Bridging the Gaps: A Portal for Curious Minds

Throughout history philosophers, poets and explorers have been pondering upon and debating the question that what the long term future of our universe would be. The focus has been on two intriguing perspectives: would the universe continue to exist forever or would it end at some point in time in future. Modern scientists seem to be in agreement that in the distant future the world will end; our universe will die. At that time, humanity might still exist in many unrecognizable spinoff forms, venturing out to distant space, finding new homes and building new civilizations. But the death of the universe if final. It is hard to contemplate that a time will come when, all that we care about, all that we have imagined and built, that all will end. It is equally hard to address the question that how our universe will end. In her latest book “The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking)”, Dr Katherine (Katie) Mack outlines five different ways the universe could end, and discusses in detail the mind-blowing lessons each scenario reveals about the most important concepts in physics. In this episode of Bridging the Gaps, I speak with Dr Katie Mack about her research and about these possible endings of our universe. Dr Katherine (Katie) Mack is a theoretical astrophysicist who studies a range of questions in cosmology, the study of the universe from beginning to end. She currently holds the position of Assistant Professor of Physics at North Carolina State University, where she is also a member of the Leadership in Public Science Cluster. Throughout her career she has studied dark matter, the early universe, galaxy formation, black holes, cosmic strings, and the ultimate fate of the cosmos. Alongside her academic research, she is an active science communicator and has been published in a number of popular publications such as Scientific American, The New York Times, Slate, Sky & Telescope, and Cosmos Magazine, where she is a columnist. We start our conversation by discussing with Dr Katie Mack the beginning of the universe; we then discuss nature and the large scale structure of the observable universe. We discuss cutting-edge research on two important unknowns that we are faced with: Dark Matter and Dark Energy. In the book Dr Katie Mack outlines a number of ways in which this universe could end. We discuss in detail two of these possibilities. Finally we discuss the models and theories that we presently use to study the cosmos and how might a “theory of everything” enhance our ability to understand the true nature of reality. This has been a fascinating discussion with one of the most dynamic rising stars in astrophysics. For more in-depth discussions with researchers and thought leaders, reach us at: https://www.bridgingthegaps.ie/ https://soundcloud.com/bridging-the-gaps

Research and development in the field of Artificial Intelligence is progressing at an amazing pace. These developments are moving beyond simple applications such as machine vision, autonomous vehicles, natural language processing and medical diagnosis. Future AI systems will be able to use reasoning to make decisions; will employ innovative models of non-human intelligence; will augment human intelligence through human centric AI Systems. These systems will enable us to discover solutions to scientific and social problems, and will enable us to understand the physical world around us that has never been possible up-to this point in time. In this episode of Bridging the Gaps, I speak with Professor Bart Selman to discuss these fascinating opportunities as well as emerging challenges in the field of Artificial Intelligence. Bart Selman is a Professor of Computer Science at Cornell University. He is a Fellow of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Professor Bart Selman is the president-elect of The Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence. We begin our conversation by going through some of the recent developments in the field of Artificial Intelligence and how far we are from achieving the goal of developing Artificial General Intelligence. We discuss in detail artificial reasoning, non-human intelligence and human centric AI. We also discuss state of the art research on the topic of explainable AI. We then discuss challenges posed by applying research in the field of AI to develop systems such as autonomous weapons, weaponized AI and other similar and sensitive domains. This has been a fascinating discussion about cutting edge research in the field of Artificial Intelligence. For more in-depth discussions with researchers and thought leaders, reach us at: https://www.bridgingthegaps.ie/ https://soundcloud.com/bridging-the-gaps

Information is a crucial concept. Its significance is evident by the fact that the present era is labelled as the information age. An intriguing question is: What is information? Although information is always around us, in the realm of digital artefacts and connectivity as well as in biological entities and processes, it is still an elusive concept. This is perhaps the hardest and most central problem that is the focus of a new area of research known as philosophy of information. This episode of Bridging the Gaps focuses on philosophy of information, and touches upon a number of relevant concepts. I speak with professor Luciano Floridi who explains what is philosophy of information, why it matters, and systematically unpacks and thoroughly explains a number of fascinating and relevant concepts for our listeners. Professor Luciano Floridi is a Professor of Philosophy and Ethics of Information at the University of Oxford. He is also the Director of the Digital Ethics Lab of the Oxford Internet Institute. He is Faculty Fellow of the Alan Turing Institute and Chair of its Data Ethics Group. He is an Adjunct Professor of the Department of Economics, American University, Washington D.C. His research interests include the philosophy of Information, information and computer ethics, and the philosophy of technology. His other research interests include Epistemology, Philosophy of Logic, and the History and Philosophy of Scepticism. In a recent presentation professor Luciano Floridi describes philosophy of information as a “philosophy of our time”, and a “philosophy for our time”. I start our conversation by asking professor Floridi to unpack this definition for our listeners and explain this description of the philosophy of information. An interesting point that we discuss is how did ancient philosophers deal with the concept of information and do we find any philosophical discourse about information in ancient times? We then move onto concepts such as conceptual nature of information, data grounding problem and meaning and truth. We discuss in detail the concept of “Level of Abstraction”. Professor Floridi discusses an interesting concept in his publications, that is the concept of “Informational Structural Realism” and he makes an important observation that a significant consequence of Informational Structural Realism is that the ultimate nature of reality is informational. This is an intriguing statement. Professor Floridi explains this statement and expands on what he means by “the ultimate nature of reality is informational”. We then move on and discuss in detail, immensely important concept of ethics of information. I then invite professor Floridi to share with our listeners details of the research projects that he has been working on recently. Before closing our discussion we discuss three very interesting points: describing philosophy as a mechanism to design and engineer concepts; researching open questions; and tackling the view held by some that philosophy is dead. This has been a thoroughly informative, hugely educative and immensely interesting conversation. For more in-depth discussions with researchers and thought leaders, reach us at: https://www.bridgingthegaps.ie/ https://soundcloud.com/bridging-the-gaps

Most history of science publications narrowly focus on specific periods in human history, or particular disciplines of scientific discovery, or small sets of scientists and philosophers. However there is a view that history of science can be better understood against the background of a history of knowledge including not only theoretical but also intuitive and practical knowledge. This can be further broadened by including cognitive, material and social dimensions of knowledge. Studying how knowledge structures are formed and evolve as knowledge spreads should further enrich our understanding of development and progress of science and technology. In his new book “ The Evolution of Knowledge: Rethinking Science for the Anthropocene” Jürgen Renn presents a new way of thinking about the history of science and technology, one that offers a grand narrative of human history in which knowledge serves as a critical factor of cultural evolution. Jürgen Renn is a director at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin, where, together with his group, he researches structural changes in systems of knowledge. Jürgen Renn is honorary professor for History of Science at both the Humboldt-Universität and the Freie Universität Berlin. He is currently serving as Chairperson of the Humanities Sciences Section of the Max Planck Society. In this book Jürgen Renn examines the role of knowledge in global transformations going back to the dawn of civilization while providing vital perspectives on the complex challenges confronting us today in the Anthropocene—this new geological epoch shaped by humankind. He reframes the history of science and technology within a much broader history of knowledge, analyzing key episodes such as the evolution of writing, the emergence of science in the ancient world, the Scientific Revolution of early modernity, the globalization of knowledge, industrialization, and the profound transformations wrought by modern science. He investigates the evolution of knowledge using an array of disciplines and methods, from cognitive science and experimental psychology to earth science and evolutionary biology. The result is an entirely new framework for understanding structural changes in systems of knowledge—and a bold new approach to the history and philosophy of science. In this episode of Bridging the Gaps, I speak with professor Jürgen Renn, one of today’s preeminent historians of science. We discuss fascinating research that he presents in The Evolution of Knowledge. We discuss the origin, evolution and spread of knowledge, and other insights that Jürgen Renn discuss in this thorough book. For more in-depth discussions with researchers and thought leaders, reach us at: https://www.bridgingthegaps.ie/ https://soundcloud.com/bridging-the-gaps

In the era of big data and super-fast information capturing and processing systems, it is easy to imagine that we have all the information that lead to actionable insights, that we need to make good decisions. However, according to David Hand, Emeritus Professor of Mathematics and Senior Research Investigator at Imperial College London, the data we have are never complete. Just as much of the universe is composed of dark matter, invisible to us but nonetheless present, the universe of information is full of dark data that we overlook at our peril. In his new book “Dark Data: Why What You Don’t Know Matters” Professor David Hand takes us on a fascinating and enlightening journey into the world of the data we don't see. As in his book “Brief Answers to the Big Questions” Stephen Hawking notes “No matter how powerful a computer you have, if you put lousy data in you will get lousy predictions out”, it is essential to understand anomalies and imperfections that a dataset may have. These imperfections may lead to incorrect and misleading insights. The book “Dark Data: Why What You Don’t Know Matters” explores the many ways in which we can be blind to missing data and how that can lead us to conclusions and actions that are mistaken, dangerous, or even disastrous. Full of real-life examples, from the Challenger shuttle explosion to complex financial frauds, the book outlines a practical taxonomy of the types of dark data that exist and the situations in which they can arise, and informs the readers how to recognize and control dark data. Professor David Hand guides us not only to be alert to the problems presented by the things we don’t know, but also shows how dark data can be used to our advantage, leading to greater understanding and better decisions. Data is essential for decision making; the books shows us all how to reduce the risk of making bad decisions. For more in-depth discussions with researchers and thought leaders, reach us at: https://www.bridgingthegaps.ie/ https://soundcloud.com/bridging-the-gaps

Mathematics is everywhere. We use numbers, quantities, values and measurements almost all the time. Counting and quantifying is part of almost everything that we do. An interesting question is how did it all start. When did humans start thinking mathematically and what is the origin of mathematical thinking. As we start tacking these questions, we stumble upon few more queries: how did our brain evolve to do mathematics; what are fundamental capacities that enable humans to do mathematical thinking; what are major milestones in the evolution of mathematical thinking and in the history of mathematical innovations; is mathematics discovered or is it invented. I invited Dr Keith Devlin to join me in this episode of Bridging the Gaps for a discussion that focuses on these questions. Dr Keith Devlin is the director of the Stanford Mathematics outreach project at Stanford University. His current research is focused on the use of different media to teach and communicate mathematics to diverse audiences. He has written 33 books and over 80 research articles. He is a World Economic Forum Fellow, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a Fellow of the American Mathematical Society. For more in-depth discussions with researchers and thought leaders, reach us at: https://www.bridgingthegaps.ie/ https://soundcloud.com/bridging-the-gaps

Our planet’s history, from its initial formation to present day, spans over a long period of time. It is not easy to conceptually imagine such a large timescale and most of us adopt a narrow perspective of temporal proportion. This constricted view, according to professor Marcia Bjornerud underlies many of the environmental problems we are creating for ourselves. The lifespan of Earth can seem unfathomable compared to the brevity of human existence, but a narrow view of time makes it difficult for us to understand our roots in Earth’s history and the magnitude of our impact on the planet. Bjornerud, in her recent book “Timefulness: How Thinking Life a Geologist Can Help Save the World” stresses that an awareness of Earth’s temporal rhythms is critical to our planetary survival. I speak with Professor Marcia Bjornerud in this episode of Bridging the Gaps and we discuss fascinating research and intriguing ideas that she presents in this book. We explore in detail, one of the main points presented in this book, which is “how knowing the rhythms of Earth’s deep past and conceiving of time as a geologist does can give us the perspective we need for a more sustainable future”. Bjornerud emphasizes that overlapping rates of change in the Earth system -- some fast some slow-- require a poly-temporal worldview that she calls “timefulness”. Marcia Bjornerud is professor of geology and environmental studies at Lawrence University. She is the author of Reading the Rocks: The Autobiography of the Earth and a contributing writer for Elements, the New Yorker's science and technology blog. “Timefulness: How Thinking Like a Geologist Can Help Save the World” presents a new way of thinking about our place in time, enabling us to make decisions on multigenerational timescales. “Timefulness reveals how knowing the rhythms of Earth’s deep past and conceiving of time as a geologist does can give us the perspective we need for a more sustainable future. Featuring illustrations by Haley Hagerman, this compelling book offers a new way of thinking about our place in time, showing how our everyday lives are shaped by processes that vastly predate us, and how our actions today will in turn have consequences that will outlast us by generations”. For more in-depth discussions with researchers and thought leaders, reach us at: https://www.bridgingthegaps.ie/ https://soundcloud.com/bridging-the-gaps

An intriguing set of questions that is being explored by researchers across the globe and is being discussed and brainstormed in various organisations and think tanks is: “what is the future of work”; “how forthcoming AI and Automation revolution will impact on the nature and structure of work”; and “what would be the impact of these changes on the fabric of society from social, economic and political perspectives”. In a 2013 study “The Future of Employment: How Susceptible are Jobs to Computerisation?” researchers Dr Carl Benedikt Frey and Dr Michael Osborne made an important observation: about 47% jobs in the US will be lost to automation. Dr Carl Frey is the co-director of programme on technology and employment at Oxford Martin School at Oxford University. His research focuses on “how advances in digital technology are reshaping the nature of work and jobs and what that might mean for the future”. In 2016, he was named the 2nd most influential young opinion leader by the Swedish business magazine Veckans Affärer. A recent book by Dr Carl Frey presents a thorough review of the history of technological progress and how it has radically shifted the distribution of economic and political power among society’s members. The title of the book is “The Technology Trap: Capital, Labour and Power in the Age of Automation”. The Industrial Revolution was a defining moment in history, but few grasped its enormous consequences at the time. This books demonstrates that the lessons of the past can help us to more effectively face the present and the forthcoming AI and automation revolution. Dr Carl Frey shows the Industrial Revolution created unprecedented wealth and prosperity over the long run, but the immediate consequences of mechanization were devastating for large swaths of the population. Middle-income jobs withered, wages stagnated, the labour share of income fell, profits surged, and economic inequality skyrocketed. These trends, Frey documents, broadly mirror those in our current age of automation, which began with the Computer Revolution. Just as the Industrial Revolution eventually brought about extraordinary benefits for society, artificial intelligence systems have the potential to do the same. But Frey argues that this depends on how the short term is managed. The decisions that we make now and the policies that we develop and adopt now will have profound impact on the future of work and job market. In the nineteenth century, workers violently expressed their concerns over machines taking their jobs. The Luddite uprisings joined a long wave of machinery riots that swept across Europe and China. Today’s despairing middle class has not resorted to physical force, but their frustration has led to rising populism and the increasing fragmentation of society. As middle-class jobs continue to come under pressure, there’s no assurance that positive attitudes to technology will persist. Dr Carl Frey joins me for this episode of Bridging the Gaps. In this podcast we discuss the ideas that Dr Frey presents in this book. Before discussing the future of work, we look at the history of work and how the nature of work evolved through various ages and how did it impact the equality in the society. Dr Frey notes in his book that the age of inequality began with the Neolithic revolution; we discuss this in detail. We then discussed first and second industrial revolutions and the age of digital transformation. We also discuss the rise of politics of polarisation and finally we discuss the future of work. This has been a fascinating conversation with a thought leader, on a hugely important subject. For more in-depth discussions with researchers and thought leaders, reach us at: https://www.bridgingthegaps.ie/ https://soundcloud.com/bridging-the-gaps

Humans are the only animals that cook their food. One of the implications of cooking food, as noted by Oliver Goldsmith is, “of all other animals we spend the least time in eating”. In a ground-breaking theory of our origins, primatologist Richard Wrangham argues that the shift from raw to cooked food was a key factor in human development. When our ancestors adapted to using fire, humanity as we know it, began. Wrangham notes that as a result of eating cooked food, the human digestive tract shrank and the brain grew. Eating cooked plants or meat makes digestion easier and the energy we formerly spent on digestion was freed up, enabling our brains to grow. Cooking increases the proportion of nutrients that can be digested, makes food easier to digest and kills pathogens (harmful bacteria and viruses). Time once spent chewing tough food could be used instead to hunt and undertake other tasks and activities. Cooking became the basis for pair bonding and marriage, created household and shaped family structures, and even led to a gender based division of labour. Richard Wrangham is a professor of Biological Anthropology at Harvard University and founded the Kibale Chimpanzee Project in 1987. He has conducted extensive research on primate ecology, nutrition, and social behaviour. In his book “Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human” Wrangham argues that cooking food is obligatory for humans as a result of biological adaptations and the cooking, in particular, the consumption of cooked food might explain the increase in human brain size, smaller teeth and jaws, and smaller more effective digestive system. Wrangham’s “Catching Fire” presents an interesting narrative that how we came to be the social and intelligent beings that we are today. “Cooking was a great discovery not merely because it gave us better food, or even because it made us physically human. It did something even more important: it helped make our brains uniquely large, providing a dull human body with a brilliant human mind” – Richard Wrangham For more high quality in-depth discussions with researchers and thought leaders, reach us at: https://www.bridgingthegaps.ie/ https://soundcloud.com/bridging-the-gaps

Since 2003, in a unique Earth-trailing orbit around the sun, the Spitzer Space Telescope has been observing in infrared an optically invisible universe dominated by dust and stars. Astronomers have been studying visible universe for thousands of years; however due to interstellar dust clouds and other obstructions to visible light, it was not possible to observe various regions of the universe. The Spitzer Space Telescope, the most sensitive infrared space observatory ever launched, has enabled us to study such optically obscure regions and processes in infrared. “The Spitzer Space Telescope has opened up a new window on the cosmos, yielding new perspectives and crucial insights into the genesis of planets, stars and galaxies”. Michael Werner and Peter Eisenhardt are among the scientists who worked for decades to bring this historic mission to life. Their book “More Things in the Heavens: How infrared astronomy is expanding our view of the universe” outlines an inside story of how Spitzer continues to carry out cutting-edge infrared astronomy to help answer fundamental questions that have intrigued humankind since ancient time: Where did we come from? How did the universe evolve? Are we alone? In this episode of Bridging the Gaps podcast, I speak with Michael Werner, one of the authors of this insightful book. Discussing various features of Spitzer’s mission and numerous topics covered in the book, this podcast presents a fascinating view of how infrared astronomy is aiding the search for exoplanets, enabling us to study exoplanet atmospheres, and is transforming our understanding of formation of stars and galaxies, and of the history and evolution of our universe. Michael Werner is a senior research scientists at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. He has been the lead scientist for the Spitzer Space Telescope since 1984. For more high quality in-depth discussions with researchers and thought leaders, reach us at: https://www.bridgingthegaps.ie/ https://soundcloud.com/bridging-the-gaps