January 27, 2007: Science Talk - Charles Seife

Art Bell welcomes back science journalist Charles Seife for a wide-ranging second installment covering the origins of the universe, the nature of consciousness, and the future of genetic science. Seife discusses what scientists know about the Big Bang, explaining that while they can simulate conditions microseconds after creation using particle colliders, the actual moment of origin remains perhaps permanently beyond the reach of science.

The conversation shifts to the possibility that our universe was spawned by a collider experiment in another reality, creating an infinite chain of universes giving birth to universes. Art and Seife explore whether human consciousness could someday be uploaded to silicon, with Seife explaining that quantum properties of the brain may prevent perfect copying due to the observer effect. He introduces quantum teleportation as a method that transfers quantum information perfectly but destroys the original in the process.

The final hours tackle genetics, with Seife revealing that ancient retroviruses called HERVs hijacked human DNA long ago and still force our cells to produce their proteins. He and Art discuss the implications of discovering genes linked to sexual preference, the ethics of genetic modification, and his conviction that information, like energy, can never truly be destroyed.