The following is a conversation with mutual cockle he's a theoretical physicist futurists and professor at the city college of new york he's the other many fascinating books explored nature of our reality and the future of our civilisation. They include, I size, cosmos physics of the impossible feature of the mind, parallel worlds and his latest, the future of humanity, terraforming, mars, interstellar, travel immortality and our destiny beyond earth, I think, is beautiful and important when a scientific mine can fearlessly explore to conversation subjects just outside of our understanding. That to me is were artificial. Intelligence is today just outside of our understanding, a place we have to reach for effort, uncover the mysteries of the human mind and build human level. Super human level, I systems that trend.

for former world for the better. This is the artificial tells us podcast. If you enjoy subscriber subscribe on, give five stars in itunes, supported and patriotic or simply connected me on twitter elects friedman, spelled afar. I d a man, and now here a conversation with mature cockle. You mentioned that we just might make contact with aliens released here from them within this century.

Can you elaborate a? U intuition, behind the optimism, lawlessness, pure speculation, of course, of course, but given the fact that we have already identified four thousand extra planets orbiting other stars and we have a census of the milky way galaxy for the first time. We know that on average, every single star on average, as applying to going around it and about one fifth or so of them have earth sized planets going around them. So just do the math we're talking about out of a hundred billion stars-

Cars in the milky way galaxy we're talking about billions of potential earth size planets and to believe that were the only one is, I think, rather ridiculous, given the odds and how many galaxies are there within sight of the hubble space telescope, there are about a hundred billion galaxies, so do the math. How many stars are there in the visible universe, hundred billion galaxies times a hundred billion stars per galaxy, we're talking about a number beyond human imagination and If that were the only ones. I think it is rather ridiculous. So you ve talked about different types of ten zero one. Two, three four and five even of the car dashes scale of the different kind of civilizations do what either

takes if it is indeed a ridiculous notion that were alone in the universe. What do you think it takes to reach out first to reach out through communication and connect? What for us all have to understand the level of sophistication of an alien life form if we may contact with them. I think, in this century will probably pickup signals signals from an extra terrestrial seven innovation will pick up there. I love lucy and their leave it. A beaver, just ordinary dated eight transmissions that they emit- and the first thing we want to do- is to

decipher their language, of course, but be figure out at what level they are advanced on the kurdish scale? I'm a physicist. We rang things by two parameters: energy and information. That's how we rank black holes. That's how you rank stars, thus hobby reg civilizations in outer space, so a type one civilization is capable of anything planetary power. They control the whether for example, earthquakes volcanoes they can modify the chorus of geological vents, sort of like flash, Gordon or but rogers type two would be stellar they play with stars

entire stars. They use the entire energy output of a star sort of like star trek. The federation of planets have colonized the nearby stars, so a type two would be some somewhat similar to star trek type three would be galactic, they roam the galactic space lanes and type three would

Do you like star wars, a galactic civilization that one day I was giving this talk in london at the planetarium there and the little boy comes up to me and he says professor you're wrong you're wrong this time for, and I told them look kid- there are planets stars and galaxies. That said folks, and he kept persisting in saying no this time for the power of the continuum, and I thought about it for a moment- and I said to myself: is there an extra galactic source of energy, the continuum of star trek, and the answer is yes There could be a type for and thus dark energy. We now know that seventy three percent of the energy of the universe is dark. Energy dark matter represent maybe twenty three per centres, oh, and we only represent four percent- were the oddballs and so

to realize that they could be time for maybe even time, five to type for your saying being able to harness serve like dark energy, something that permeates the entire universe, so be halted, a plug into the entire inter universe is a source of energy. Less right and dark energy is the energy of the big bang. It's why the galaxies are being pushed apart. If the energy of nothing the more nothing you have. The more dark energy does repulsive, and so the acceleration of the universe is exe. Already, because the more you have the more you can have, and that of course is by definition an exponential curve is called it sooner expansion and thus the current state of the universe and then type five. Without being, would I be able to seek energy?

it is somehow outside of our universe. However, it may be, but time five will be the multiverse multiverse, I'm a quantum physicists and we quantum physics is don't believe that the big bang happen once That would violate eyes in bergen sturdy principle, and that means that you could be multiple bangs happening all the time, even as we speak today, universes are being created that this data, the inflationary universe, is a quantum theory. So there's a certain finer probability that universes are being created all the time and for me this is actually rather aesthetically pleasing, because you know I was raised as a presbyterian, but my parents,

we're buddhists and there's two diametrically opposed ideas about the universe in buddhism. There's only nirvana, there's no beginning is no end, is only timeless, but in Jackie, there is the instant when guy said, let there be light, in other words an instant of creation. So I'd have these two mutually exclusive, is it my head, and I now realize it is possible to mill them into a single theory, either the universe, had a beginning or didn't write wrong. You see our universe had a beginning

our universe had an instant where somebody might have said let there be light, but there are other bubble universes out there in a bubble bath up universes, and that means that these universes are expanding into a dimension beyond our three dimensional comprehension, in other words, hyperspace. In other words, eleven dimensional hyperspace. So nirvana would be this timeless. Eleven dimensional hyperspace, where big banks are happening all the time, so we can now combined to mutually exclusive theory. Of creation and stephen hawking, for example, even in his last book, even say that this is an argument against the existence of god. He said there is, no god because there was not enough time for a guy to create the universe. Is the big bang happen in an instant of time? Therefore, there was no time available for him to create the universe

You see, the multiverse idea means that there was a time before time and there multiple times each bubble has it's own time, and so it means that there could actually be a universe before the beginning of our universe. So if you think of a bubble bath, when two bubbles collide off into bubbles, vision to create a baby bubble, that's called the big bang to the big bang is nothing but the collision of universes or the budding of universes. This is a beautiful picture, are incredibly mysterious existence so that humbling to you exciting the idea of multi verses. Are you not even begin

Well you're rabbi minor around waiting for me, because when I do for a living is string theory, that's my day, job I get paid by the city of new york to work on string theory. Yes, and he sees string. Theory is a multi, verse theory. So people say first of all what is strength harry string. Very simply says that all the particles we see a nature, the electron, the proton quirks whatever you are nothing weird vibe, relations on a musical string on a tiny, tiny, little string. You know g robert oppenheimer, the creator of the atomic bomb, was so frustrated in the nineteen fifties, with all these subatomic particles being created in our atom smashers that he announced he announced one day that the nobel prize in physics should go to the fish just who does not discover a new particle that year, what

We think that nothing but musical notes are these tiny little vibrating strings. So it is physics, physics is the harmonies. You can write on vibrating strings chemistry chemistry's, the melodies you can play on these strings. What is the universe? The universe is a symphony of sir. things and then what is the mind of god? That albert einstein so eloquently wrote about for the last thirty years of his life. The mind of god will be cosmic music resonating through eleven dimensional hyperspace so beautifully. What do you think is the mind device? Thank god, you think, there's a. Why are weakened untangle from from this universe strings. Why are we here? the meaning of it all? Well, Stephen weinberg the nobel prize once said that them

We learn about the universe, the more we and that is pointless. Well, I don't know I don't profess to understand the great secrets of the universe. However, let me say two things about what the giants of physics have said about this question. Einstein believed in two types of god: one was the god of the bible, the personal god, the god that answers prayers walks. Our waters performs miracles, smite, the philistines, thus the personal god that he didn't believe in. He believed in the god of spinoza, the god of order, simplicity, harmony, beauty, the universe could have in august, the universe could have been messy random but is gorgeous you release on a single sheet of paper. We can write on all the known laws of the universe, so maisie on one sheet of paper, I ensigns equation, is one inch long.

String theory is a lot longer and so is the standard model. But you could put all these equations on one sheet of paper. It didn't have to be that way. It could have been messy, and so einstein thought of himself as a young boy entering this huge library for the first time being overwhelmed by the simplicity, elegance and beauty of this library all he could do was read the first page of the first volume. Well, that library is the universe with all sorts of mysterious magical things that we have yet to find

and then galileo was asked about this. Galileo said that the purpose of science, the purpose of science, is to determine how, the heavens ago, the purpose of religion, is to determine how to go to Heaven. So in other words, science is about natural law, and religion is about ethics, how to be a good person how to go to Heaven as long as we keep these two things apart, we're in great shape. The problem occurs when people from the natural sciences begin to pontificate about ethics, and people from religion begin to pontificate about natural law. That's where we get into big trouble. You think they're, fundamentally distinct morality and ethics and are our idea.

what is right and what is wrong? That's something that's outside the reach of string theory in physics. That's right! If you talk to a squirrel about what is right and what is wrong, as there is no reference frame. For a squirrel and relays at alien from outer space. If they ever come visit us we'll try to talk to us like we talked to squirrels in the forest, but eventually we get bored talking to the squirrels, because it talk back to us same thing with eight from outer space, they come down to earth, they'll be curious about us to a degree, but after a while they d get bored because we had nothing to offer them

so our sense of right and wrong. What does that mean compared to a squirrel's sense of right and wrong? Now? We, of course, do have an ethics that keeps civilizations in line in riches, irl life and makes civilization possible, and I think that's a good thing, but it's not mandated by a law of physics. So, if alien as do alien species war. To make contact. Forgive me for staying and aliens for a bit longer. Do you think they're more likely to be friendly to befriend us or to destroy us? Well, I think, for the most part, although

much ignore us of your dear in the forest. Who do you fear the most do fear the hunter with his gigantic guy. Sixteen gay shot gun or you fear, the guy with a briefcase and glasses, while the guy with a brief case, could be a developer, about to basically flattened the entire forest, destroying your livelihood. So instinctively you may be afraid of the hunter, but actually the problem with deers in the forest is that they should fear developers because developers look at deer simply getting in the way I mean in war of the worlds by issue wells, the aliens did not hate us. We read the book. The alias did not have evil intentions toward him homo sapiens,

I no, we were in the way. I think we have to realise that the civilizations may view is quite differently than science fiction novels. However, I personally believe- and I cannot prove any of this- I personally but that they're, probably going to be peaceful because there's nothing that they want from our world. I mean: what are they going to tickets? What are they going to take us for gold? Now? Gold is a useless metal for the most part. It's silver I mean is go golden color, but that only affects homo sapiens. Squirrels, don't care about gold, and so gold is a rather useless element, errors, maybe platinum based elements wearers for the electronics yeah, maybe but other than that we have nothing to offer them. I mean you think about it. For a moment, people love shakespeare and they love the arts and poetry, but outside of the earth they mean nothing

absolutely nothing? I'm you when I write down, I didn't equation, is string theory. I would hope that, on the other side of the guy I see there's an alien writing down that very same equation, indifferent, notation but daily, not the other side of the galaxy shakespeare poet, three hemingway. It would be nothing to him or her or it we think about entities is out there, extraterrestrial Do you think they would naturally look something that even recognisable to us, is in his life or can it would they be radically different? Well, how did we become intelligent? Basically, three things made us intelligent. One is: are eyesight, stereo eyesight. We have the eyes of a hunter stereo visions that we lock in on targets

and, and who is smarter, predator or prey predators are smarter than pray. They had their eyes at the front of their face, like lions tigers, while rabbits have eyes to the side of their face. Why is that hunters have two zero went on the target. They have to know how to ambush. They have to know how to hide, camouflage sneak up stealth deceit. That is a lot of intelligence. Rabbits. All they have to do is run. So that's the first criterion, stereo eyesight of some sort. Second, is the thumb. The opposable thumb of some sort could be a claw or nickel, so hand. I coordination, and I coordination is the way we manipulate the environment. Then three language, because you know mama- bear never tells baby to avoid the human hunter bears just learned by themselves

I never hand out information from one generation to the next. So these are the three basic ingredients of intelligence. I sight of some sort and a possible farm or technical or claw of some sort and language now ask yourself a simple question: how many animals have all three? Just us it's just us, I mean the primates, they have a language yeah, they may get up to maybe many words, but a baby learns a word a day. Several words a day. A baby learns and a typical adult knows about almost five thousand words. While the maximum number of words it, you can teach a guerrilla in any language, including their own language, is about twenty or so, and so we see the difference in town so what we mean alias from outer space changes

are, they will have been descended from predators as some sort they'll have some way to manipulate the environment and communicate their knowledge to the next generation. That's folks, so functionally that would help. There would be some lead there would we would be able to recognise them. Well. That is a because I think, even with homo sapiens, We are eventually going to perhaps become part cybernetic and genetically enhance already robots are getting smarter and smarter right now, robots have the intention, and of a cockroach, but in the coming years are robots will be a smart as a mouse, then maybe a smile, as a rabbit if we're lucky, maybe as smart as a cat or

and by the end of this century. Who knows, we sure our robots will be a previous mark as a monkey. Now, at that point, of course, they could be dangerous, you see monkey our self aware. They know they are monkeys, they may have a different agenda than us. Wild dogs dogs are confused. You see, dogs think that we are adopting There were the top dog there, the underdog, that's why they whimpering follow was link us all the time for the top dog monkeys have no illusions:

at all. They know who we are not monkeys, and so I think that in the future will have to put a chip in their rain to shut them off once our robots, hamburgers thoughts, but ass in a hundred years in two hundred years, the robots will be smart enough to remove that failsafe chip in their brain and then watch out. At that point, I think, rather than compete with our robots, we should urge with them. We should become part cybernetic, so I think, will we be alien life from outer space? They may be genetically and and cybernetic leaned hast genetically in siberia clean hands. While so this talk about the full range in the near term and to her years from now how promising, in the new year term, in your views, brain machine interface hisself starting to,

Allow computers to talk directly to the brains, you're musk is work on that one euro link and the other companies working in this idea do see, promised their dc hope for near term impact. Well, every technology has losses and minuses are already. We can be core. Memories have a book, the future of the mine or a detail. Some of these breakthroughs, weak record, simple memories of mice and send these memories on the internet? Eventually we're gonna? Do this reply, mates, add wake forests, university and also in los angeles. And then after that will have a memory ship for alzheimer's patients will tested. Alzheimer's patients, because of course when Alzheimer's patients lose memory. They wonder they create all sorts of Heaven.

Wandering around oblivious to their surroundings, and they have a chip, will push the button and memories. Memories will come flooding into their hippocampus. and the chip telling them where they live and who they are, and so a memory chip is definitely in the cards, and I think this will eventually affect human civilization. What is the future of the internet? The future of the internet, his brain, The brain it is we when we send emotions, feelings, sensations are the engine that and we will telepathic they communicate with other humans. This way this is gonna fuck everything look at entertainment, member, the silent movies, Charlie chaplin was a famous during the era of silent movies. But when the talkies came in, nobody wanted to see charlie chaplin anymore, because he never talk in the movies

and so a whole generation of actors lost their job and a new series of actors came in next, we're gonna have the movies replaced by rain that, because, in the future, people say who wants to see a screen with images, that's it sound an image that's called the movies are entertainment industry, this multi billion Our industry is based on the screens with moving images and sound. What happens when emotions feelings, sensations memories can be conveyed on the internet is going to change everything human relations. Will change, is you'll, be able to empathize and feel the suffering of other people.

be able to communicate telepathically- and this is this- is coming. You describe the brain that in future of the mind, such an interesting concept. Do you think a zoo you mentioned entertainment, but what kind of effect would it have on our personal relationships? hopefully it will deepen it. You realise that for most of human history for over ninety percent of human history, We only new, maybe twenty, a hundred people, that's it folks that was your tribe That was everybody you knew in the universe was only maybe fifty or a hundred with the coming of towns. Of course it expanded to a few thousand. With the coming of the telephone. All of a sudden, you could reach thousands of people with a telephone, and now with the internet, you can reach the entire population of the planet earth, and so I think

this is a normal progression and you, you think, that kind of sort of connection to the rest of the world and then adding sensation. I like being able to share telepathically motions, and so on that would just further deepen our connection to our fellow humans. Yeah, that's right! In fact, I disagree with many scientists on this question. Most scientists would say that technology is neutral, a double edged sword. One sword. One side of the sword can cut against people. The other side of the sword can cut against ignorance and disease. I disagree. I think technology does have a moral direction. Look at the internet, the internet spreads

knowledge, awareness and that creates empowerment. People act on knowledge when they begin to realise that they don't have to live that way. They don't have to suffer under a dictatorship that there are other ways of living under freedom. Then they begin to take things, take power and that spreads democracy and democracies do not war with other democracies. I'm a scientist, I believe in data. So let's take a sheet of paper and right on every single war. You had to learn, since you were an elementary school every single war, hundreds of the king's squeeze emperors dictators. All these wars were between king squeeze emperors, indicative, never between

new major democracies and swiping with the spread of this technology and which would accelerate with the coming of brain that it means that well, we will still have wars. Words, of course, is politics by other means, but they'll be less intense and less frequent do have worries of longer term existential risk from technology from air, I said, I think that's. A wonderful vision of a future were war is a distant memory, but Now, there's another agent as there's there's somebody else. That's able to create conflict that is able to create harm ai systems. Do you have worry about the share system? Well, yes, that is an existential risk, but again I think an existential risk not for this century. I think our grandkids are going to have to confront this question as robots gradually approach the intel

hence the dog and cat, and finally, that of a monkey. However, I think we will digitize ourselves as well, not only Are we gonna mergers? Are technology will also digitize our personality? Our memories are feelings you rely too did during the middle ages. There was some tickle dualism dualism meant that the sole was separate from the body when the body died. This all went to Heaven, that's dualism, then in a twentieth century neuroscience came in and said bar humbug. Every time we look at the brain, it s neurons. That's it folks period story, bunsen neurons firing, neurons firing. Now we're going back to dualism. Now we we that we can digitize human memories feelings, and create a digital copy of ourselves and thus call the connect own project.

Billions of dollars, an now being spent two do not just the genome project of sequencing, the genes of her body, but the connect on project which is to map the entire connections. Are they here? brain and even before then already in silicon valley. Today, at this very moment, you can contact silicon valley, companies that are willing to digitize your relatives, because some people want to talk to their parents. There are unrest, now issues with their parents and one day. Yes, firms with digitize people and you'll be able to talk to them a reasonable facts, metal, We leah, we leave a digital trail. Our ancestors did not our ancestors were luck. If they had one line just one line in a church book saying the that they were baptized and the date they died

that's it that was their entire digital memory. I mean their entire digital existence, summarised in just a few letters of the alphabet, a whole life Now we digitize everything everything you sneeze, you digitize it, put it on the internet, and so I think that we are going to digitize ourselves and to give us digital image Ptolemy will not only have biologic genetic immortality of some sort, but also digital immortality, and what are we going to do with it? I think we should send it into outer space. You digitize the human brain and put it on a laser beam and showed it to the moon. You'Re- on the moon in one second- showed it to mars. You're on mars and twenty minutes, shoot it little. Europe are and eight hours think about it. For a moment you can have breakfast in new york and for a morning snack vacation on the moon.

then zap your way to mars by noontime journey through the asteroid belt in the afternoon, and they come. Act for dinner in new york at night, all in a day's work at the speed of light. Now this means that you don't need booster rockets. You don't need weightlessness problems, you don't need to worry about, meteorite and was on the moon on the moon. There is a mainframe that download your laser beams information away to sit down The information into an avatar, Is it ever to look like an If thing you want hair, think about it. a moment, you could be superman superwoman on the moon on mars. Traveling throughout the universe, at the speed of light downloading your personality into any vehicle you on now. Let me stick my neck out, sir,

for everything. I've been saying is well within the laws of physics. Well within the laws of physics. Now, go outside the laws of physics, and here we go. I think this already exists. I think outside the earth there could be a suit. For high way a laser highway of leaves reporting with Billy. and of souls of aliens zapping their way across the galaxy. Now, let me ask you a question: are we smart enough to determine whether such a thing exists or not know? This could exist right outside the orbit of the planet, earth and work too stupid in our technology to even prove it or disprove it. We would need the aliens on this laser superhighway to help us out and ass. A human interpretive will signal, I mean ultimately boils down to the language of communication, with that's an exciting possibility that actually the skies

filled with aliens should already be here and we're so oblivious. There were too stupid to know it They don't have to be an alien form with the with the little green men they can be. Any form they wanted an avatar, their creation or in fact they could vote while be like exactly what he'd. Never no one of us could be in an alien. You know when the zoo did. You know that we sometimes have zoo keepers that imitate animals. We create a fake animal and we put it in so that the animal is not afraid of this fake animal and, of course, these animals brains. Their brain is about as big as a walnut. They accept these dummies as if they were rico. so an alien civilization in outer space was say. Oh yeah, he would raise, or so tiny rigour put a dummy Their world an avatar and they'd, never know it. There will be an entertaining to watch from the alien perspective, so you cannot

apply there with it. There was a digital form of our being, but also by large What do one day technology will allow individual human beings to become immortal besides just through billy to digitize our essence ye. I think that artificial intelligence will give us the key to to genetic immortality. You seek in the coming decades. Everyone's gonna have their genes seek we'll have billions of genomes of all people. Billions of genomes of young people and what are we going to do with it? We're gonna run

when I am ashamed, which has had a recognition to look for the age genes, in other words, the fountain of youth, that emperors kings and queens, lest it ever over, the founding of youth will be found by artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence will identify where these age genes are located. First of all, what is aging we now know. What aging is aging is the build up of errors. That's all aging is the build up of genetic airs. This means that sells eventually become slower, sluggish, the odious and essence,

and they die. In fact, that's why we die. We die because of the build up of mistakes in our genome in are seller activity, but you see the future will be able to fix so genes with crisper type technologies and perhaps even live forever. So let me ask you a question: where is aging take place in a car given a car where does aging take place where It's obvious, the engine right, a nursery of lot of moving parts, be that's where you have combustion well, where in the cell do we have combustion,

the minor country, as we now know where a gene takes place, and if we cure many of the mistakes that build up the mighty conjure, the south we could become immortal. Let me ask you a few yourself could become a mortal. Would you damn straight now? I think about it for a while, because of course it determines depends on how you become immortal. You know, there's a famous myth of tiffin ass. It turns out that years ago, in the greeks and mythology, was the saga of teeth us and aurora. Aurora was the goddess of the dawn and she fell in love with a mortal a human call, tetanus and so aurora big big zeus, to grant her the the gift of immortality to give to her lover. So Zeus took pity on aurora

And may dizziness immortal, but you see aurora made a mistake you say she asked for immortality, but she forgot to ask for eternal youth supporters in s got or an older and odin every year, decrepid a bag of bones, but he could never die. never die. Quality of life is important, so I think a more It is a great idea as long as you also have immortal youth as well. Now I personally believe- and I cannot approve this, but I personally believe that our grandkids may have the option.

Reaching the age of thirty and then stopping they may like being age. Thirty is your have wisdom. You have all the benefits of age and maturity and you still live forever with a healthy body. Our descendants may like being therapy for several centuries. Is there an aspect of human existence that is meaningful only because we're mortal. Well, every waking moment we don't think about it this way, but every waking moment, actually, we are aware of our death and our mortality thing about it, For a moment when you go to college. You realize that you, in a period of time where soon you will reach middle age and have a career and that your retire and then you'll die? And so when as a youth, even as a child, without even thinking about it

you are aware of your own death because it sets limits to your life span. I gotta graduate from high school. I gotta graduate from college. Why? Because you're gonna die, because unless you graduate from my school where's your gradually, whom god you're not gonna, end your old age with enough money to retire and then die, and so yeah people think about it. Unconsciously, because it affects every aspect of your being. The fact that you go to high school college get married, have kids, this o clock a clock, taking even without your permission, it gives a sense of urgency. Do do you yourself, I mean there's so much excitement and passion

In the way you talk about physics, and we talk about technology in the future. Do yourself meditate on your own mortality? Do you think about this? Clock is ticking. Well, I try not to because it then begins to affect your behavior. You begin to alter your behaviour to to match your expectation of when you gonna die. So let's talk about youth and then let's talk about death, our When I interview scientists on radio, I often ask them what made the difference? How old were you? What change europe and they always say more or less the same thing. You know these are nobel prize winners, directors of major laboratories, very distinguished scientists. They always say when I was ten. When I was ten something happened, it was a visit to the planetarium. It was.

telescope forest, even weinberg, winner of the nobel prize. It was the chemistry kid for high spangles. It was a visit to the planetarium, four! Is it or robbie? It was a a book like the planet's bravo line stein. It was a compass, something happened which gives them this existential shop. he's just before the age of ten everything is mommy and daddy. Mommy and daddy. Does your universe, mommy and daddy around the age of ten? You be and I wonder, what's beyond mommy and daddy, and that's when you have this have any when you realise. Oh, my god is a universe out there, a universe, a discovery that sensation stays with you for the rest

of your life. You still remember that shock that you felt gazing at the universe and then you hit the greatest destroyer of scientists known to science. The greatest destroyer of scientists known to science. is junior high school. We knew he had junior high school folks, it's all over. It's all over because a junior high school people say hey stupid. I mean you like that. Nerdy stop and your friends shun you all of a sudden. You people think you're a weirdo and

I just made boring. You know Richard feynman, the nobel prizewinner, when he was a child. His father would take him into the forest, and the father would teach him everything about birds. Why do shaped the the way they are their wings, the coloration, the shape of their big everything about birds? So one day a bully comes up to the future nobel prize winner and says: hey dick was the name of that bird were there. While he did know he knew everything about that bird except his name, so he said I don't know, and then the bali said: what's the matter deck you stupid or something, and then in that instant he got it he got it. He realized for most people, science is giving names to birds. That's what science is. A list of names of obscure things. Hey peoples that you're smart, you're, smart,

you do all the names of the dinosaurs. You know all the names of the plants know. That's not. Science at all. Science is about principles, concepts, physical pictures, that's what science is all about. My favorite quote from Einstein is that unless you can explain a theory to a child The theory is probably worthless, meaning that all great We are not big words. All great theories are simple concepts: principles, basic physical pictures. Relativity is all about. Clocks meters sticks rocket. and locomotives newtons of gravity or about balls and spinning wheels and things like that. That's what physics in science is all about, not memorizing things and that stays with you for the rest.

Of your life, so even in old age, I've known as the scientists when they sit back, they still remain They still remember that flush that flush of excitement. They fell with that first telescope. That first moment, where we encountered the universe that keeps him going that keeps him going by the way. I should point out that when I was eight

Something happened to me as well. Yeah now is eight years old. It was in all the papers that a great scientist had just died and they put a picture of his desk on the front page. That's it just a simple picture. The front page of the newspapers of his desk. That desk had a book on it which was opened and the caption said more or less. This is the unfinished manuscript from the greatest scientists of our time. So I said to myself: well I couldn't you finish it what's so hard? Then you can finish it. If you're a great signed is a homeward problem right, you go home, you solve it or you ask your mom why couldn t solve it. So to me This was a murder mystery. This was greater than any adventure story. I had to Oh, why the greatest challenges of our time couldn't finnish, something

and then over the years I found out the guy had a name albert einstein, and that book was a theory of everything. It was unfinished What today, I can read that book. I can see all the dead ends and false starts city may, and I began to realize that he lost his way because he didn't have a physical picture to guide him on the third try on the first try. He talked about clocks and lightning bolts and meters stakes, and I gave us special activity which gave us the atomic bomb. The second great picture was gravity with balls rolling on curve surfaces, and they gave us the big bang creation of the universe. Black holes are the third try he missed it. He had no picture at all to guide. Him, in fact, is a quote I have where he said. I'm still looking on.

Till looking for that picture. He never found it will. Today. We think that picture is string. Theory. The string theory can unify gravity in this mysterious thing I signed in like which is quantum mechanics. Couldn't couldn't quite pin down to make sense of that's right? Mother nature has two hands left hand and a right hand the left hand, is a theory of the small. The right hand is the theory of the big, the fury, the sum is the quantum theory, the theory of atoms in quarks, the theory of the big ears. Relativity the theory of black holes. Big bangs problem is the left hand does not talk to the right hand, the hate each other. The left hand is based on discreet particles. The right hand is based on flew, smooth surfaces How do you put these two things together into a single thing? They hate each other, the greatest mine of our time. The greatest minds over time worked on this problem and fail.

Today, the only one, the only theory that has survived every challenge so far is string. Theory that doesn't mean string. Theory is correct. It could very well be wrong, but right now is the only game in town some people come up to me and say professor? I don't believe in a string theory give me an alternative, and I tell them there is none get used to. It is the best theory we got this thing. I fear we have, as the only theory have do you see in the strings kind of inspire a view, as did atoms and particles and corks but especially strings inspire view of the universe as a kind of information processing system as a as a computer of sorts? Do you see the universe in this way? Know some people think in fact the whole universe is

a computer of some sort, yes, and they believes that. Perhaps everything, therefore, is a simulation. Yes, I don't think so. I dont think that there is hooper video game, where we are nothing but puppets dancing on the screen and somebody hit the play button, and here we are talking about simulations. Not even newtonian mechanics says that the weather, the simple weather, is so complicated with chile's upon chileans of atoms. That it cannot be stimulated in a fanatic amount of time In other words, the smallest object, which can describe the weather and stimulate the weather? Is the weather itself, the smallest object that can stimulate a human. Is the human itself and if he had quantum mechanics becomes,

most impossible. The simulated with a conventional computer is quantum mechanics deals with all possible universes parallel, universes, a multi verse of universes, and so the calculation just spiral out of control, now and so far there is only one way where you might be able to argue that the universe is a simulation, and this is still being debated by quantum physicists. It turns out that if he thought the encyclopedia into a I call the information is not lost, eventually, wines upon the surface of the black hole at the service of the work, which is fine. I in fact you can calculate the maximum amount of information you can store in a black hole. is a fine. I number it's a calculable number believe it or not. Now, if the universe from here,

black holes, which is the maximum universe. You can conceive of each universe. East black hole, has a finite amount of information. Therefore ergo that ergo. The total amount of information in a universe is finite. This is mind boggling this I consider mind boggling, that all possible universes are count. People and all possible universes can be summarised in a number a number. You can write on a sheet of paper, all possible universes, and it's a finite number now is huge

it's a number beyond human imagination is number based on what is called a plank length, but it's a number, and so if a computer could ever simulate that number, then it would. The universe would be a simulation. So theoretically, because it's because the amount of information is finite there, while their nest sally must be able to exist. The computer, it just from an engineering perspective, may be impossible to build yes, so no computer can build a universe capable of stimulating the entire universe except the universe itself. That's your intuition! I add that our universe is very efficient and so there's no shortcuts right to two reasons why I believe the universe is not a simulation. First aid, the calculation of numbers you just incredible: no finite die touring machine.

it can simulate the universe and, second, why would any super intelligent being simulate humans? If you think about it? Most humans are kind of stupid. I mean we do all sorts of crazy, stupid things right and we call it art because humor recall it human civilization. So why should an advanced civilization go through all that effort just to simulate a saturday night live whether it's a funny idea, which is also. Do you think it's possible that the act of creation cannot anticipate humans? You simply set the initial conditions and set a bunch of physical laws.

And just for the fun of it. So happens, you launch the thing so unanimously, assimilating everything not simulating every little bit in in the seems in the sense that you could predict what's going to happen, but you set the initial conditions, set the laws and see what kind of fun stuff happens world some in some sense, that's how life got started in the nineteen, fifty stanley, What is called the miller experiment? He put a bunch of hydrogen gas methane toxic gases, ah with liquid and a spark in a small glass beaker, and then he just walked away for a few weeks came back a few weeks later and bingo out of nothing and chaos came amino acids. If he had left it there for a few years, he might have gotten protein protein molecules for free that prop, probably how life got started as a accidents and if he had left it there

for perhaps a few million years, dna might have formed in that beaker, and so we think that yeah dna life, all that could have been an accident. If you wait long enough I remember our universe is roughly thirteen point, eight billion years, all that's plenty of time for last of random things to happen, including life itself. Ah, we could be just a beautiful little random moment. Ass could be, and yet in fact number of those in not throughout the history of the universe. Me many creatures like us. We perhaps not the epitome of what the universe is created for, thank god, itself? Not just look around here. Look at EU level

Let me raise when do you think the first human was that foot on mars, I think, is a good chance in the twenty thirty is that we will be on mars. In fact, there's no physics reason, while we can't do it, it's an engineering problem the very difficult and dangerous engineering problem, but it is an engineering problem and in my book future humanity even speculate beyond that that, by the end of this century, we will probably have the first starships the first I Will not look like the enterprise at all. There probably be small computer ships that are fire by laser beams with parachutes, and likewise stephen hawking advocated the breakthrough. Starshine programme could send ships ship to the nearby stars travelling at twenty percent, the speed of light reaching out centauri in about twenty years time. Beyond that we should have fusion power using power,

is in some sense one of the ultimate sources of energy, but it's unstable and we don't have fusion power today now. Why is that? First of all stars form almost for free, you get a bunch of gas large enough. It becomes a star are at me, you didn't do anything to it and it becomes a star Why is fusion so difficult to put on the earth because it not a space stars are monocles, they are poor. Single poles, that's fear. Are there are spiritually symmetric? It is very easy to guess fairly symmetric configurations of gas to compressed into a star. It is happens as national all by itself. The problem is magnetism is by polar even north pole in isaf, bull s, eye trying to school he's a long balloon. Take along balloon and try to squeeze it, you squeeze one sided. Is out the others. I well that's the problem with fusion machines

use magnetism or the north pole in the south pole, the squeeze gas and all source of anomalies and horrible configurations can take place because we're not squeezing something uniformly like in a star stars in sums. and so for free fusion on the earth is very difficult, but I It is inevitable and it'll eventually gave us unlimited power from seawater, Oh see, water will be the ultimate source of energy for the planet. Earth. Why? What situation? Because what extract hydrogen from sea water? burn hydrogen in the fusion reactor to get give us limited energy without the meltdown without the nuclear waste? Why do we have meltdowns we have built thus because individual reactors everytime you with the uranium. Madam, you get nuclear waste tons of it thirty tonnes of nuclear waste per reactor per year and is hot.

his heart for thousands of millions of years. That's why we have meltdowns, but you see the waste product of a visionary acura helium gas, helium as is actually commercially valuable? You can make money, selling helium gas, and so the waste product of a fusion reactor is helium, not nuclear waste that we find in a commercial fishing plan and that controlling mastering controlling fusion allows us to converse us into a type one. I guess civilization rate I yeah, probably the backbone of a type one civilization. And we'll be fusion power. We, by the way, our type zero widows rate on this scale. We get energy from debt plants, for god's sake, oil and coal, what we are about a hundred years of being type, why you get a calculator. In fact, Carl Sagan calculate that we are about point seven fairly close too poor to a one point. Zero

For example. What is the internet? The internet is the beginning of the first type one technology to enter into our century. The first planetary technology, the internet. What is the language of type one or the other and already english mandarin chinese are the most dominant languages on the internet, and what about the culture we're seeing a type when sports soccer the limp a type where music, a youth culture, rock and roll rap music type when fashion good. She should now the type one economy, the european union nafta? What have you so are beginning to see the the beginnings of a type one culture in a type one civilization, and inevitably it will spread beyond this planet the he talked about sending at twenty percent the speed of light on a chip.

In jail for centauri, but in the slightly nearer term. What do you think about idea. We still have to send biological, our biological bodies, the colonization of planets colonization of mars DC, is becoming a two planet species ever or any time soon Well just remember: the dinosaurs did not have a space programme. why they're not here today of their no dinosaurs in his room today, because they didn't never space programme, we do have a space programme, which means that we have an insurance policy. Now I don't think we should bankrupt the earth or deplete the earth to go to mars as too expensive and not private but we need a settlement, a settlement on mars in case something bad happened to the planet. Earth. And that means we have a tariff warm mars. Now the terror for more

if we can raise a temperature of mars by six degrees, six degrees, then the polar ice cap begin to melt, releasing water vapor. What are they raised those gas. It causes even more melting of the ice caps. So it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy, it feeds on itself is, becomes otter, catalytic and so once you here, six degrees, were rising of the temperature on mars by six degrees. It takes off and we melt the polar icecaps and liquid water once again, flows in the rivers. The canals the channels and the oceans of mars mars was headed. when we think about the size of the united states, and so that is a possibility. Now, how do we get there? How do we raise a temperature mars by six degrees? You must would like a dead in a hydrogen war has on the polar icecaps? Yes, well, I'm not sure about that,

because we don't know that much about the effects of detonating. How does your warheads to melt the polar icecaps and who wants a glow in the dark at night? Reading the news her? So I think there are other ways to do it with solar satellites. You can have satellites orbiting mars that beam sunlight onto the polar icecaps melting, the polar icecaps mars has plenty of water is just frozen. I think you pay and inspiring and a wonderful picture, the future. It's a big, even spired, and the educated thousands, if not millions measure, has been an honour? Thank you so much for talking to the market, in the