Think like a physicist. Wonder like a human. Into the Impossible is where Cosmic Conversations happen — uniting Nobel Prize winners, iconoclasts, authors, and technologists to explore reality’s deepest questions. From AI to aliens, from biophysics to the brain, from the cosmos to the multiverse, Brian Keating, Chancellor’s Distinguished Professor of Physics at UC San Diego covers it all.
If you’ve ever asked What’s out there? or What’s next?, this is where curiosity meets clarity.
Learn to think like this. 🎙 Full episodes, notes & more: briankeating.com/podcast
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Peter Diamandis and Brian Keating engage in a spirited debate on AI's potential, with Diamandis arguing for AI's capacity to generate wisdom through vast simulations, while Keating emphasizes the need for embodied experience and judgment. They explore the implications of a post-scarcity world, the future of human purpose, and the "five forks of humanity." The discussion also touches on the dangers of dystopian AI training data, Peter's unique Fermi paradox theory, and exciting advancements in epigenetic age reversal.
An astrophysicist and founder of Reasons to Believe argues the universe looks increasingly designed for life — while a cosmologist challenges whether fine-tuning proves anything at all. If we're alone in the cosmos, the implications are staggering. If we're not, it could change science, religion, and humanity's future forever. Hugh Ross is an astrophysicist, founder of Reasons to Believe, and author focused on the intersection of science and faith. We cover: - Why the search for extraterrestrial...
An experimental cosmologist with 35 years of CMB research breaks down the curvature tension — and why the viral claim that "everything we know about cosmology is wrong" doesn't survive contact with the actual data. Subscribe if you want science with evidence, not speculation. Dr. Brian Keating is Chancellor's Distinguished Professor of Physics at UC San Diego and one of the leading experimental cosmologists working on the cosmic microwave background. He has spent three decades on experiments inc...
The AI theorist who thinks consciousness is a software agent — and that God, AGI, and the apocalypse are all pointing at the same thing. What you think is "the world" isn't outside you. It's a simulation your brain produces, and the self that experiences it may not exist in the way you think it does.J oscha Bach is an AI researcher and cognitive scientist whose work sits at the intersection of computation, consciousness, and the architecture of the mind. He's one of the few thinkers willing to e...
Theoretical physicist Juan Maldacena discusses his groundbreaking ER=EPR conjecture linking wormholes and quantum entanglement, alongside the black hole information paradox. He reveals that the biggest problem in physics isn't black holes, but understanding the Big Bang's beginning, and explains how Hawking radiation unexpectedly led to insights into the universe's structure. The conversation also delves into the nature of reality, imaginary numbers in physics, and the intersection of science and religion.
A Princeton cognitive scientist says AI can't think like a child — and giving it more data won't fix that. If the field keeps scaling without solving what's actually missing, the gap between human and machine intelligence won't close. It'll just get more expensive. Tom Griffiths is a professor of psychology and computer science at Princeton, and one of the leading researchers working at the intersection of human cognition and AI. We cover: -why a child learns language from breadcrumbs while AI n...
An astrophysicist says the universe doesn't pull things down — it accelerates upward toward them. And that's one of the tamer claims in this conversation. Dr. Hakeem Oluseyi joins Brian to dismantle assumptions most physicists won't touch in public. Dr. Hakeem Oluseyi is a NASA researcher, Nova host, and author of Why Do We Exist, a unified framework spanning quantum fields to cosmology — and making a case for why imagination may be the universe's endgame. We cover: -why falling is the wrong way...
Sabine Hossenfelder says quantum computers are only useful for breaking codes. She's wrong — and my undergraduates are building the proof. What's happening in my lab right now has nothing to do with cryptography, and everything to do with the future of AI. I'm a cosmologist at UC San Diego teaching undergraduates to build, program, and eventually launch quantum computers — possibly to the Moon via Artemis! We cover: why Sabine's code-breaking verdict misses the real story, how free tools like Qu...
A neuroscientist built an AI that refuses to give answers — and it outperformed every model on the market, including the ones trained on billions of users’ data. The implication: every AI that hands you the answer may be quietly making you less capable of thinking without it. Dr. Vivienne Ming is a neuroscientist, AI researcher, and author of Robot Proof, who has spent nearly 30 years building machine learning systems and studying what makes humans irreplaceable alongside them. We cover: -why th...
Emad Mostaque built Stable Diffusion. Now he says the most powerful AI models will never be released — and we have roughly 800 days before everything changes. What the trillion-dollar labs won't tell you about the models they're keeping locked away 👇 Emad Mostaque is the founder of Stability AI and creator of Stable Diffusion. In this conversation, he explains why the gap between public AI and private AI is about to become the most important story in technology — and why most people won't reali...
Please join my mailing list here 👉 https://briankeating.com/list to win a meteorite 💥 Rebecca Newberger Goldstein is a MacArthur Genius Award recipient, philosopher, novelist, and author of The Mattering Instinct. Her verdict on why human beings are driven to matter — and what threatens that drive — might change how you think about your own life. Check out her recent appearance on Mindscape here . In this conversation, we discuss why every human being is haunted by the need to matter, the four...
The Artemis II mission to the dark side of the moon will be the furthest human beings have ever travelled from Earth. It's the precursor to a return to the lunar surface and perhaps even reaching Mars. But still, there are those who say humans have never set foot on the Moon, such as Bart Sibrel. Once punched in the face by Buzz Aldrin, he says he’s on a CIA hitlist because he blew the whistle on the original moon landings being fake. He speaks to Piers Morgan opposite Dr. Brian Keating, disting...
Please join my mailing list here 👉 https://briankeating.com/yt to win a meteorite 💥 Brian Keating takes us on an exclusive tour of the Royal Observatory Edinburgh with cosmologist Marcos Pellejero, exploring the mysteries of dark energy and the accelerating universe. From the historic halls where human "computers" shaped the foundations of modern cosmology, to the cutting-edge DESI experiment mapping galaxies across the cosmos, the conversation explores whether dark energy is truly constant—or...
With NASA planning to send Artemis astronauts farther into space than ever, should they be worried about the deadly effects of the Van Allen belts? Here, I describe to James Altucher what the claims are and what the real concerns should be. My response to Moon landing denial claims by Kim Kardashian, Candace Owens, and Bart Sibrel I answer all the big questions: ⇨ Why did the flag move with no wind? ⇨ Is there really no gravity on the moon? ⇨ Why haven't we gone back? ⇨ How did the astronauts su...
Please join my mailing list here 👉 https://briankeating.com/list to win a meteorite 💥 Matt Kaplan is a science journalist at The Economist and a trained paleontologist. His new book I Told You So!: Scientists Who Were Ridiculed, Exiled, and Imprisoned for Being Right is a candid investigation into how science actually works — and why the engine of discovery is badly in need of a tuneup. In this conversation, we discuss why the pandemic exposed science's dirty secrets to the public, how Ignaz S...
Please join my mailing list here 👉 https://briankeating.com/list to win a meteorite 💥 Michael Wong recently discussed theory of evolution on TED: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSrf7ErdHWA — in this conversation, we go deeper on the law of increasing functional information and what it means for life, complexity, and the future of science. 🔔 Subscribe for new episodes each week 🎧 Ad-free episodes on Patreon: patreon.com/drbriankeating INTO THE IMPOSSIBLE — where Nobel Prize winners, physicis...
Please join my mailing list here 👉 https://briankeating.com/yt to win a meteorite 💥 Brian Keating sits down with the ever-curious Avi Loeb for a mind-bending exploration into some of science's greatest mysteries and controversies. The conversation spans everything from the evolving understanding of comets and meteors—highlighting the false starts and surprising twists in scientific history—to the tantalizing possibilities of extraterrestrial life and the intrigue surrounding potential governme...
Bestselling author Andy Weir joins Brian Keating to delve into the scientific foundations of "Project Hail Mary," exploring speculative biology and astrophysics crucial to the story, such as the mysterious astrophage. They discuss the delicate balance between scientific plausibility and narrative freedom in hard science fiction, touch upon global unity in the face of shared threats, and explore the practicalities of his writing life. The conversation also covers the intricacies of alien communication, the adaptation of his works into film, and personal reflections on education and mental well-being.
Please join my mailing list here 👉 https://briankeating.com/list to win a meteorite 💥 David Sussillo spent years training neural networks at Google Brain and now leads research at Meta Reality Labs. His verdict on the path to artificial consciousness might surprise you. In this conversation, we discuss why scaling transformers alone won't produce conscious AI, how recurrent neural networks differ from the transformer architectures powering today's LLMs, the FORCE algorithm he developed to trai...
Please join my mailing list here 👉 https://briankeating.com/list to win a meteorite 💥 Aswath Damodaran joins Brian Keating to argue that markets, universities, and financial models are all suffering the same disease — mistaking mechanical processes for genuine thinking — and explains why Nobel economists aren't billionaires, why academia is the most deserving target for disruption, and why every major asset class is now overpriced with nowhere left to hide. 00:00 Intro 00:01:37 Why Nobel Econo...
Please join my mailing list here 👉 https://briankeating.com/yt to win a meteorite 💥 In this video, we discuss the rapidly evolving intersection of artificial intelligence and fundamental science and how AI is transforming the way physicists handle massive streams of data from modern observatories—while also explaining where its power ends and human creativity begins. Tune in for insights, surprising stories, and a behind-the-scenes look at how scientists are navigating the AI revolution. 🚀 - ...
Please join my mailing list here 👉 https://briankeating.com/yt to win a meteorite 💥 Nick Lane joins Brian Keating to argue that life is not information running on chemistry but energy in motion—showing how a single ancient metabolic “transformer” predates genes, powers mitochondria, shapes aging and cancer, constrains alien life, and reveals why today’s AI excitement echoes a solution biology discovered billions of years ago. 00:00 — Defining life vs. death; membrane potential as the boundary ...
Please join my mailing list here 👉 https://briankeating.com/yt to win a meteorite 💥 In this episode, I sit down with renowned Oxford mathematician, philosopher of science, and public intellectual John C. Lennox to explore the urgent questions surrounding artificial intelligence and humanity’s future. We dive into the biggest questions about AI, consciousness, truth, faith, and what it means to be human in an age of accelerating technology. If you’re curious about whether AI is humanity’s great...
Please join my mailing list here 👉 https://briankeating.com/yt to win a meteorite 💥 In this conversation, I break down a provocative idea: science doesn’t “prove” ultimate truths — it eliminates what’s false. And if that’s how physics works, then the search for God (or the disproof of God) has to play by the same rules: hypotheses, predictions, and falsifiability. ------------------------------------------------------ Join this channel to get access to perks like monthly Office Hours: https://...
Please join my mailing list here 👉 https://briankeating.com/yt to win a meteorite 💥 In this episode, I revisit my podcast with Sam Harris. At the end of our discussion, Harris abruptly cut things short after we debated the meaning of slavery in the Bible and Talmud. Was this an honest philosophical disagreement, or an example of intellectual overstatement and rhetorical sleight-of-hand? Sam Harris is widely regarded as a leading public intellectual, yet during our 3.5-hour dialogue, I encounte...
Please join my mailing list here 👉 https://briankeating.com/yt to win a meteorite 💥 What can we truly learn about the brain from a kidney cell? And what do aliens and alien-like limbs have to teach us? And if language is our escape velocity moment, what does that mean for the future of AI? Nikolay Kukushkin is a scientist who believes that memory, intelligence, and even the roots of awareness may exist in places we never thought to look in. The timing of molecules in the learning of single cel...
Please join my mailing list here 👉 https://briankeating.com/yt to win a meteorite 💥 Code. It's the closest thing humans have ever invented to magic. Write symbols on a screen, and reality emerges. Money moves, doors unlock, planes land, diseases get diagnosed, and most of us have no idea how it actually works. Today's conversation is about why code feels magical and why that feeling is both powerful and also dangerous. In a moment, you'll hear why the real risk of code is artificial intelligen...
WANTED: Developers and STEM experts! Get paid to create benchmarks and improve AI models. Sign up for Alignerr using our link: https://alignerr.com/?referral-source=briankeating One of the most powerful AI systems we’ve ever built is succeeding for reasons we still don’t understand. And worse, they may succeed for reasons that might lock us into the wrong future for humanity. Today’s guest is Anil Ananthaswamy, an award-winning science writer and one of the clearest thinkers on the mathematical ...
Get My NEW Book: Focus Like a Nobel Prize Winner: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FN8DH6SX Andrew Jaffe Book: The Random Universe: https://www.amazon.com/Random-Universe-Models-Probability-Cosmos/dp/0300250509 Is the universe intrinsically random? In this conversation, we dive deep into why the universe may be fundamentally, intrinsically random. Whether inflation on life support, the truth behind the Hubble tension, and whether cosmology is approaching the event horizon, limits beyond which humans ...
Win a $100 Amazon Gift Card! Help me help you get great guests on the Into the Impossible podcast and spread the message throughout the universe. Fill out this listener survey: https://forms.gle/EUKzyE2ZqXDYJ2F47 Please join my mailing list here 👉 https://briankeating.com/yt to win a meteorite 💥 --- Enjoy this classic episode from the vault: Max Tegmark & Eric Weinstein, New Years Eve 2020! Brian Keating brings together two thought leaders at the edge of physics and philosophy: Max Tegmark...
