The DemystifySci Podcast

Dr. Mattias Desmet from Ghent University explores mass formation psychosis, totalitarianism, and societal insanity. They discuss the conditions that bind people into collectives, the impact of technology on societal connections, and the optimism of balancing chaos. The conversation delves into Stalin's purges, transhumanism, empathic understanding, and the dangers of distancing humanity from its essence.

Did an Alien Craft crash into the Pacific Ocean near Papua New Guinea? Dr. Avi Loeb, Harvard University astronomer, certainly seems to think so. We have him on the show to talk about his potential discovery of a second interstellar object (following up on his earlier model for Oumuamua) and his mission to find the fragments that will settle the debate once and for all. We talk about what it takes to find an alien civilization, what that search may bring, and the path forward for astrophysics.    Support the podcast by becoming a Patron @DemystifySci ªº¬˚∆≤≥≤≥ https://www.patreon.com/demystifysci ≤≥≤≥∆˚¬ºª   And by buying Dr. Loeb's book, Extraterrestrial: https://amzn.to/3F2VhXm #AviLoeb #Aliens #Interstellar  Check our short-films channel, @DemystifySci:  https://youtu.be/1OCL5Lq8m6s ªº¬˚∆≤≥≤≥ Join the mailing list https://bit.ly/3v3kz2S​ ≤≥≤≥∆˚¬ºª   PODCAST INFO:  Anastasia completed her PhD studying microbial communication at Columbia University. When not talking to brilliant people or making movies, she spends her time painting and exploring the woods. Michael Shilo also did his PhD at Columbia studying the elastic properties of molecular water. When he's not in the film studio, he's exploring sound in music. They are both freelance professors at various universities.    Blog: http://DemystifySci.com/blog RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/2be66934/podcast/rss Donate: https://bit.ly/3wkPqaDSwag: https://bit.ly/2PXdC2y SOCIAL:   - Discord: https://discord.gg/MJzKT8CQub - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DemystifySci - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/DemystifySci/ - Twitter: https://twitter.com/DemystifySci

What makes the voice of god real? This is the question that has driven Tanya Luhrmann's research for the last twenty years. She has lived with witches, with christians, with zoroastrians, with psychologists, and finds the same pattern woven through the lives of believers: They have trained themselves to have a sensory experience of god. On the podcast we talk about where this ability comes from in the mind and how it changes the initiates. If you like this conversation, you might also like our talks with Brian McVeigh (https://youtu.be/z1-ivI6QgXQ) and Dan Smith (https://youtu.be/EqL3nkYNqGE) about Julian Jaynes' work on the bicameral mind. See you next week!!   Support the podcast by becoming a Patron @DemystifySci ªº¬˚∆≤≥≤≥ https://www.patreon.com/demystifysci ≤≥≤≥∆˚¬ºª   Support the podcast by building your library with Dr. Luhrman's book: How Gods Become Real   ªº¬˚∆≤≥≤≥ https://amzn.to/3rJV8Tm ≤≥≤≥∆˚¬ºª   #Witches #HearingGod #HearingVoices Check our short-films channel, @DemystifySci:  https://youtu.be/1OCL5Lq8m6s ªº¬˚∆≤≥≤≥ Join the mailing list https://bit.ly/3v3kz2S​ ≤≥≤≥∆˚¬ºª  PODCAST INFO:   Anastasia completed her PhD studying microbial communication at Columbia University. When not talking to brilliant people or making movies, she spends her time painting and exploring the woods. Michael Shilo also did his PhD at Columbia studying the elastic properties of molecular water. When he's not in the film studio, he's exploring sound in music. They are both freelance professors at various universities.    Blog: http://DemystifySci.com/blog   Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3uhn7J1 Spotify: https://spoti.fi/39IDJBDRSS: https://anchor.fm/s/2be66934/podcast/rss Donate: https://bit.ly/3wkPqaDSwag: https://bit.ly/2PXdC2y SOCIAL:   - Discord: https://discord.gg/HXQNjTvZCb - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DemystifySci - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/DemystifySci/ - Twitter: https://twitter.com/DemystifySci

What if plate tectonics isn't settled science? Consensus suggests  Earth's crust has been going through relatively constant supercontinent cycles for as long as there has been a solid crust. There are all kinds of measurements and experiments that seem to confirm this observation - but there are whose who insist that the ancient history of the Earth is not what it seems. Rather than being formed as a molten ball of naked space goo, condensed from the sun's protoplanetary disk, it's possible that the Earth formed hot and gassy - like Jupiter, or the sizzling gas giants that Kepler is regularly finding in close solar orbits.    If that's possible - and our recent conversation with NASA's Don Pettit suggests there is a solid line of evidence here - how does that change our understanding of the Earth? Enter Dr. J. Marvin Herndon, who proposes the history of our planet is a history of decompression. In this episode of the DemystifySci podcast, he takes us through his theory and, along the way, explains everything from the composition of the inner core, to the generation of the magnetic field, to the reason that the surface of the Earth looks the way it does.    Support the podcast by becoming a Patron @DemystifySci ªº¬˚∆≤≥≤≥ https://www.patreon.com/demystifysci ≤≥≤≥∆˚¬ºª Support the podcast by building your library with Dr. Herndon's book Paradigm Shifts:  ªº¬˚∆≤≥≤≥ https://amzn.to/3NXOHFR ≤≥≤≥∆˚¬ºª   #ExpandingEarth #MarvinHerndon #ParadigmShifts Check our short-films channel, @DemystifySci:  https://youtu.be/1OCL5Lq8m6s ªº¬˚∆≤≥≤≥ Join the mailing list https://bit.ly/3v3kz2S​ ≤≥≤≥∆˚¬ºª   PODCAST INFO:  Anastasia completed her PhD studying microbial communication at Columbia University. When not talking to brilliant people or making movies, she spends her time painting and exploring the woods. Michael Shilo also did his PhD at Columbia studying the elastic properties of molecular water. When he's not in the film studio, he's exploring sound in music. They are both freelance professors at various universities.    Blog: http://DemystifySci.com/blog   RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/2be66934/podcast/rss Donate: https://bit.ly/3wkPqaDSwag: https://bit.ly/2PXdC2y SOCIAL:   - Discord: https://discord.gg/HXQNjTvZCb - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DemystifySci - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/DemystifySci/ - Twitter: https://twitter.com/DemystifySci

Supply chain collapse and food shortages are on everyone's mind these days. Is the answer to homestead, to prep, to drop out? Most likely not - it's nearly impossible to grow enough food in a small garden to sustain a family. But don't let the garden grow over quite yet - there's more to growing and getting your own food than survival.  Tamar Haspel moved from NYC to the woods and was surprised to find that growing, gathering, and hunting brought her a lot more than food. We discuss how bringing our lives closer to the foods isn't about opting out - it's about community, integration, and growth. More details in her new book, To Boldly Grow. Support Tamar and The Podcast when you buy her book here: https://amzn.to/3J653sm  Support the podcast by becoming a Patron @DemystifySci   ªº¬˚∆≤≥≤≥ https://www.patreon.com/demystifysci ≤≥≤≥∆˚¬ºª   #TamarHaspel #FirstHandFood #ToBoldlyGrow Check our short-films channel, @DemystifySci:  https://youtu.be/1OCL5Lq8m6s ªº¬˚∆≤≥≤≥ Join the mailing list https://bit.ly/3v3kz2S​ ≤≥≤≥∆˚¬ºª   PODCAST INFO:  Anastasia completed her PhD studying microbial communication at Columbia University. When not talking to brilliant people or making movies, she spends her time painting and exploring the woods. Michael Shilo also did his PhD at Columbia studying the elastic properties of molecular water. When he's not in the film studio, he's exploring sound in music. They are both freelance professors at various universities.    Blog: http://DemystifySci.com/blog   RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/2be66934/podcast/rss Donate: https://bit.ly/3wkPqaDSwag: https://bit.ly/2PXdC2y SOCIAL:   - Discord: https://discord.gg/HXQNjTvZCb - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DemystifySci - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/DemystifySci/ - Twitter: https://twitter.com/DemystifySci

Julian Barbour's latest book, The Janus Point: A New Theory of Time takes us on a wild hallucinatory ride through the story of everything ever, all at once. Such are the questions of mathematical cosmologists, who look toward the perfection of numbers in search of an origin story for this thing we call existence... Support the podcast by becoming a Patron @DemystifySci  ªº¬˚∆≤≥≤≥ https://www.patreon.com/demystifysci ≤≥≤≥∆˚¬ºª   #JulianBarbour #Physics #Time Check our short-films channel, @DemystifyingScience:  https://youtu.be/1OCL5Lq8m6s ªº¬˚∆≤≥≤≥ Join the mailing list https://bit.ly/3v3kz2S​ ≤≥≤≥∆˚¬ºª   PODCAST INFO:  Anastasia completed her PhD studying microbial communication at Columbia University. When not talking to brilliant people or making movies, she spends her time painting and exploring the woods. Michael Shilo also did his PhD at Columbia studying the elastic properties of molecular water. When he's not in the film studio, he's exploring sound in music. They are both freelance professors at various universities.    Blog: http://demystifyingscience.com/blog   RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/2be66934/podcast/rss Donate: https://bit.ly/3wkPqaDSwag: https://bit.ly/2PXdC2y SOCIAL:   - Discord: https://discord.gg/HXQNjTvZCb - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/demystifyingscience - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/demystifysci/ - Twitter: https://twitter.com/demystifysci

Astronaut Donald Pettit champions a theory he developed while studying under Octave Levenspiel at Oregon State University. In short, it is apparent that large winged dinosaurs could not fly under today's atmospheric conditions. Pettit suggests that the solution to dino-flight is that the Earth's atmosphere was much thicker in the past, lending buoyancy to the giant animals while maintaining today's ratios of elemental composition. If this trend is extended long before the dinosaurs we end up with a hypothetical atmosphere as thick as Venus or even more. The theory then raises the question: what events caused the atmosphere to disappear?   Support the podcast by becoming a Patron @DemystifySci  ªº¬˚∆≤≥≤≥ https://www.patreon.com/demystifysci ≤≥≤≥∆˚¬ºª   #ThickAtmosphereTheory #Pterosaurs #NASA Levenspiel Thick Atmosphere Theory:  http://levenspiel.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/DinosaurW.pdf Esker Thick Atmosphere Theory:  https://www.dinosaurtheory.com/big_dinosaur.html Check our short-films channel, @DemystifyingScience:  https://youtu.be/1OCL5Lq8m6s ªº¬˚∆≤≥≤≥ Join the mailing list https://bit.ly/3v3kz2S​ ≤≥≤≥∆˚¬ºª   PODCAST INFO:  Anastasia completed her PhD studying microbial communication at Columbia University. When not talking to brilliant people or making movies, she spends her time painting and exploring the woods. Michael Shilo also did his PhD at Columbia studying the elastic properties of molecular water. When he's not in the film studio, he's exploring sound in music. They are both freelance professors at various universities.    Blog: http://demystifyingscience.com/blog RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/2be66934/podcast/rss Donate: https://bit.ly/3wkPqaDSwag: https://bit.ly/2PXdC2y SOCIAL:   - Discord: https://discord.gg/HXQNjTvZCb - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/demystifyingscience - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/demystifysci/ - Twitter: https://twitter.com/demystifysci

Dr. Richard Watson from the University of Southampton challenges the idea that natural selection is the sole driver of evolution. He discusses how cooperation plays a crucial role in success, using language from machine learning to explain the balance between competition and induction in evolution.

What will we find when we reach out to touch the celestial center of our planetary system? Will we be able to finally explain the pernicious problem of coronal heating? Of solar wind acceleration? We sit down with Dr. Nicola J Fox, head of NASA's Heliophysics department, to talk about the strange things being discovered by the Parker Solar Probe at very limits of human ingenuity.    Support the podcast by becoming a Patron @DemystifySci  ªº¬˚∆≤≥≤≥ https://www.patreon.com/demystifysci ≤≥≤≥∆˚¬ºª   #heliophysics #solarprobe #NASA Check our short-films channel, @DemystifyingScience:  https://youtu.be/1OCL5Lq8m6s ªº¬˚∆≤≥≤≥ Join the mailing list https://bit.ly/3v3kz2S ≤≥≤≥∆˚¬ºª   PODCAST INFO:  Anastasia completed her PhD studying microbial communication at Columbia University. When not talking to brilliant people or making movies, she spends her time painting and exploring the woods. Michael Shilo also did his PhD at Columbia studying the elastic properties of molecular water. When he's not in the film studio, he's exploring sound in music. They are both freelance professors at various universities.    Blog: http://demystifyingscience.com/blog   RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/2be66934/podcast/rss Donate: https://bit.ly/3wkPqaDSwag: https://bit.ly/2PXdC2y SOCIAL:   - Discord: https://discord.gg/HXQNjTvZCb - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/demystifyingscience - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/demystifysci/ - Twitter: https://twitter.com/demystifysci

Today's conversation is all about what large-scale patterns in Nature can teach us about the individuals at the helm of decision making within those ensembles. Dr. Ted Pavlic trains AIs to detect these sorts of otherwise invisible interactions. The hope is that this approach, similar to that of Tuft's biologist Dr. Michael Levin, will allow for the remediation of large scale dysfunctions like cancer, neurological injury, or even large scale catastrophe's like stampedes. Support the podcast by becoming a Patron @DemystifySci  ªº¬˚∆≤≥≤≥ https://www.patreon.com/demystifysci ≤≥≤≥∆˚¬ºª  #IrreducibleSynergy #complexity #decisiontheory Check our short-films channel, @DemystifyingScience:  https://youtu.be/1OCL5Lq8m6s ªº¬˚∆≤≥≤≥ Join the mailing list https://bit.ly/3v3kz2S ≤≥≤≥∆˚¬ºª   PODCAST INFO:  Anastasia completed her PhD studying microbial communication at Columbia University. When not talking to brilliant people or making movies, she spends her time painting and exploring the woods. Michael Shilo also did his PhD at Columbia studying the elastic properties of molecular water. When he's not in the film studio, he's exploring sound in music. They are both freelance professors at various universities.    Blog: http://demystifyingscience.com/blog   RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/2be66934/podcast/rss Donate: https://bit.ly/3wkPqaDSwag: https://bit.ly/2PXdC2y SOCIAL:   - Discord: https://discord.gg/HXQNjTvZCb - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/demystifyingscience - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/demystifysci/ - Twitter: https://twitter.com/demystifysci