Einstein Worried That Science Can't Explain "The Now"
Curiosity Weekly
Warner Bros. Discovery
4.6 • 964 Ratings
🗓️ 28 October 2020
⏱️ 13 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Learn why Einstein worried that science can’t explain “the now,” how high-impact exercise is actually good for your bones, and why in Haiti, zombies are more than fiction.
Curiosity Daily is a finalist in the 2020 Discover Pods Awards, and we need your vote to win! Please vote for Curiosity Daily for Best Technology & Science Podcast via the link below. It's free and only takes a minute. Thanks so much! https://awards.discoverpods.com/vote/
Einstein Worried That Science Can't Explain "The Now" by Ashley Hamer
- Carnap, R., & Schilpp, P. A. (1963). The Philosophy of Rudolf Carnap. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. http://fitelson.org/confirmation/carnap_schilpp_volume.pdf
- Mermin, N. D. (2014). Physics: QBism puts the scientist back into science. Nature, 507(7493), 421–423. https://doi.org/10.1038/507421a
- Now — And The Physics Of Time. (2016, September 27). NPR.Org. https://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2016/09/27/495608371/now-and-the-physics-of-time
High-Impact Exercise Is Actually Good for Your Bones by Ashley Hamer
- Russo, C. R. (2009). The effects of exercise on bone. Basic concepts and implications for the prevention of fractures. Clinical Cases in Mineral and Bone Metabolism : The Official Journal of the Italian Society of Osteoporosis, Mineral Metabolism, and Skeletal Diseases, 6(3), 223–228. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2811354/
- Fuchs, R. K., Bauer, J. J., & Snow, C. M. (2001). Jumping Improves Hip and Lumbar Spine Bone Mass in Prepubescent Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, 16(1), 148–156. https://doi.org/10.1359/jbmr.2001.16.1.148
- Deere, K., Sayers, A., Rittweger, J., & Tobias, J. H. (2012). Habitual levels of high, but not moderate or low, impact activity are positively related to hip BMD and geometry: Results from a population‐based study of adolescents. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, 27(9), 1887–1895. https://doi.org/10.1002/jbmr.1631
- Ireland, A., Maden-Wilkinson, T., Mcphee, J., Cooke, K., Narici, M., Degens, H., & Rittweger, J. (2013). Upper Limb Muscle–Bone Asymmetries and Bone Adaptation in Elite Youth Tennis Players. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 45(9), 1749–1758. https://doi.org/10.1249/mss.0b013e31828f882f
- Nikander, R., Sievänen, H., Heinonen, A., & Kannus, P. (2004). Femoral Neck Structure in Adult Female Athletes Subjected to Different Loading Modalities. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, 20(3), 520–528. https://doi.org/10.1359/jbmr.041119
- How to keep your bones healthy. (2019). Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/in-depth/bone-health/art-20045060
- Fractures due to osteoporosis threaten seniors’ independence | International Osteoporosis Foundation. (2017). Iofbonehealth.Org. https://www.iofbonehealth.org/news/fractures-due-osteoporosis-threaten-seniors%E2%80%99-independence
- Tucker, L. A., Strong, J. E., LeCheminant, J. D., & Bailey, B. W. (2015). Effect of Two Jumping Programs on Hip Bone Mineral Density in Premenopausal Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial. American Journal of Health Promotion, 29(3), 158–164. https://doi.org/10.4278/ajhp.130430-quan-200
- Koli, J., Multanen, J., Kujala, U. M., Häkkinen, A., Nieminen, M. T., Kautiainen, H., Lammentausta, E., Jämsä, T., Ahola, R., Selänne, H., Kiviranta, I., & Heinonen, A. (2015). Effects of Exercise on Patellar Cartilage in Women with Mild Knee Osteoarthritis. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 47(9), 1767–1774. https://doi.org/10.1249/mss.0000000000000629
- Reynolds, G. (2016, March 15). Why High-Impact Exercise Is Good for Your Bones. Well. https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03/07/why-high-impact-exercise-is-good-for-your-bones/?partner=rss&emc=rss
In Haiti, Zombies Are More Than Fiction by Cameron Duke
- Del Guercio, G. (2017, October 31). From the Archives: The Secrets of Haiti’s Living Dead. Harvard Magazine. https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2017/10/are-zombies-real
- Pufferfish | National Geographic. (2010, March 12). Nationalgeographic.Com. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/fish/group/pufferfish/
- Lago, J., Rodríguez, L., Blanco, L., Vieites, J., & Cabado, A. (2015). Tetrodotoxin, an Extremely Potent Marine Neurotoxin: Distribution, Toxicity, Origin and Therapeutical Uses. Marine Drugs, 13(10), 6384–6406. https://doi.org/10.3390/md13106384
- Littlewood, R., & Douyon, C. (1997). Clinical findings in three cases of zombification. The Lancet, 350(9084), 1094–1096. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(97)04449-8
Subscribe to Curiosity Daily to learn something new every day with Ashley Hamer and Natalia Reagan (filling in for Cody Gough). You can also listen to our podcast as part of your Alexa Flash Briefing; Amazon smart speakers users, click/tap “enable” here: https://www.amazon.com/Curiosity-com-Curiosity-Daily-from/dp/B07CP17DJY
Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/einstein-worried-that-science-cant-explain-the-now
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hi, you're about to get smarter in just a few minutes with Curiosity Daily from Curiosity.com. |
| 0:06.5 | I'm Ashley Hamer. |
| 0:07.5 | And I'm Natalia Reagan. |
| 0:08.8 | Today you learn why Einstein worried that science can't explain the now, how high impact exercise is |
| 0:14.8 | actually good for your bones, and why in Haiti zombies are more than fiction. |
| 0:19.4 | Let's satisfy some curiosity. |
| 0:21.5 | You're listening to this podcast right now. I can say |
| 0:27.0 | that even though I don't know when you'll listen to this. I can't say you're |
| 0:30.7 | listening to it tomorrow or yesterday but I can say you're listening to it tomorrow or yesterday, but I can say you're listening to it now. |
| 0:35.2 | That's how special now is. |
| 0:38.0 | And yet, for all the thought that's been devoted to time, science doesn't consider now as different from the future or the past. |
| 0:46.4 | In fact, Albert Einstein himself struggled with this conundrum. |
| 0:51.0 | Scientists hardly touched the concept of time until Einstein came along. |
| 0:54.0 | Though he couldn't explain time itself, he did show some peculiar things about it. |
| 0:59.0 | That to a stationary observer, time flows more slowly for a moving object, and that the greater the force of gravity, |
| 1:06.2 | the slower time flows. |
| 1:08.3 | But neither he, nor anyone else, could explain what made the present moment objectively different from the past or the future. |
| 1:16.0 | And that bothered him. A friend once wrote that this problem, quote, |
| 1:20.0 | seemed to him a matter of painful but inevitable resignation." |
| 1:24.0 | A lot of this comes down to the fact that science centers on objective reality |
| 1:30.0 | and the present moment is defined by your experience of it. |
| 1:33.6 | Because of that, some scientists say the present moment |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Warner Bros. Discovery, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Warner Bros. Discovery and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.

