What's eating the universe? - with Paul Davies
Ғылым және технология
What are the unexplained riddles of the universe? Award-winning physicist Paul Davies talks you through the strange enigmas that have preoccupied cosmologists from ancient Greece to the present day.
Paul's book, 'What's Eating the Universe?' is now available: geni.us/pauldavies
Watch the Q&A with Paul here: • Q&A: What's eating the...
Laying bare the audacious research that has led us to mind-bending solutions, Paul will tell you how we might begin to approach the greatest outstanding enigmas of all.
Paul Davies is a theoretical physicist, cosmologist, astrobiologist and best-selling science author. He has published about 30 books and hundreds of research papers and review articles across a range of scientific fields. He is also well-known as a media personality and science populariser in several countries. His research interests have focused mainly on quantum gravity, early universe cosmology, the theory of quantum black holes and the nature of time. He has also made important contributions to the field of astrobiology, and was an early advocate of the theory that life on Earth may have originated on Mars. For several years he has also been running a major cancer research project, and developed a new theory of cancer based on tracing its deep evolutionary origins. Among his many awards are the 1995 Templeton Prize, the Faraday Prize from The Royal Society, the Kelvin Medal and Prize from the Institute of Physics, the Robinson Cosmology Prize and the Bicentenary Medal of Chile. He was made a member of the Order of Australia in the 2007 Queen's birthday honours list and the asteroid 6870 Pauldavies is named after him.
This talk was filmed at the Royal Institution on 21 September 2021.
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Пікірлер: 1 200
As always, Paul Davies is brilliant, communicative and charming in a highly informative lecture. Thank you.
@dand4485
Жыл бұрын
Really? Gotta love the point to hear anyone talk about anything say we don't know the answer, but let me tell you, right around 17-18 minutes.
f-sub-l from the Drake equation can at least be considered. Biologists seem to believe that the first self-replicating molecule was probably RNA. We can look at the shortest known sequence of RNA in the most primitive bacteria. We can estimate the density of amino acids in the oceans of early universe (and amino acids are rather common in the universe) - we can estimate the reaction rate at which amino acids randomly collide with each other and estimate the probability of a self-replicating RNA molecule just happening to appear by chance in a liter of water over a second. If we multiply our best estimate for the amount of water in the oceans of an earthlike planet by the best estimate for the number of such planets and multiply by the amount of time since the oceans formed on a typical planet appeared, we can get a VERY rough estimate of f-sub-l. I have tried doing that - using the best numbers I can find - and the result is that life is EXCEEDINGLY unlikely to have appeared anywhere in the universe by pure random collisions of amino acids. So unless we can find a MUCH simpler self-replicating molecule - or some means of stacking the odds in favor of a self-replicator, then f-sub-l is far, far too small - and we are alone in the universe. (In detail - the length of that minimal self-replicator as a specific string of N amino acids is critical because there are 26 amino acids - so probability of a random sequence of amino acid collisions making that exact chain is 26 to the power N...so the longer the chain has to be - the VASTLY less likely it is to have happened). The simplest sequence known to exist in nature is a bacterium called Carsonella Ruddii, with just 160,000 base pairs. But 26 to the power 160,000 is a crazy large number! Even if we imagine some reason why the four standard base pairs might dominate the oceans - 4 to the power 160,000 is still far too big - given the size of the visible universe. So to my mind - the most critical piece of knowledge we need to answer the "Are we alone?" question - is a matter for the BioChemistry people to answer: "What is the shortest sequence of amino acids that will self-replicate?" But if the entire universe is infinite - then no matter how long the odds, life is certain - and there is (for sure) alien life somewhere - and now the only question is what are the odds that it exists within the observable universe?
@bozo5632
Жыл бұрын
Check out John Michael Godier's latest video.
@whirledpeas3477
2 ай бұрын
Hi Steve, You might not remember me yet, we met in July 2038 at Moon meet
Such an excellent, understated delivery. I've watched this several times before bed, Paul certainly brings a dulcet tone to such a violent topic.
If I listen to this 10 times, I might have a 1/100th of the knowledge it takes to understand the topic. Hoping it subliminally soaks in(since I watch during my lunchtime nap).
@darkone9572
Жыл бұрын
Getting high sure helps !!
@gazzam3172
Жыл бұрын
i found it quite straight forward and clear 😌
@oipbhakeld
Жыл бұрын
@@gazzam3172 you're not alone
@whirledpeas3477
2 ай бұрын
Yes, be at peace. The world needs good people to serve the food ❤
Very well delivered lecture! Thanks for making it available.
A great presentation where he freely admits we haven't figured it all out, but this is what we think so far.
@karlschmied6218
Жыл бұрын
You will hardly hear a scientist say that "we have figured it all out". That's an impression you might get from bad school teachers.
@neologian1783
8 ай бұрын
@@karlschmied6218 Quite right....all knowledge is held tentatively and subject to revision upon new discovery.
I first listened to Paul Davies' talk about the universe some twenty years ago. As enchanting to listen to as ever, Sir...
We used to use Paul Davis’ videos about quantum physics back in the 90s in our linguistics master courses to teach students laterality . Great teacher ❤
@nuqwestr
Жыл бұрын
Dangerous to make such correlations, perhaps that's where "linguistics" went off the rails and produced so many deluded "woke" adherents.
@anialiandr
Жыл бұрын
@@nuqwestr Did I say I was linguistics ?
Such a beautiful presentation. Elegant simplicity woven from a massively complex subject
Really enjoying this talk/lecture/presentation. 🙏🏼
What a great day it is! To hear this lecture has made it so!
Thanks, very interesting presentation, very well explaind. not sure if I could explain to someone else what Paul was saying
Just to join all those saying what a wonderful thing it is that we still have lectures like this and the Royal Institution itself. And, thank you Paul Davies
@henrythegreatamerican8136
Жыл бұрын
What's eating the universe? Trump's ego!!!!
@dscs3213
Жыл бұрын
@@henrythegreatamerican8136 TDR is eating your brain,its been 2 years get a grip! And Henry son there are no great Americans,well other than THE DONald Trump...🤣🤣 LETS GO BRANDON 🤡
@BassGoBomb
Жыл бұрын
@@henrythegreatamerican8136 Which, itself, is like a monstrous blackhole... lol
Great lecture and explanation that everyone can understand ! Thanks !
@karlschmied6218
Жыл бұрын
Depends on what you understand by "understand" and "everyone".
Awesome Q&A section!
Somehow I am reassured by Paul Davies lecture that it's a useful step forward to at least know what I don't know.
Paul Davies' lectures are as wonderful as his books. My favorite thinker and explainer of big ideas in the Solar System.
@kingjosephrbidenjriii5820
Жыл бұрын
Earth isn't what they tell us
@meacadwell
Жыл бұрын
@Ben Chuft True. But, although they can be annoying to listen to, I bet if you recorded yourself giving a lecture, you'd have some slipped in as well.
Paul Davies is a great cosmologist and an excellent teacher of science. My problem with this lecture and many more put out by RI is that they go through the same 99% of material that should be known by undergraduate students. I clicked on this lecture hoping there would be more than 2-3 minutes explanation of "what is eating the universe". This lecture didn't even show that anything is eating the universe, only showed a slide with some bullet points of things that may do that. This formula for cosmology content may be raising the general level of knowledge, I don't know. I do know I'm tired of seeing 99% the same lecture.
@danguee1
Жыл бұрын
Yep. Everything at a level where it is 'intellectually* inclusive'. Cos explaining hard stuff excludes those people who haven't studied the material or have the brainpower to understand the explanation. What used to be called 'dumbed down'. [* god forbid using the word intellectual.....]
@PrometheusZandski
Жыл бұрын
@@danguee1 I get that. I really do. Then I ask myself, exactly how many of those people would click on this lecture? How many of those people would dress up, drive to the university and attend this lecture? Looking at the comments, it seems I'm wrong. Still, I would have liked to see an actual lecture on what is eating the universe.
@danguee1
Жыл бұрын
I think the RI should have different levels of lecture. Sort of beginner/foundation, intermediate and advanced. Because it's a bit sad if more advanced viewers are forced to watch repeated simple stuff because they're too 'boffin'. It's nice they want to communicate to the less knowledgeable. But don't ignore the bright kids in the class!
@davidohara7669
Жыл бұрын
It is called "click bait".
@midgefidget5796
Жыл бұрын
Yeah, video was almost over when he got the the part that made me salivate.
@7.42 the New York Times article written about "Hubbell" makes no mention of expansion. It simply states that the use of higher power telescopes to observe distant spiral nebulae or island universes has resolved the images to collections of individual stars, such as Andromeda, and explains that they were able to use those stars to calculate distance to the structures and thence the size of the structures. There is no mention in this article about velocity, redshift, nor expansion.
I was there, too, in those halcyon days. As I recall, Telstar was our (the USA's) technology demonstrator; our assurety that we could out-Sputnik Sputnik. The following Echo series (Echo 1, 2, et al) represented our ongoing, more practical, attempt to bounce signals across the pond dependably.
Amazingly thought provoking and delivered in a way for anyone to understand.
@macysondheim
7 ай бұрын
I don’t believe in atheism
The very best explanation of modern cosmology that I have ever heard. Professor Davis wins the award for clearest explanation and analogy of science. Bravo RI.
"thank you for uploading these videos. Even if I'm having a hard night, I just put a relaxing astronomy video on and listen. It always makes my nights go much easier. Thank you!!!"
So beautiful you channel - thank you so much!
Liu Cixin has answered the Fermi Paradox pretty profoundly in his "three body problem" series. Highly recommended reading. In essence, the universe is somewhat like central park at night: Your best chance of survival is finding a cop but you cannot try to call out for a cop. You would want to find a friend, but the last thing you'd do is actually signaling your location and your second last thing you'd do is answering someone else who is signaling his location. Every one is a potential hazard. So you keep hidden where you are until day break or until a cop appears nearby. The difference between the universe and central park? A. There is no cop. and B. The night never ends.
@creator4413
Жыл бұрын
I don’t think Central Park is that dangerous
@Veronika7777
Жыл бұрын
Excellent summation w/out any spoilers, well done. Three body problem is an amazing series and I second your recommendation.
@Kim_Jong-un1356
Жыл бұрын
But we've been emitting a huge mass of signals already, and will continue to do so for probably a very long time. I don't really understand how any civilization could remain "hidden" s such. Even if we somehow magically manage to stop emitting signals into space, it would be too late anyway, weäve been doing it for a long time.
@nyyotam4057
Жыл бұрын
@@Kim_Jong-un1356 Signals fade away with the distance squared. Currently even our strongest signals would fade away in about 10ly.
@FrostCraftedMC
Жыл бұрын
i think the grabby aliens theory pretty well solves the fermi paradox. we really could be the first, and the facts point towards it
G'day from Australia Very interesting lecture. Cheers
@tedscott1478
Жыл бұрын
And a good morning to you sir, my antipodean friend...👍
Excellent lecture, thanks v much!
Dr. Paul Davies and Sir Roger Penrose have almost the same PUBLIC SPEAKING VOICE 💯... I was listening to this lecture at 2 a.m., waiting to fall asleep, so I wasn't watching. I was just listening, and I kept thinking it was Sir Roger Penrose lecturing Cosmology! It is always a pleasure to listen to lectures in Physics, Mathematics, and Cosmology. I spend all my free time Pondering our origins, consciousness, and time... Cheers 🙏
@user-ud6ui7zt3r
3 ай бұрын
When I listen to lectures given by physicist Sean Carroll, I constantly think that I am hearing the voice of the fairly famous actor, Alan Alda.
Great lecturer! Thanks for making this kind of quality content available to anyone with internet access!! Long may it continue!
@aimokoivunen7046
Жыл бұрын
All bs. They don't know any of it.
@elmolewis9123
Жыл бұрын
@@aimokoivunen7046 Thank you, professor. 🙄
@kingjosephrbidenjriii5820
Жыл бұрын
Lecturer...correct. zero proof of ball earth tho. Observable false
@davecarsley8773
Жыл бұрын
@@aimokoivunen7046 Brilliant comment. You added a lot to the conversation.
@aimokoivunen7046
Жыл бұрын
@@davecarsley8773 Just the truth.
The arrow of time is only for macro objects. If you get small enough, you can ignore it under certain situations. This would, of course, explain the 'slow' start of time, because the universe had to get to a size where the arrow of time dominated over quantum effects before time really got going.
@kaarlimakela3413
Жыл бұрын
I don't know about that, but I got nothin', so 👍
@paulmichaelfreedman8334
Жыл бұрын
Another possibility is that our specific fluctuation that triggered the BB is also the result of another process. Hypothetically, Like a black hole evaporating. The moment that hole in spacetime closes, another Universe is born in its own reality from the energy(matter) it has collected over its lifetime. Just one of many possible mechanisms, but it's likely it is cyclic.
@manmanman2000
Жыл бұрын
Only in a classical model though, or not? If I think about QM and the collapse of the wave function, this is a microscopic event but it is not reversable.
@nadiafarahat9201
Жыл бұрын
@@paulmichaelfreedman8334 now there's a thought love it
@nadiafarahat9201
Жыл бұрын
@@kaarlimakela3413
That was great to listen to!
Fascinating!
This is so fascinating he explains things so simply almost anyone can get their head around it. Wonderful lecture and lecturer.
@petevenuti7355
Жыл бұрын
definitely one of the better authors.
@billoddy5637
Жыл бұрын
And a wonderful moustache as well.
@lifesgood9528
Жыл бұрын
@@billoddy5637 Imagine a long beard too!
@HypnoDrip
Жыл бұрын
@@lifesgood9528 Indian monk ??
@lifesgood9528
Жыл бұрын
@@HypnoDrip im thinking more thr Gandalph type but he can be Indian too even Aussie 👌🤣😁🎶
Wonderful presentation, thank you so much :)
Good One 👍Thank You!
Most impressive and informative. Thank you.
This is a great presentation, making incomprehensible ideas less incomprehensible. I don't understand about the function of pressure, however, and would love to have Dr Davies explain that at greater length.
My first physics book was a Paul Davies book I received as a 18th b'day present and I knew nothing of physics and thought it was the most boring present ever until I got bored one night and OMG I transformed into a new dimensional being 😂 My mind was blown 💥 because I don't know math but Paul Davies made me understand the most technical stuff that I never ever imagined I would be able to understand without knowing math.. Thank you Paul 👊💥😁
@lifesgood9528
Жыл бұрын
Ive done that before with a present too! The best ones are the ones you least expect!
@FixItStupid
Жыл бұрын
Fake Money & Nuclear END Any Time Now Fake Money Takes The World To A Nuclear END
@seasonedbeefs
Жыл бұрын
Which book please?
I once sat next to Paul Davies on a flight from New York to London. I was inexplicably tongue tied. I figured out that I was just a musician and wouldn't be able to keep up with his reasoning - despite being very interested in the subject, of which Paul is justly respected for. So I wasted at least 6 hours because I was scared to show my ignorance. I really regret this 25 years later... Best, Pete.
George Porter! I love his bass playing with The Meters
Fantastic lecture. Thank you.
@kirstinstrand6292
Жыл бұрын
@-GinΠΓ Τάο On a conceptual level it shows future possibilities, likely to not occur in OUR lifetimes; all unknown, now.
This is so wonderful. Thank you, Dr. Davies!!!
Excellent refresher in the fundamentals, insofar as we grasp them currently. 👍
i love this lecture
Such a great lecture, but I was shocked to see very few people in the audience. Why??
"It's a delight to, be back here in London, away from the unrelenting blue sky and warm sunshine" That is some top quality dry humour.
@ericgraham8150
Жыл бұрын
I was thinking that too. That's the best kind of humour when you're lecturing. It gets kind of cringe when lectures try to make a joke, and make space for laughing.... best not to try so hard.
@2msvalkyrie529
Жыл бұрын
Yes ! Wes Cecil should study this technique !! He's the worst ! It really is Cringeworthy !
I am so effing happy that this is taking place at that desk again.
our universe is like a cartoon I've seen of Homer Simpson, when he stood beside a green hedge, then he slowly backed into it, disappearing into the hedge.
Thank you Paul. I followed physics as a theoretical physicist since 40 years. We all assume that the physics laws and constants apply to the whole universe and do not change with time. There is also a not very much developed theory stating that the universe is a plane. Maybe there is another type of mathematics which descibes our universe. For me the most interesting point you made was about photon emission by an atom. It is emitted spontaneously out of the atom. There can be no photon inside the atom and it comes so to say from nothing. Good health to you and heartful wishes from Lima, Peru.
@jaungiga
Жыл бұрын
Regarding your comment about another type of mathematics describing the universe, there's an interesting (although probably not true) theory about an algorithmic description of the universe, postulated by Stephen Wolfram. You can google him up or go to the older videos in this very channel and find the talk Dr. Wolfram gave some months ago, which is a very good summary of his ideas
@hans-rudigerdrzimmermann
Жыл бұрын
@@jaungiga Very good point from you. I saw his videos and I even have a small supracomputer based on wolfram alpha. Dr Wofram can be right, why not?
@Tinker1950
Жыл бұрын
It's rather obvious that you have NOT studied physics nor even understand the methods or philosophy of science.
@farrier2708
Жыл бұрын
I have my own thoughts on the shape of the Universe, Hans'. If you take a straight line, it is a 1D universe but it has boundaries. However if you deform it in the second dimension to form a circle it creates a 1D universe without any boundary. Similarly, if you take a 2D surface and deform it around a 3D sphere you get a 2D surface without boundaries. The surface of the Earth, for example. By extrapolation, taking a 3D space and deforming around a 4D sphere the result will be a 3D space without boundaries. I therefore conclude that the actual shape of the Universe is a 4D spheroid. Spheroid, because it is probably rotating, as is everything else within it. I wish I had the maths to see if it's a viable hypothesis. Or not! Best regards from UK.
@jaungiga
Жыл бұрын
@@hans-rudigerdrzimmermann Oh, sure, he can be right and I hope he is because his "theory of everything" is the most elegant one I've encountered so far, but I'll remain a skeptic until we have further evidence of its validity. So far it's just a beautiful idea
Great lecture ! Even I, a mere accountant, could follow him :)
Always had a real problem with the presumption of Hubble's law. I'm not saying the answer for redshift can't be doppler shift. But it is also entirely conceivable that the observation of redshift vs. distance could be caused by the medium (which is spacetime) slowly sapping the energy of the light, and that this is only noticeable over large enough distances.
(I wish they had included the question and answer session as well but I suppose one can’t ask for everything!)
Sigge Dr. Saltensø :Thank you Paul : I've been following You now for the majority of 77 year. Time is a Point. And there I stand, so help me, God, and watch You aproaching me.
A superb presentation, from a brilliant individual.
Davies is one of several people with very broad and extensive multi-disciplinary knowledge. But he is almost unique in being able to communicate that knowledge to the layperson.
Many thanks
If you can't explain the Universe to a 6 year old, you can't understand it yourself - Albert Einstein. This guy is very good
@danguee1
Жыл бұрын
Not one of Einstein's greatest sayings (if it's not in fact a modern myth). None of the 6 year olds I know even understand simple differential calculus. I'm hardly going to be able to explain QFT to them, am I?
@gamers_channel
Жыл бұрын
@@danguee1 your kid must be slow
@MountainFisher
Жыл бұрын
@@danguee1 I don't think that what you are thinking was what Albert was thinking. It is true that he wrote it in a correspondence, but what he meant was if you cannot explain the Universe to a child you cannot explain it to an adult either.
Just to let you know, the photo at about 3 minutes in is actually of the Kitt Peak National Observatory in southern Arizona, NOT the Lowell Observatory. Not a big deal of course, I'm just a stickler for accuracy. GREAT lecture otherwise!
@shannonplunk1245
Жыл бұрын
I was thinking it wasn't Lowell. He even pronounced it correctly, then incorrectly. Hard to believe he's from the country where English was established. He's murdering it.
@marcorodrigues8303
Жыл бұрын
não ver que TRUMP tá inventando isso eu te digo porque ele daria um GOP em um Americano em seu País .em se fosse a Sim ele não existiria mais.ele deu o seu GOP em um Estrangeiro de outro País.😊#
@marcorodrigues8303
Жыл бұрын
não ver que sou área .como alguém daí pode ser área e Oval 🥚👌#
@troymueller7747
Жыл бұрын
This is just wholesome constructive critique, nicely done
@jetsetter8541
Жыл бұрын
Accuracy is essential in Theoretical Phisics & Mathematics.
Outstanding.
This started me thinking about the 'natural' and 'supernatural'. By one definition, 'supernatural' is simply the 'natural' that we don't yet understand. When you start talking about other universes though, 'supernatural' could then be things we can never know, test, understand or even imagine.
Professor Davies is a marvelous teacher.
The best lecture of making CLEAR the ideas of TRUTH & WITHOUT All the Need to show or include the Math-….. which often times Begins to ‘loose’ the general person trying to understand these theories! 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽So… Thank You 🙏🏽!! Fantastic Lecture and Spot On !!
@susanvallance9111
Жыл бұрын
I Can’t Begin To Tell You, How Very Very MUCHHH I Enjoyed Your Lecture
@fabiom7338
Жыл бұрын
truth 😆😂
@Enonymouse_
Жыл бұрын
Astrophysics and interstellar mechanics are almost entirely explained in advanced mathematical equations. It's an unfortunate reality for those of us not as acquainted or capable in that department.
@fabiom7338
Жыл бұрын
@@Enonymouse_ 😆 u lost buddy. good luck
Thank You.
Excellent
Excellent talk well delivered!
So glad to see lectures back in person.
Awesome vid
Would be great if they also recorded the Q&A.
Suggesting it began with a quantum fluctuation presumes something was there to fluctuate. Same with multiverses-they all had to begin somewhere at sometime. That we exist, think, and are self-aware is a miracle. That we know so much and can look back so far is a miracle’s miracle; a blessing of Father Physics and Mother Nature.
@michaelandrews4783
Жыл бұрын
"they all had to begin somewhere at sometime." is an assumption, it may well be that we are unable to exist in the dimension universes are born let alone understand the local physics that apply. Maybe there is no multiverse just an on switch for a school kids quantum computer the universe exists in that he will have to turn off before bedtime.
@HarryNicNicholas
Жыл бұрын
depends on how you define miracle, i feel like all this was pretty much unavoidable.
@dncbot
Жыл бұрын
"Somewhere at sometime" is already post creation. The question, I believe, is what caused "something and somewhere", time and space.
@mauricebutlerfootballnewsa7566
Жыл бұрын
Try GOD. We didn't get this lucky by chance , and miracles miracles only happens from the power of GOD
@pauljackson7901
Жыл бұрын
"they all had to begin somewhere".....no they didn't. You have to have time for "begin" to make sense and you need space for "somewhere" to make sense.
As I am geared more towards engineering rather than science; I really cannot help but wonder why in the topic of universal expansion the 2nd law of thermodynamics does not seem to be considered. Is it because the idea that we and our measuring tools are atomically getting smaller, due to fields slowly losing their strength, is inconceivable? It just seems better to attribute, or at least look into the effects of something we see to something we think we understand than to something we know we don't understand.
@meacadwell
Жыл бұрын
It is...but only to a certain extent. Because quantum particles don't currently play nicely with it. As we learn more about quantum particles, and how they interact with things, there will be a specialist who will revisit it to try to make it fit into the, then, current theories.
@_UnknownEntity
Жыл бұрын
Simple answer might be because we aren't there yet. Unless, you assume information as having mass.
@stevelux9854
Жыл бұрын
@@_UnknownEntity Or, it might be because there is no research money in it. If the answers were simple; where's the profit in that?
Stuart Kauffman, At Home in the Universe. Among other things. The greatest mistery is just how we haven't still managed to fully extinguish ourselves.
@2msvalkyrie529
Жыл бұрын
Won't be much longer ? Within next few years..?
This is such a wonderful lecture. So sad that the seats are not full of curious people.
Yay! I understood 90% of this! What a brilliant teacher
@Mrphilipjcook
Жыл бұрын
The other 10% is "dark knowledge" 😂
@danguee1
Жыл бұрын
Yep. Thoroughly dumbed-down.
@ctakitimu
Жыл бұрын
@@danguee1 I imagine he's used to it, unless you're on the same level as him
@cerealport2726
Жыл бұрын
@@danguee1 again, you complain about the level... The RI themselves say "...Our purpose at the Royal Institution is to connect as many people as possible with science...". if you don't like it, don't watch... or, make your own video explaining more complex topics to people, nothing is stopping you, except yourself.
@marymclaughlin9009
Жыл бұрын
@@danguee1 Oh cry me a river. It's not dumbed down, it's clear and interesting and exactly what those of us sadly not so educated as you would love to have more of. So there ;-)
Wierd to think that there is an unbroken line between whatever was there at the beginning and the matter that comprises the cells in our bodies and even our thoughts at this precise moment.
@ann_onn
Жыл бұрын
Yeah. Also, 98 percent of our atoms in our body are replaced every year, so what exactly is "you". It's amazing to think about. In everyday speech, we use imprecise terms for everything. For example, a chair. If you remove a tiny bit of the wood, it's still a chair. How much can you remove, before it isn't? You could remove one leg, people would still call it a chair. It reminds me of an old comedy show, where a guy says he's had the same broom for twenty years... but it's had 17 new heads and 14 new handles.
@johnryan3913
Жыл бұрын
@@ann_onn is a person without a leg still a person? Seems so. What about one without a head? If you decapitate someone, which of the two pieces is JaneDoe? There are three legged chairs. Then you get to pieces of the brain. And when a fetus is a person.
@spvillano
Жыл бұрын
Yes, there is. It's called time.
Just to be clear @ 12;33... Paul Davies says "I can well remember TELSTRA. The first communication satellite..." Telstra is an Australian telecommunications company. TELSTAR was the name of the satellite he can well remember. Thanks for sharing Ri
I'm at 24:00m not a hint of the title. Just checking on you. Time is elemental geometric progression from point to line - linearity defined by any two points, and perhaps (as is now common knowledge) vector functions.. You align events that manifest in any form (you know - bosons, photons, "Let there be light" and from it - matter.) and you have time. Collapse that in less energy and it goes away. It's very simple.
Good summary of cosmology....but the last 2 minutes are specially golden. I had to pause to absorb the quotes....should have been given 10 or so extra minutes for them.
The universe we live in has to be conducive to life, no matter how fantastically improbable that may be.
@etyrnal
Жыл бұрын
define life
@truthpopup
Жыл бұрын
@@etyrnal bake cookies
@etyrnal
Жыл бұрын
@@truthpopup - if you truly understood, you'd have known the cookies were already baked before anyone even knew what a cookie was
@etyrnal
Жыл бұрын
@Arturo’s Michelangeli magic
@manmanman2000
Жыл бұрын
@@etyrnal life: a highly complex turbulence in the flow of entropy
Top teacher !
Fantastic lecture, sent to all my nerds
Wonderful lecture, encompassing just everything! Even if you don't swallow the Multiverse hypothesis, there is certainly enough to ponder for your little brain in the coming weeks ...
Man, I really didn't know how lucky I was back in 1990 at Newcastle University to be sitting in Paul's lectures.
@drgunsmith4099
Жыл бұрын
Great University on my doorstep too.
Despite spacetime being almost useless in dealing with even atomic level interactions, it's strange that cosmologists still talk about 4d spacetime as if it is fundamental and not emergent from deeper dynamics.
THANK YOU DR.PAUL DAVIS...!!! SCIENCE AND MATH...!!! AND THE BEAUTY OF SERENE AND ENERGIZING COSMIC MUSIC & DANCE...OUR UNIVERSE...!!! THE BEAUTY ... BALANCE ... AND PURITY ( NOT RELIGIOUS PIETY ) ... OF THE EQUILIBRIUM OF THE PRAPANCHAM( THE INFINITY )...!!!
I could listen to this for all eternity
Universe doesn't need people to understand it. It is understandable by itself.
I came here looking for an acoustic guitarist. I left with the average intelligence of a Nobel prize-winning physicist.
I think some of the comments here are as interesting as the lecture itself. Alex Scott's comment is quite telling, but if I may add my own two bits worth here, we are in the realm of sheer conjectures and hypotheses. What matters in the end is that in the process of defining what we are up against vis a vis the Universe and Cosmology etc, we do hone the knives of our intellect, thereby arriving at the limits of our own capabilities. Theories and hypotheses will continue to fall by the wayside as we proceed, but the trick is to take in all of it with an aha of toleration. This journey of to-ing and fro-ing with ideas never did any harm to human civilizations in the past, only jolted us forward to where we are now at present. I love the idea of a platform where people discuss and share cutting-edge thinking in this way. Absent from Abrahamic religions, especially Islam, is any intellectual platform for free debate and exploration. That is my own lament, coming as I do, from a traditional Muslim background. But just to cap it up, I am using poetry (in Urdu) to air some of these issues and aspects myself. Can't say any more here except to say that you cannot chain thinking and ideas. You can't box in water as it has a way of finding its own way out.
One of my top 5 all time favorite scientists
@0ned
Жыл бұрын
Who are the other four? Bill Gates Bill Gates Bill Gates and Bill Gates?
@luckygitane
Жыл бұрын
@@0ned I'm really struggling to see the utility of this reply
@0ned
Жыл бұрын
@@luckygitane "You can lead a horse to water, can't make him drink."
@yeeboi5545
Жыл бұрын
@@luckygitane They're baiting to try find followers for their conspiracy channel. Has psychosis written all over it. Hope they find help.
@Ed-quadF
Жыл бұрын
@@0ned Are you talking about Bill Gates?
Fantastic lecture! Great clarity.
What are the Ri's laboratories used for today? Was reading about the building history on the website
Prof Paul Davies rocks.
Physicists ALWAYS run out of time in these RI sessions. Literally could listen to them forever.
@HypnoDrip
Жыл бұрын
How's your day fellow indian
@MrSean03839
Жыл бұрын
Sort of like the end of the universe...
@rampartranger7749
Жыл бұрын
What do you mean by “time?”
He said he lived through the "Golden Age" of cosmology but I think the golden age will be when they know what Dark energy and Dark matter is because we still don`t know what holds it all together.
@davidfiler5414
Жыл бұрын
@pyropulse A lot like most comments found on YT.
@stefcep
Жыл бұрын
@pyropulse Agreed. Its crossing the line from science to faith. Multiverses that can never be proven to exist. Ditto strings and what is it now 11 dimensions.
@nmarbletoe8210
Жыл бұрын
@@davidfiler5414 The logical conclusion is that the universe started with a comment.
@davidfiler5414
Жыл бұрын
@@nmarbletoe8210 Really! Were you thare?
@nmarbletoe8210
Жыл бұрын
@@davidfiler5414 Nah someone else had already written 'first'
This begs the question of whether or not we are travelling very close/ at the edge of the event horizon of a super very massive black hole where our known universe is spiralling around
@Safetytrousers
Жыл бұрын
That could be, but it still begs all the questions of origin.
@QuanNguyen-di9nd
Жыл бұрын
@@Safetytrousers maybe a simulation is not a far fetched theory after all. But personally, I have taken comfort in thinking of intelligent life, in this case human, as the universe trying to make sense of itself. It is similar to how human is trying to make sense of the consciousness and the soul. Now we do not know where our consciousness comes from, but surely it helps us make sense of our universe, just as the universe is trying to make sense of itself. Or perhaps there were no origin to begin with since time in a higher dimension happens differently. And the origin (to us) is actually happening, simultaneously.
@Safetytrousers
Жыл бұрын
@@QuanNguyen-di9nd That is all questions.
The lecture, answer to the question in the title, (if at all) begins at 50 I believe. These expert for sure know how to beat around the bush.
Prof Robert Hazan on the great courses have two courses on life; “origins of life”, “the origin and evolution of earth”. They are detailed with the latest hypothesis on the subject. One of the most interesting explanations is that the first replicating molecules come from rock surfaces that template molecule formation. Essentially, it means all rock surfaces across the planet can act as catalysts.
@spvillano
Жыл бұрын
Especially early on, when oxygen was still bound in the rocks and water. Likely, the atmospheric pressure was substantially higher as well. Once we're well and truly away from STP, chemistry gets decidedly different than what we typically expect.
@r00kiepilot
Жыл бұрын
And it also means shifting the information problem to an area even less well known. It means the rock surface template assumed that particular arrangement randomly. To say randomness is equivalent to saying by magic. Because randomness is a completely unknown 'process'. Randomness follows no laws nor can it be modelled mathematically, therefore it is as good as no explanation at all or saying it happened by magic.
@spvillano
Жыл бұрын
@@r00kiepilot no, randomness means a non-ordered state, notable for no process being present to generate it, as it is by nature random. Magic is getting something from nothing, which has yet to be observed in this universe. That the object has a random texture does not mean that the texture is magical, but that it is uneven and the surface unpredictable and potentially, disordered entirely. In the air, an airplane travels past random air molecules, as there is no magical system that ordains where the molecules flow past, above or below the wing, as an example. That does not suggest or imply in any way that airplanes fly by magic!
@fritsgerms3565
Жыл бұрын
@@r00kiepilot such rubbish. A hypothesis is a possible explanation. And it's not as if rocks & minerals suddenly disappeared. Actually there are many more minerals and clays than the early earth. This process is active today too. I think you lack understanding when it comes to the term "random" in the context of physical processes. Your adaptive immune system is based on "random" - the second most complex system known to man. In engineering "random" processes are a fact of life.
I like the description given to me that some sort of catastrophic event happened in the pre-universe that created the bubble that essentially is what are universe is. That this event caused the expulsion of matter antimatter and the quantum level. That quantum annihilation and expansion happened therefore. He went on to say something about the complicated physics of the early universe in the first few seconds and expansion were different than today. That's why we can't just wind the clock backwards. I'm still stuck with the image that the proto universe was a sponge that was squeezed in the matter and antimatter fell out and annihilated each other
@spvillano
Жыл бұрын
There is some thinking that the vacuum energy level may be at a metastable value, either above or below the average outside of the universe, which impacts the math in why there is a preponderance of mater, rather than an equal mixture of matter and antimatter. The earlier we go in age of the universe, the higher the energy level was, when speaking of the first instants. We can almost reach the edge of that energy level at a microscopic level with our largest colliders, but nowhere close to the first instants of the universe. When some worried about the LHC generating black holes, physicists promptly pointed out that we have far more energetic collisions in our atmosphere from cosmic rays than anything that we can generate in a lab, but the press ignored that over sensationalism.
@unduloid
Жыл бұрын
I like the idea that our universe has a mirror universe in which all anti-matter wound up, with the arrow of time pointing in the opposite direction from ours.
Paul is 'popular' and this lecture is 'informative ' .
wonderful lecture indeed.