever?

Physical Attraction ·

2019/11/07

On this episode of Physical Attraction, we take a massively tangential dive into wild philosophical speculation. If I offered you the choice of immortality - but with no possibility of reversing the decision once you made it - would you? Answers on a postcard to www.physicspodcast.com

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15:54

Bonus: Google Investigates Cold Fusion?

Physical Attraction ·

2019/11/02

A recent review paper in Nature showed some Google-backed academic research, conducted across several institutions, which investigated the claims made by the Cold Fusion community. Agonisingly, it came out a day or two after I'd taped the Cold Fusion episode for our fusion series. But I decided to talk about it anyway. In this bonus episode, we'll discuss what they found (spoilers: not cold fusion) and describe the experiments in more detail.

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35:31

Drexler and Xiaoice: Tales from AI

Physical Attraction ·

2019/10/24

In this episode, we discuss Eric Drexler's model of "Comprehensive AI Services" as an alternative route towards artificial general intelligence, and Xiaoice, Microsoft's incredibly popular chatbot software. www.physicspodcast.com @physicspod

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252 results

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