Cool Worlds Podcast

#7 Ramesh Narayan - Black Holes, Extreme Astrophysics, Event Horizon Telescope

In this week's episode, David is joined by Ramesh Narayan - a renowned astrophysicist whose groundbreaking research has significantly advanced our understanding of black holes and accretion processes. With a career spanning decades, Narayan's work has contributed invaluable insights into the behavior of supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies and the dynamics of matter falling into these cosmic giants. He has also been lead member of the Event Horizon telescope which captured the first photo of a black hole. To support this podcast and our research lab, head to www.coolworldslab.com/support

#6 Adam Frank - Technosignatures, Semantic Information, Galactic Colonization

In this week's episode, David is joined by Adam Frank. Adam is a Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Rochester University, author of popular science books such as "The Little Book of Aliens" and "Light of the Stars", as well as a regular CNN contributor.
To support this podcast and our research lab, head to www.coolworldslab.com/support
You can watch to the video recording of this podcast over at https://youtu.be/VM8n7HANYpM
Cool Worlds Podcast Theme by Hill [https://open.spotify.com/artist/1hdkvBtRdOW4SPsnxCXOjK]

#5 Kathryn Johnston - The Milky Way, Dark Matter vs MOND, Gaia

In this week's episode, David is joined by Kathryn Johnston. Prof Johnston is a Professor of Astronomy at Columbia University and the Dynamics Group Leader at the Flatiron Institute. Kathryn is a world renown expert for her work on Milky Way dynamics, especially tidal streams and the dark matter components of our galaxy.
To support this podcast and our research lab, head to www.coolworldslab.com/support
Cool Worlds Podcast Theme by Hill [https://open.spotify.com/artist/1hdkvBtRdOW4SPsnxCXOjK]

#4 Hod Lipson - Automated Physics Discovery, ChatGPT, Future of AI

In this week's episode, David is joined by Hod Lipson. Prof Lipson is the Director of the Creative Machine Lab at Columbia University and is a leading researcher in the field of artificial intelligence, self-replicating robots and self-learning machines. We dive into his work on machines that can discover new physics, the trajectory of current AI and the future of humanity and AGI.
To support this podcast and our research lab, head to www.coolworldslab.com/support

#3 Chiara Mingarelli - NANOGrav, Background Gravitational Waves, Black Holes

In this week's episode, David is joined by Chiara Mingarelli. Prof Mingarelli is currently moving from the University of Connecticut to Yale University and is theorist working on the so-called background gravitational wave signal. Predicted for decades but incredibly elusive, we are on the cusp of detecting this signal for the first time. Learn all about what this signal is and what it means for astronomy in today's episode.
To support this podcast and our research lab, head to www.coolworldslab.com/support

#2 Wendy Freedman - The Crisis in Cosmology, Standard Candles, Future of Cosmology

In this week's episode, David is joined by Wendy Freedman. Prof Freedman is a legendary cosmologist, who has played a central role in understanding the expansion rate of our Universe. She is a Professor of Cosmology at University of Chicago, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, a legacy fellow of the American Astronomical Society and winner of the Gruber Prize in Cosmology. Her recent work has focussed on precise measurements of the expansion rate of the Universe and has been a the heart of the so-called "Crisis in Cosmology" that we get into in today's episode.
 
To support this podcast and our research lab, head to www.coolworldslab.com/support

#1 Rebecca Charbonneau - Astrohistory, Carl Sagan, Cold War SETI

In our inaugural episode, David is joined by Rebecca Charbonneau. Dr Charbonneau holds a PhD in the History of Science from Cambridge University, and served as the Historian-in-Residence at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics from 2020-2022. She is currently a Janksy Fellow at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) and working on an upcoming book exploring the history of SETI - the Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence.
 
To support this podcast and our research lab, head to www.coolworldslab.com/support