The Stephen Wolfram Podcast

Stephen Wolfram answers general questions from his viewers about science and technology as part of an unscripted livestream series. Questions include: If humankind had evolved 12 fingers, and if we all used base 12 to count and do commerce, would this have made any difference to our scientific development? - Do you think you could convince Dana Scott to expand his lecture "Looking Forward, Looking Backward" into a memoirs book similar to "idea makers"? - As in your physics project, do you think the entire legal system could emerge from a few simple laws (rules)? - Imaginary Numbers Are Real? What is present in real life? - How can we implement quantum logic circuit? - Is pi irrational because we use decimal system? Because in binary 0.1 can't be expressed properly. Do you think if we used something else for pi it would be rational? - How much do you trust current methods of encryption (leaving quantum computers aside)? Are they really unbreakable? - What do you think about AI writing mathematical proofs? - Your products excel at making complex technology user accessible - even for the layperson. Could you speak to what makes them so successful? - What's the best way to learn something for slow learners? See the full Q&A video playlist: https://wolfr.am/youtube-sw-qa

Stephen Wolfram answers general questions from his viewers about science and technology as part of an unscripted livestream series. Questions include: What's your opinion of the usability and programmability of current computers in comparison to the ones you have used ind your live? Do you have any wish regarding future computers? - How do you think we can fix the shortcomings of the current neural network architectures? - Why does hitting a bucket of water on the side with a tennis ball make the water surface splash with plenty of tiny droplets which go very high, but hitting it with the same force with the foot make the water move as a big lump which don't splash. Is it analogous to the photoelectric effect? - What sources do you use for keeping up with science news? - How can I get my PhD in physics at age 20 like you? - Were you involved with the SICP course over at MIT? - Why computational science is not spreading among high schools? See the full Q&A video playlist: https://wolfr.am/youtube-sw-qa

Stephen Wolfram answers general questions from his viewers about science and technology as part of an unscripted livestream series. Questions  include: Is the number 0 a natural or an integer number? - How do you  do calculus on round object like spheres or donuts? - If you could  change how we measure time, would you and to what? - I've read that  their is/are giant clouds of (methyl) alcohol in space. Can it be a  possibility that those clouds of alcohol have to chance to potentially  "sanitize" microbes that one day could lead to complex and or  intelligent life? - Speaking of the Romans, do you think Latin is a  better language than English for science and mathematics? - How can we  get the slope of hills when the earth is round and not flat picture of a  curve? - How can one achieve file fragmentation in a filesystem  designed for archive files? For example how can one append x number of  sectors to a static list of Tar Posix Headers and file data sections. -  Do you have any ideas on how to solve protein folding? Would your math  research help with this problem? - Is there a relation between the  classification of finite simple groups and your physics theory? See the full Q&A video playlist: wolfr.am/youtube-sw-qa

Stephen Wolfram answers general questions from his viewers about science and technology as part of an unscripted livestream series. Questions include: Why does matter and anti-matter annihilate when they come together? What is the mechanism behind an electron and a positron to convert to energy when they meet? Saying that they are of opposite charges doesn't really explain it - So entropy always tends towards the lowest energy state? - What is the most "scientifically" interesting place you have visited? - How long does the "virtual photon" live before it converts into a pair of particles? - Why do humans have unique fingerprints, iris etc? and do other creatures also have these features?? - What is your favorite unsolved problem? - If you could go back in time and help a legendary scientist solve a problem, who and what would it be? - What is the oldest known and unknown civilization which had the notion of universe and mathematics? See the full Q&A video playlist: https://wolfr.am/youtube-sw-qa

Stephen Wolfram answers general questions from his viewers about science and technology as part of an unscripted livestream series. Questions include: What is dark matter? - Why is the Sun's corona hotter than its core? - Are white holes only theoretical or are they real? Is a black hole a sphere with condensed light and matter? or does all that light and matter go somewhere? - A question from 8 years old boy from Houston enjoying this stream but can't stop himself from asking: is it possible now to clone a dinosaur (given that proper quality DNA material will be found)? - How can we tell the difference between science and pseudoscience? - In convection, what drives the flow of air/fluid in the first place? is it just the potential energy stored in the temperature gradient? - Is there any possibility of creation of dark matter in fusion reactors like tokomak? - Why is the moon the same size as the sun? [from what we see on Earth] - What do you do for fun? See the full Q&A video playlist: https://wolfr.am/youtube-sw-qa

Stephen Wolfram answers general questions from his viewers about science and technology as part of an unscripted livestream series. Questions include: What is the difference between fusion and fission? - What is the difference between regular helium, like those in balloons, and Helium-3? - Can you explain the physics of why ice is slippery? - Would you mind explaining Van der Waals force? - Does quantum mechanical tunneling play much of a role in nuclear fusion? - Are you planning on ever releasing the raw data of all the possible simple programs you generated while working on "A New Kind of Science"?  - When Andromeda collides with the Milkyway, what's going to happen to Life on Earth, neighboring planets and solar systems? - What advice would you give to someone who is starting to study analysis from scratch (i.e. from Zermelo Fraenkel axioms and so on)? - Speak about Einstein's correct prediction of the perihelion of Mercury when people realized Einstein's theory was better than Newton's. What might be the equivalent for the Wolfram Physics Project? - What gave you the confidence to study physics since you were a kid?. What advice would you give to a kid interested in learning that has an internet connection and a Raspberry Pi? See the full Q&A video playlist: https://wolfr.am/youtube-sw-qa

Stephen Wolfram answers general questions from his viewers about science and technology as part of an unscripted livestream series. Questions include: When will we run out of scientific innovations? Is there a limit to technology? - Is it possible to build a place without gravity? - Do you think there is anything between the known particles (and Planck length 10^-33) and your hypergraphs (at length 10^-93), such as another set of "elementary" particles? - Will technology allow for one true universal language [for the deaf, blind, romance languages, Arabic languages, Asian languages, computer languages, etc...], eliminating the need for translations? - Who is the leader in information technology at the moment (my guess is China!)? - Is there a relationship between computational irreducibility and the uncertainty principle from Quantum Mechanics? - Is there a formal definition of Number? - Why all electrons are same? - What temperature does a laser have? - How does a laser work? - How can galaxies retain their shape for billions of years? - Will it be possible to tell a joke in a symbolic discourse language. Who (and what) may find it funny? - You once said that when you were starting out, Feynman gave you a collection of his mathematical tricks for integration, which you didn't end up using. Have you published this? I would really really like to see his notes! See the full Q&A video playlist: https://wolfr.am/youtube-sw-qa

Stephen Wolfram answers general questions from his viewers about science and technology as part of an unscripted livestream series. Questions include: How did Alan Turning crack the Enigma Code? - Can you explain Newton seconds law of motion? - How much of science is kept secret, either classified by the military or waiting for monetization inside private research labs? - How should we understand the double-slit experiment with light? If light is made of particles whose quantum wave functions interfere, producing the diffraction pattern we see? Or is light an electromagnetic wave that produces an interference pattern like any other wave phenomenon? - Why does no time pass at the speed of light? - Computers were inspired in particular by Turing works, right? - Where does the word compute in English come from? - Why is the Von Neumann CPU architecture still dominating instead of more parallel solutions? See the full Q&A video playlist: https://wolfr.am/youtube-sw-qa

Stephen Wolfram answers general questions from his viewers about science and technology as part of an unscripted livestream series. Questions include: How does one imagine a color they've never seen before? - Why does blue light prevent you from sleeping? - What advice would you give to learn real analysis? - What happens when you cry in space? - Who is the most underrated scientist? - How did the early universe manage to get mixed up enough that it is roughly the same? - How does one see colors? - Radio waves from the planets, when transformed into the audio spectrum, sound so very strange. Why do they sound so spooky? See the full Q&A video playlist: https://wolfr.am/youtube-sw-qa

Stephen Wolfram answers general questions from his viewers about science and technology as part of an unscripted livestream series. Questions include: What actually happens with my computer when it crashes? - How come that the humidity inside the cloud is 100% and right next to it is practically zero? What is the answer to that? - What is your opinion Leonhard Euler or Albert Einstein? - How important is money in science? - Is there a maximum limit on temperature based on the fact that particles cannot reach or exceed the speed of light? - How to choose what to work on? - Any advice for someone who has just graduate college with a STEM degree and is interested in graduate school? I'm interested in molecular biology/biochemistry if relevant. - What/who is Nicolas Bourbaki, and how was it created? - Do you think only rich people can "do" science? See the full Q&A video playlist: https://wolfr.am/youtube-sw-qa