Nathan Myhrvold: Working with Hawking, NASA's Errors, and Innovation

Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal

Curt Jaimungal

Physics, Philosophy, Society & Culture, Science

4.6 • 606 Ratings

🗓️ 29 January 2021

⏱️ 165 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

I personally subscribe to The Economist. TOE listeners get 35% off the annual subscription. No other podcast has this! https://economist.com/TOE Curt and inventor Nathan Myhrvold discuss productivity, collaborating with Stephen Hawking, and controversial views on NASA data, COVID lockdowns, and geo-engineering. Also: theoretical physics, modernist cuisine, and discerning trustworthy science.0:00 Introduction1:08 Curt's interest in Nathan Myhrvold5:04 How Nathan stays productive8:49 Difficulty photographing storms, waves, birds, meteors11:54 Problems outside Nathan's ken15:22 Working with Stephen Hawking17:41 Hawking vs Einstein22:24 Newton's contribution to minting coins23:46 What's holding theoretical physics back since the 80's28:43 GR and QM combine in a candle flame30:21 String theory, Weinstein's Geometric Unity, Wolfram's model, Supersymmetry50:04 Our ideas of "simplicity" in math is wrong50:48 "Laser cooking" and modernist cuisine52:50 Why Curt fasts53:40 "Simplicity" in math and physics, continued54:49 How Nathan learns a new domain quickly1:00:16 How would Nathan "solve" COVID?1:03:18 RNA viruses replicate haphazardly; lucky COVID hasn't mutated more1:10:17 Current lockdown is worse than doing nothing1:13:20 WHO suggesting masks were ineffective1:14:53 The scientists are at fault because...1:17:10 Was it China's authoritarianism that curbed the numbers?1:23:04 What was different about South Korea?1:24:30 Herd immunity1:30:53 COVID compared to the ordinary flu1:38:34 On the "new strain"1:42:45 No evidence COVID is "only seasonal"1:46:58 Why did NASA analyze their asteroid as spherical?1:50:38 Solutions from outside the academy1:52:18 We've underestimated asteroid collision danger1:56:27 NASA violated basic physical law1:59:20 Alternatives to trusting mainstream science2:06:28 How to know what to trust in science2:11:10 Food myths: Margarine vs Butter, Olive oil vs bacon oil2:14:10 Health food advocates have killed people2:15:19 Dangers of taking someone's temperature before entry2:20:25 Why don't we talk more about geo-engineering?2:27:53 Global warming has become capitalism vs. something else2:30:15 The best geo-engineering solutions2:32:03 Myth: You need "fresh" ingredients for the best food2:34:53 How were the pyramids built?2:35:26 Opinions on UFO's and Bob Lazar2:36:03 The Hard Problem of Consciousness and materialismRESOURCES:- YouTube link: https://youtu.be/YUXHLTlx9DA- Patreon: https://patreon.com/curtjaimungal- PayPal: https://bit.ly/2EOR0M4- Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOEwithCurt- iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/better-left-unsaid-with-curt-jaimungal/id1521758802- Pandora: https://pdora.co/33b9lfP- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gL14b92xAErofYQA7bU4e- Google Podcasts: https://play.google.com/music/listen?u=0#/ps/Id3k7k7mfzahfx2fjqmw3vufb44- Better Left Unsaid film: http://betterleftunsaidfilm.com Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal features long-form, technically detailed interviews with leading researchers in physics, mathematics, consciousness, and philosophy, exploring topics at the level of active research. For academics, graduate students, and anyone seeking depth beyond popular science. FOLLOW: Substack | Spotify | YouTube | Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	All right, hello, toe listeners, Kurt here.
0:03.7	That silence is missed sales.
0:06.4	Now, why?
0:07.3	It's because you haven't met Shopify, at least until now.
0:10.8	Now that's success.
0:12.6	As sweet as a solved equation.
0:14.6	Join me in trading that silence for success with Shopify.
0:17.5	It's like some unified field theory of business.
0:20.2	Whether you're a bedroom inventor
0:21.4	or a global game changer, Shopify smooths your path. From a garage-based hobby to a bustling
0:28.1	e-store, Shopify navigates all sales channels for you. With Shopify powering 10% of all U.S.
0:34.6	e-commerce and fueling your ventures in over 170 countries, your business has
0:39.7	global potential. And their stellar support is as dependable as a law of physics. So don't
0:45.7	wait. Launch your business with Shopify. Shopify has award-winning service and has the
0:50.5	internet's best converting checkout. Sign up for a $1 per month trial period at Shopify.com slash theories.
0:57.6	All lowercase, that's Shopify.com slash theories.
1:03.2	Nathan Mirvold is one of those rare individuals who it's difficult to overstate the accomplishments of.
1:08.0	Here is just a small sample of a list of fields that he's made
1:10.9	extensive contributions to. It's by no means exhaustive. Nuclear power, that is the inventing
1:16.9	of new reactor types, one that can use uranium 238 and spent rods of other nuclear reactors.
1:23.7	He also in his early days founded Microsoft research, which back then, startup software companies didn't have a research component to them.
1:31.3	This trend of Apple Research and Google Research, they're just atombrations of his original creation.
	...

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