Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Lawrence. Welcome to the show,sir, professor. I feel like I
should say scientists, sir. It'sLawrence M. Krause, the author of
the Edge of Knowledge Unsolved Mysteries ofthe Cosmos. How are you, Sarah,
Well, I'm doing very well.How are you doing there? We're
good. I noticed what are yougonna have complaints about cutting your lawn?
Sign? On Twitter? Is thatyou posted about your lawn? Well,
(00:22):
I was posting about Yeah, Iwas posting about my large lawn here and
and uh and um, yeah itwas. It's a challenge, but I
kind of feel like Green Acres.I sit on a tractor and I feel
like Eddie Albert many years ago.I'm I try to participate in no mo
may. It's hard to do.And I know he's a Yale professor.
Cantara the end, and you know, I stowed for those people, but
(00:43):
this is totally relevant the book.But those people were concerned about my mowing
lawn. I showed about the nextday of the lawn was full of dandelions
once again, right, I know, he's very very happy dead. All
is the case? The Fruitless Fight, The Edge of Knowledge Unsolved Mysteries of
the Cosmos is your new book,and and we're having a good time with
you. Am I going to learnsomething? But in a non brainiac kind
of way? Is this a bookfor everybody? Of course, it's a
(01:07):
book for everybody. I wouldn't readit otherwise. But yeah, you'll learn.
You'll learn a little bit more abouthow amazing the universe is and how
and how the imagination of the universeis greater than our imaginations. But you'll
also learn that the questions you've askedthis you've been a little kid, are
the questions of scientists are dealing withat the forefront of science. The books
about sort of the open questions atthe edge of knowledge. So you know,
(01:30):
are we alone in the universe?Can you travel in time? Then?
How did life originate? Right?What? What does your consciousness mean?
What? What do you see thesame color green as everyone else?
All of us have had those,those those questions, and science is dealing
with them. Um now, Andit's the questions that matter. And as
I say in the book, it'sbeing willing to say, I don't know.
(01:51):
Those are the three most important wordsin science and probably in life,
because that's an invitation to discover theoreticalphysicists, which gives them a whole out
of leeway. I kind of appreciatethat. Are you in the same circle
as Neil de Grassy Tyson de grassTyson? Well, I think Neil's a
friend and he's, uh, we'vebeen We've done numerous things together, and
(02:13):
uh yeah, it's it's a smallcommunity. When my late friend Stephen Hawking
wrote the forward to one of mybooks that physics a star trek, so
yeah, we hang out. Solet's go over some of this stuff.
I mean, we know the universeis still expanding already anytime soon as it
gonna slow down. In fact,it's the opposite. The big discovery in
the world is it's actually speeding up. But all common sense heels us the
(02:36):
universe should slow down, right,because you throw a ball up, it's
slows down. Gravity sucks, itdoesn't blow, and uh and yes,
when it comes to the universe,gravity appears to blow. It appears to
um. Uh. In nineteen ninetyeight, it was discovered that the rate
of expansion of the universe is actuallyspeeding up. I'm happy to say that
we kind of predicted that in nineteenninety five. I didn't believe it when
(02:59):
I predict did, but I thought, well, it might be possible,
And then in nineteen ninetyeight we discoveredthat and it's changed our whole picture of
the universe because the only way theexpansion of the universe could be speeding up,
and this is wild, is ifthe dominant energy and universe resides in
empty space. Space weighs something andwe don't have to play this understanding of
why. But empty space appears tobe the dominant form of energy in the
(03:23):
universe. You know, literally,you get rid of all the particles and
all jurity, you have a bitof empty space and a weigh something.
Well, we should talk about weshould talk about black holes too, then,
you know, we should get intothat. But at least I thought
it was going to snap back anddo the reverse Big Bang on us at
some point here. So that's goodnews. Let's talk about black holes.
(03:43):
Um, how soon after entering ablack hole are you squished into nothingness?
Depends upon the black hole. Youknow. That's kind of amazing thing about
black holes is that is that they'revery different depending on their size. If
you if if you you'd be squishedin enough, you'd be stretched like spaghetti
into even a black hole of themass of the Sun. But if I
(04:08):
took a black hole of the massof the of the universe, the average
density of the black hole would beabout this density of our universe. We
could be living inside of the blackhole. It's not um maybe it's all
I hope it's better there. Butuh, but so it depends on the
black hole, and and and butyour experience. The strange thing is that
your experience will be very different thanmy experience if I'm watching you fall in.
(04:31):
Because if I'm watching you fall in, Einstein told us that that time
depends upon gravity. So if Ifall in, it would look like your
clocks would slow down and stop justbefore you fell in the black hole.
I never see fall in, eventhough you'd fall in and be squished and
stretched to oblivion pretty quickly. Now, you you're very confident in that you
(04:51):
know this is what would happen,because you are theoretical physicist. Let me
let me interrupt you and say,I'm confident because certainly the fact that time
changes in a graduational field can bemeasured. Have you used a GPS device
in recent times to get anywhere?Yes, if you didn't. If we
(05:15):
didn't take into account that the thomicclocks on those satellites picked at a different
rate because of gravity, you getlost in about ten minutes. So we
use it. It's not just somescience fiction idea. We use it as
a part of our technology in everysingle day. We're talking about the book
The Edge of Knowledge, Unsolved Mysteriesof the Cosmos with Lawrence Kraus. When
you see like military footage of theorb or what we call UFOs, what
(05:40):
goes through your mind? What goesthrough my mind is that I don't know
what they are, and that's fine. But what we have to recognize is
that lack of understanding is not evidencefor aliens or God or anything else.
It's just lack of understanding. Andthen we have to ask what are the
most likely possibilities, and when itcomes to aliens, they're probably the least.
Like the explanation of the weird thingsthat have been seen up in the
(06:01):
sky, it's okay that we don'tknow what it is, but we shouldn't
jump to conclusions that we do knowwhat it is because we don't understand it
and therefore it must be aliens.So when you understand about the universe and
it's okay. So, but whenyou approach something is difficult to understand,
is say, time travel or manipulationof space, time or whatever, that's
(06:23):
what you do. You figure outthe you know, the the xs and
the o's to the thing, andthen you tell us what your theory is
on it. Right, Well,we try, and then we check to
see if we're right. But thenusually that reads other questions. And that's
the exciting part about the universe.It seems the questions are endless, and
the more we know, the moreexciting and the more interesting than the new
(06:44):
questions are. So yeah, I'mlucky. I guess I've gotten paid for
most of my life to ask questionsand to try and you know, play
with the universe. And what agreat lucky thing it is. And that's
why I like to share that joy. You know, Carl Sagan wants when
you're in love, you you screamit to the world, while he was
in love with science, and soam I and I love to share that.
(07:04):
And it saddens me that more peoplepeople don't realize the questions that fascinates
them are really scientific questions, andmany of them are intimidated from reading about
science because they think they're not goingto understand it. But if you can
understand the perspective of what's going onwithout the details, just like you can
understand that you can enjoy an EricClapton riff and the guitar without being able
(07:26):
to play yourself. Well, letme give you one of those questions.
Then what do you see? Howdo you see time travel being implemented?
Like realistically? Is it some sortof quantum trapped on computer that has a
physical thing sitting there at a buildingand Langley or is it something completely different
like that Oppenheim guy. Well,if it's probably even stranger than either of
those. It turns out if timeWe don't know if time travel is possible.
(07:50):
I'm betting it's not, but wedo know the kind of things you'd
have to do to make time travelwork, and you'd have to manipulate space
and time and rather dramatically ways.One of the ways to create a time
machine is to have a wormhole.Did you ever see the movie Contact where
Jodie Foster went through that wormhole?Okay, well, we don't know.
We don't know if wormholes exist.They're kind of shortcuts through the universe.
(08:11):
But if you could create a wormholeand go through it, you'd be able
to create a time machine. That'swhen they flipped the paper sideway the egg
and show you with it. Puta pencil through it. I just put
a pencil through a piece of paper. Yeah, you beend a piece of
paper. Put a pencil through it, and it looks like a wormhole.
But if you ask me, canyou create wormholes? You know what the
(08:31):
answer is. You don't know exactlyyou got it, And there's nothing wrong
with that because it's an invitation todiscover. We're trying to figure out if
you could do it. We don'tknow the answer, but that makes its
exciting. Someone's spending money figuring itout. Squeezing one last question, we're
gonna we don't gonna have a manof your caliber on the program quite some
time. The new book The Edgeof Knowledge Unsolved Mysteries of the Cosmos Lawrence
(08:54):
Krause. Did we invent math ordid we discover it? I think we
discover it, all right, allright? And we and then our idea
of what it is has changed continuallyand probably will change over the future.
Sure it makes sense evolution and evenprobably just stumbled across it. Your excitement
really comes across, and I betit comes across in the book too.
Good luck with everything. Thank you, Lawrence. It's been a pleasure you
(09:16):
guys to take care of. Thebook is the Edge of Knowledge, Lawrence
Cross, It's Quinny, can't tearit. Picks one of six.
Lawrence. Welcome to the show,sir, professor. I feel like I
should say scientists, sir. It'sLawrence M. Krause, the author of
the Edge of Knowledge Unsolved Mysteries ofthe Cosmos. How are you, Sarah,
Well, I'm doing very well.How are you doing there? We're
good. I noticed what are yougonna have complaints about cutting your lawn?
Sign? On Twitter? Is thatyou posted about your lawn? Well,
(00:22):
I was posting about Yeah, Iwas posting about my large lawn here and
and uh and um, yeah itwas. It's a challenge, but I
kind of feel like Green Acres.I sit on a tractor and I feel
like Eddie Albert many years ago.I'm I try to participate in no mo
may. It's hard to do.And I know he's a Yale professor.
Cantara the end, and you know, I stowed for those people, but
(00:43):
this is totally relevant the book.But those people were concerned about my mowing
lawn. I showed about the nextday of the lawn was full of dandelions
once again, right, I know, he's very very happy dead. All
is the case? The Fruitless Fight, The Edge of Knowledge Unsolved Mysteries of
the Cosmos is your new book,and and we're having a good time with
you. Am I going to learnsomething? But in a non brainiac kind
of way? Is this a bookfor everybody? Of course, it's a
(01:07):
book for everybody. I wouldn't readit otherwise. But yeah, you'll learn.
You'll learn a little bit more abouthow amazing the universe is and how
and how the imagination of the universeis greater than our imaginations. But you'll
also learn that the questions you've askedthis you've been a little kid, are
the questions of scientists are dealing withat the forefront of science. The books
about sort of the open questions atthe edge of knowledge. So you know,
(01:30):
are we alone in the universe?Can you travel in time? Then?
How did life originate? Right?What? What does your consciousness mean?
What? What do you see thesame color green as everyone else?
All of us have had those,those those questions, and science is dealing
with them. Um now, Andit's the questions that matter. And as
I say in the book, it'sbeing willing to say, I don't know.
(01:51):
Those are the three most important wordsin science and probably in life,
because that's an invitation to discover theoreticalphysicists, which gives them a whole out
of leeway. I kind of appreciatethat. Are you in the same circle
as Neil de Grassy Tyson de grassTyson? Well, I think Neil's a
friend and he's, uh, we'vebeen We've done numerous things together, and
(02:13):
uh yeah, it's it's a smallcommunity. When my late friend Stephen Hawking
wrote the forward to one of mybooks that physics a star trek, so
yeah, we hang out. Solet's go over some of this stuff.
I mean, we know the universeis still expanding already anytime soon as it
gonna slow down. In fact,it's the opposite. The big discovery in
the world is it's actually speeding up. But all common sense heels us the
(02:36):
universe should slow down, right,because you throw a ball up, it's
slows down. Gravity sucks, itdoesn't blow, and uh and yes,
when it comes to the universe,gravity appears to blow. It appears to
um. Uh. In nineteen ninetyeight, it was discovered that the rate
of expansion of the universe is actuallyspeeding up. I'm happy to say that
we kind of predicted that in nineteenninety five. I didn't believe it when
(02:59):
I predict did, but I thought, well, it might be possible,
And then in nineteen ninetyeight we discoveredthat and it's changed our whole picture of
the universe because the only way theexpansion of the universe could be speeding up,
and this is wild, is ifthe dominant energy and universe resides in
empty space. Space weighs something andwe don't have to play this understanding of
why. But empty space appears tobe the dominant form of energy in the
(03:23):
universe. You know, literally,you get rid of all the particles and
all jurity, you have a bitof empty space and a weigh something.
Well, we should talk about weshould talk about black holes too, then,
you know, we should get intothat. But at least I thought
it was going to snap back anddo the reverse Big Bang on us at
some point here. So that's goodnews. Let's talk about black holes.
(03:43):
Um, how soon after entering ablack hole are you squished into nothingness?
Depends upon the black hole. Youknow. That's kind of amazing thing about
black holes is that is that they'revery different depending on their size. If
you if if you you'd be squishedin enough, you'd be stretched like spaghetti
into even a black hole of themass of the Sun. But if I
(04:08):
took a black hole of the massof the of the universe, the average
density of the black hole would beabout this density of our universe. We
could be living inside of the blackhole. It's not um maybe it's all
I hope it's better there. Butuh, but so it depends on the
black hole, and and and butyour experience. The strange thing is that
your experience will be very different thanmy experience if I'm watching you fall in.
(04:31):
Because if I'm watching you fall in, Einstein told us that that time
depends upon gravity. So if Ifall in, it would look like your
clocks would slow down and stop justbefore you fell in the black hole.
I never see fall in, eventhough you'd fall in and be squished and
stretched to oblivion pretty quickly. Now, you you're very confident in that you
(04:51):
know this is what would happen,because you are theoretical physicist. Let me
let me interrupt you and say,I'm confident because certainly the fact that time
changes in a graduational field can bemeasured. Have you used a GPS device
in recent times to get anywhere?Yes, if you didn't. If we
(05:15):
didn't take into account that the thomicclocks on those satellites picked at a different
rate because of gravity, you getlost in about ten minutes. So we
use it. It's not just somescience fiction idea. We use it as
a part of our technology in everysingle day. We're talking about the book
The Edge of Knowledge, Unsolved Mysteriesof the Cosmos with Lawrence Kraus. When
you see like military footage of theorb or what we call UFOs, what
(05:40):
goes through your mind? What goesthrough my mind is that I don't know
what they are, and that's fine. But what we have to recognize is
that lack of understanding is not evidencefor aliens or God or anything else.
It's just lack of understanding. Andthen we have to ask what are the
most likely possibilities, and when itcomes to aliens, they're probably the least.
Like the explanation of the weird thingsthat have been seen up in the
(06:01):
sky, it's okay that we don'tknow what it is, but we shouldn't
jump to conclusions that we do knowwhat it is because we don't understand it
and therefore it must be aliens.So when you understand about the universe and
it's okay. So, but whenyou approach something is difficult to understand,
is say, time travel or manipulationof space, time or whatever, that's
(06:23):
what you do. You figure outthe you know, the the xs and
the o's to the thing, andthen you tell us what your theory is
on it. Right, Well,we try, and then we check to
see if we're right. But thenusually that reads other questions. And that's
the exciting part about the universe.It seems the questions are endless, and
the more we know, the moreexciting and the more interesting than the new
(06:44):
questions are. So yeah, I'mlucky. I guess I've gotten paid for
most of my life to ask questionsand to try and you know, play
with the universe. And what agreat lucky thing it is. And that's
why I like to share that joy. You know, Carl Sagan wants when
you're in love, you you screamit to the world, while he was
in love with science, and soam I and I love to share that.
(07:04):
And it saddens me that more peoplepeople don't realize the questions that fascinates
them are really scientific questions, andmany of them are intimidated from reading about
science because they think they're not goingto understand it. But if you can
understand the perspective of what's going onwithout the details, just like you can
understand that you can enjoy an EricClapton riff and the guitar without being able
(07:26):
to play yourself. Well, letme give you one of those questions.
Then what do you see? Howdo you see time travel being implemented?
Like realistically? Is it some sortof quantum trapped on computer that has a
physical thing sitting there at a buildingand Langley or is it something completely different
like that Oppenheim guy. Well,if it's probably even stranger than either of
those. It turns out if timeWe don't know if time travel is possible.
(07:50):
I'm betting it's not, but wedo know the kind of things you'd
have to do to make time travelwork, and you'd have to manipulate space
and time and rather dramatically ways.One of the ways to create a time
machine is to have a wormhole.Did you ever see the movie Contact where
Jodie Foster went through that wormhole?Okay, well, we don't know.
We don't know if wormholes exist.They're kind of shortcuts through the universe.
(08:11):
But if you could create a wormholeand go through it, you'd be able
to create a time machine. That'swhen they flipped the paper sideway the egg
and show you with it. Puta pencil through it. I just put
a pencil through a piece of paper. Yeah, you beend a piece of
paper. Put a pencil through it, and it looks like a wormhole.
But if you ask me, canyou create wormholes? You know what the
(08:31):
answer is. You don't know exactlyyou got it, And there's nothing wrong
with that because it's an invitation todiscover. We're trying to figure out if
you could do it. We don'tknow the answer, but that makes its
exciting. Someone's spending money figuring itout. Squeezing one last question, we're
gonna we don't gonna have a manof your caliber on the program quite some
time. The new book The Edgeof Knowledge Unsolved Mysteries of the Cosmos Lawrence
(08:54):
Krause. Did we invent math ordid we discover it? I think we
discover it, all right, allright? And we and then our idea
of what it is has changed continuallyand probably will change over the future.
Sure it makes sense evolution and evenprobably just stumbled across it. Your excitement
really comes across, and I betit comes across in the book too.
Good luck with everything. Thank you, Lawrence. It's been a pleasure you
(09:16):
guys to take care of. Thebook is the Edge of Knowledge, Lawrence
Cross, It's Quinny, can't tearit. Picks one of six.
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