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PODCAST

First Principles

First-Principles Podcast

First Principles is the podcast that deconstructs the complex, invisible systems shaping our modern world. Ever wonder how a social media algorithm works, how AI really thinks, or how GPS knows your exact location? Each episode, we break down one concept from its fundamental truths, giving you clarity without the technical jargon. If you"re curious about the tech you use every day and want to finally understand it, this is your starting point.

technology natural sciences

All Episodes

00:33:23

EP43 - The Possible Worlds Engine: The First...

First Principles ·

2026/01/02

We check the 7-day weather forecast without a second thought, trusting it to tell us whether to pack an umbrella. But how does a computer "know" what the sky will do next week? It feels like a guess, but it's one of the most complex calculations on Earth. This episode opens the black box of digital simulation to find the simple, brilliant rules computers use to build a copy of our world... and predict its future.

en-US

00:31:02

EP42 - The Librarians of Everything: Unlocking the...

First Principles ·

2025/12/25

You check your bank balance, "like" a photo, or book a flight, and the digital world instantly remembers. It feels like magic, but it's all managed by an invisible, perfectly organized system. What is this system, and how does it *really* keep track of trillions of shifting facts without ever making a mistake?

en-US

00:29:10

EP41 - The Pixel's Gaze: How Computer Vision Teaches...

First Principles ·

2025/12/25

We effortlessly unlock our phones with a glance, and our photo apps magically sort faces. It feels like computers just *see* the world like we do. But beneath the surface, it’s a black box. How does a machine transform a meaningless grid of numbers into a recognized face or a bounding box around a cat? This episode deconstructs the surprising journey of computer vision, revealing the mathematical alchemy that teaches artificial intelligence to perceive.

en-US

00:31:56

EP40 - The King's Accord: How Bluetooth Unites Our...

First Principles ·

2025/12/11

You put in your earbuds, and they just... connect. Your mouse moves the cursor, your watch gets a text, all without wires. We live in a personal bubble of connection, but what is this invisible link? It's not just "weak Wi-Fi." The truth is a high-speed, synchronized dance in a hurricane of radio noise.

en-US

00:23:54

EP39 - The Search-and-Replace of Life: Decoding the...

First Principles ·

2025/12/07

We talk about curing genetic diseases as if it's magic, a futuristic dream of rewriting our own DNA. But this "magic" is real, it's called CRISPR, and it wasn't invented in a high-tech lab—it was discovered in a bacterium. How can you possibly edit a three-billion-letter code inside a living cell? And how did a microbe's immune system give us the most powerful tool in the history of biology?

en-US

00:35:25

EP38 - The Body of the Machine: How Robots Find Their...

First Principles ·

2025/12/04

We see robots move with a grace and precision that feels almost alive, from a mechanical arm assembling a smartphone to a four-legged machine navigating a rocky trail. We assume a super-intelligent brain is simply telling the body what to do. But how does a purely digital command—a set of ones and zeroes—actually cross the chasm into smooth, physical, real-world motion?

en-US

00:28:25

EP37 - The Digital Chisel: How Light Sculpts...

First Principles ·

2025/12/01

We hold a supercomputer in our hands, a seamless piece of glass and metal. But how do we manufacture its brain—a microchip with billions of parts a thousand times thinner than a hair? This episode deconstructs the most precise manufacturing process in human history, revealing how we use stencils, acid, and a mind-bending trick with the physics of light to turn common sand into thinking matter.

en-US

00:29:08

EP36 - The Internet's Phonebook: Decoding the...

First Principles ·

2025/11/28

You type a name like google.com into your browser, and a world of information appears instantly. We treat it like magic, a simple act of summoning. But behind that simple name is a frantic, globe-spanning chase for a secret number, orchestrated by an invisible system we all use every second of every day. This is the story of the internet’s phonebook: the Domain Name System, or DNS.

en-US

00:24:29

EP35 - The Unseen River: Unpacking the Chemical Magic...

First Principles ·

2025/11/25

You plug in your phone every night, filling it with power for the next day. We think of a battery as a tiny tank for electricity, but the truth is far more elegant and strange. What if it isn't a container at all, but a paused chemical river, waiting for you to open the dam?

en-US

00:25:05

EP34 - The Conductor of Chaos: Unmasking the...

First Principles ·

2025/11/22

We click, type, and swipe, watching dozens of apps run in perfect harmony on our screens. We assume the computer is just powerful enough to handle it all, but the truth is far more chaotic and clever. This episode opens the black box of the Operating System to reveal the invisible conductor turning digital anarchy into the seamless experience we take for granted.

en-US

00:32:26

EP33 - Micro LLMs: Putting a Supercomputer in Your...

First Principles ·

2025/11/19

AI assistants feel like they're connected to a giant brain in the cloud, but increasingly, they live right inside your phone, working instantly and offline. How is it possible to shrink a supercomputer's worth of intelligence onto a tiny chip? This is the story of Micro LLMs, and how the future of AI might not be in the cloud, but in the palm of your hand.

en-US

00:31:32

EP32 - The Rise of Humanoid Robots: AI Gets a Body

First Principles ·

2025/11/16

We see viral videos of humanoid robots that walk, run, and work with an eerie, lifelike grace that feels like science fiction. But beyond the complex code and powerful motors, what fundamental truth allows a two-hundred-pound machine to master the simple, impossible art of not falling over? This episode deconstructs the humanoid robot to reveal why the key to its future lies not in its own design, but in ours.

en-US

00:29:04

EP31 - Synthetic Media: When Seeing Is No Longer...

First Principles ·

2025/11/13

We see a famous actor in a viral video or hear a politician say something they never uttered, and it looks and sounds perfectly real. We might call it a deepfake, but that simple name hides a profound technological duel. This is the story of how machines learned to replicate reality by competing against each other, and what that means for a world where seeing is no longer believing.

en-US

00:28:30

EP30 - The Electric Dream: Neuromorphic Computing and...

First Principles ·

2025/11/10

We marvel at AI that can write poetry and paint masterpieces, assuming it "thinks" like us. But what if our computers, even the ones running AI, are built on a fundamentally different, and far less efficient, blueprint than our own brains? This episode opens the black box of neuromorphic computing to reveal how building a brain on a chip could solve the greatest crisis facing artificial intelligence.

en-US

00:29:15

EP29 - AI in Cybersecurity: The Digital Arms Race

First Principles ·

2025/11/07

Our security software seems to get smarter, detecting threats we've never seen before. At the same time, phishing scams and cyberattacks are becoming eerily sophisticated and personalized. We're opening the black box of AI-powered cybersecurity to reveal how artificial intelligence is being used on both sides of the digital battlefield—as both our greatest defense and our most dangerous weapon.

en-US

00:28:40

EP28 - Hey, Computer: The Unheard Symphony of Voice AI

First Principles ·

2025/11/04

We talk to our devices every day, asking for timers, weather forecasts, and trivia answers. It feels like magic, a conversation with an intelligent being. But how does a machine actually turn the sound of a human voice into a correct answer? This is the story of the hidden, four-part symphony that makes your voice assistant understand.

en-US

00:28:47

EP27 - The Silent Memory: How Solid State Drives...

First Principles ·

2025/11/01

We press a button, and our digital world appears in an instant. Modern computers feel magical, booting in seconds from silent, solid chips. But how does a piece of silicon hold our memories with no moving parts, and what is the profound, invisible secret that keeps it from forgetting?

en-US

00:27:36

EP26 - A Sandwich of Light: The First Principles of...

First Principles ·

2025/10/29

We stare at them for hours every day, but have you ever wondered how a flat piece of glass can paint a perfect, vibrant image? This episode deconstructs the modern screen, revealing the intricate physics and clever illusions behind the two competing technologies that bring our digital world to life: LCD and OLED.

en-US

00:24:36

EP25 - The Glimmer in the Deep: Finding the Physical...

First Principles ·

2025/10/26

We think of the internet as the Cloud—ethereal, wireless, and everywhere. But 99% of the data that connects our world travels not through the air, but through a hidden network of glass cables laid across the pitch-black, crushing depths of the ocean floor. This is the story of the physical internet, and how a simple principle of light makes our instant, global lives possible.

en-US

00:28:50

EP24 - The Chorus of Light: How Self-Driving Cars...

First Principles ·

2025/10/23

A self-driving car navigates a chaotic city street with a calm, superhuman precision that feels like magic. We think of it as a car with better eyes, but the truth is far stranger and more profound. How does a machine perceive the world in three dimensions, and what can its chorus of secret senses teach us about the nature of reality itself?

en-US

43 results

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