Astrobiologist Says We’ve Been Searching for Aliens the Wrong Way with Nathalie Cabrol
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What if alien life is everywhere, but we’ve been looking for it in all the wrong places?
We assume life needs water, carbon, a warm little pond—just like Darwin said. But what if life doesn't care about what we assume to be necessary?
Today, we’re joined by Dr. Nathalie Cabrol, director of the Carl Sagan Center at the SETI Institute. Cabrol has spent her career exploring Earth’s most extreme environments—boiling lakes that freeze at night, toxic salt flats, and places where life should be impossible. And yet, it finds a way.
In this episode, we talk about the intricacies of the search for extraterrestrial life and question whether Earth might be a cosmic accident after all. We explore whether civilizations out there may stay silent on purpose—and what it would take for humanity to survive its own future, based on what we know about the deep secrets of the universe.
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Key Takeaways:
00:00:00 Intro
00:01:55 What is life?
00:05:17 Exploring extreme environments
00:08:51 Agnostic biosignatures
00:13:57 Judging a book by its cover
00:17:33 The shadow biosphere
00:22:27 Errors in the search for extraterrestrial life
00:37:31 The Rare Earth Hypothesis
00:40:41 Should we stop broadcasting our location?
00:52:00 The impact of discovering extraterrestrial life
01:00:06 Are we worth saving?
01:06:46 Outro
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Additional resources:
➡️ Learn more about Nathalie Cabrol:
🛸 SETI Institute: https://www.seti.org/our-scientists/nathalie-cabrol 📚 The Secret Life of the Universe: https://a.co/d/dzdzcD9
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1:14:29
Did Eric Weinstein Just Delete Einstein’s Cosmological Constant - Confirmed by DESI?
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Can geometric unity actually solve the deepest mysteries of our universe, or will it join the many others that have tried unsuccessfully in the past to create a new unified theory?
Eric Weinstein is one of the most revered thinkers of our generation. Though not an academic physicist, he proposed a unified theory of physics in 2013, which is supposed to have the potential to explain phenomena that string theory cannot. In a lecture held live at UCSD in April 2025 at the prestigious Astrophysics and Cosmology Seminar, Eric presented an update to his groundbreaking theory. Today, we’re sharing his fascinating lecture with you!
Eric is an investor, financial executive, and host of The Portal. He and his brother, Bret Weinstein, coined the term Intellectual Dark Web to refer to an informal group of pundits. Eric is a vocal critic of modern academic hierarchies and advocates for advances in scientific theory over an emphasis on experimental results. He proposed a new unified theory of physics in 2013 and has been an active member of the physics community.
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Key Takeaways:
00:00 Intro
01:58 Cosmological sector and geometric unity
03:57 The Poincaré group
08:31 Quantum gravity and the standard model
14:41 Torsion and gauge invariance
28:13 Spinor group and 14-dimensional space
38:24 Grand unification and spinors
42:34 The Higgs is an illusion
50:08 Outro
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Additional resources:
➡️ Learn more about Eric:
🎙️ Website: https://ericweinstein.org/
➡️ Follow me on your fav platforms:
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—
Into the Impossible with Brian Keating is a podcast dedicated to all those who want to explore the universe within and beyond the known.
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56:10
The Scientists Ep. 3: Isaac Asimov -- Atomic Habits
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Brian Keating takes us on a journey through the fascinating life and legacy of Isaac Asimov—but not as the sci-fi visionary you might expect. Instead, Brian explores Asimov the scientist: the prolific chemist, professor, and master storyteller who wrote more nonfiction science books than anyone in history. Discover how Asimov made chemistry come alive—turning even the most complex topics into vibrant, page-turning tales that inspired generations (including Brian himself!) to pursue science.
From tales of the periodic table and the drama of scientific discovery to the human stories behind elements like carbon and nitrogen, Brian shares his favorite five Asimov books and explains why they still outshine almost everything else in science writing. Along the way, you’ll hear about the power of storytelling in science education, the unexpected tragedies behind groundbreaking chemical discoveries, and why Asimov’s work remains a hidden gem for anyone passionate about learning.
So grab your curiosity and get ready to see why Isaac Asimov wasn’t just a legendary sci-fi writer—he was the greatest science storyteller atoms ever made.
Key Takeaways:
00:00 Asimov's Essential Chemistry Books
04:53 "Impactful Chemistry Book, 1965"
08:59 Galileo's Captivating Scientific Discovery
12:08 "Simplified Communication" Podcast Strategy
16:26 Carbon: Backbone of Life's Chemistry
17:42 "Benzene Dream & Carbon's Impact"
22:26 Pursuer of Clarity in Education
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26:56
How Black Holes Break Reality | Marcus Chown [Ep. 493]
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Could a black hole erase your past? Wipe out every memory, every detail, that makes you who you are?
That’s just one of the crazy questions we explore as we encounter the insane paradoxes of black holes.
Black holes don’t just trap matter. They trap information too. This is what makes them one of the greatest mysteries of our universe. They challenge our fundamental understanding of physics and our reality. Everything we know about our world breaks down when we confront their mystifying properties.
Today's guest, Marcus Chown, has spent years tracing the history of black holes—not just the science, but also the brilliant scientists who gave us the knowledge and insight into these marvels. From equations scribbled in the trenches of WWI to a vanishing dark star in the 1970s, Marcus takes us on a journey from discovery to understanding…of all that we know so far.
His latest book, A Crack in Everything, tells the astonishing story of how black holes went from absurd fantasy to perhaps the fundamental phenomenon that shapes our entire reality.
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Key Takeaways:
00:00:00 Intro
00:01:09 The most terrifying object in the universe
00:03:05 Judging a book by its cover
00:05:10 Paradoxes and information in black holes
00:10:26 Historical figures and black holes
00:23:23 The future of black hole research
00:34:44 Are black holes responsible for our existence?
00:38:53 Do black holes create universes?
00:44:06 Human stories that didn’t make it into the book
00:59:37 Outro
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Additional resources:
➡️ Learn more about Marcus Chown:
📚 A Crack in Everything: https://a.co/d/5KI9iZK
➡️ Follow me on your fav platforms:
✖️ Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrBrianKeating
🔔 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/DrBrianKeating?sub_confirmation=1
📝 Join my mailing list: https://briankeating.com/list
✍️ Check out my blog: https://briankeating.com/cosmic-musings/
🎙️ Follow my podcast: https://briankeating.com/podcast
—
Into the Impossible with Brian Keating is a podcast dedicated to all those who want to explore the universe within and beyond the known.
Make sure to follow so you never miss an episode!
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1:05:23
The Scientists Ep. 2: Pure Genius - The Feynman Method: How a Physicist Rewired the Way We Learn
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This conversation explores the life and legacy of Richard Feynman, exploring his pivotal role in the Manhattan Project, his unique personality, and his innovative teaching methods. Feynman's contributions to physics and his playful approach to science are highlighted, alongside the complexities of his character and the lasting impact he has had on future generations of scientists.
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Key Takeaways:
00:00 The Call to Arms: Feynman's Early Involvement in WWII
03:08 Los Alamos: The Birthplace of the Atomic Bomb
06:01 Feynman's Playful Genius: Safe-Cracking and Curiosity
08:52 The Personal and Professional: Feynman's Complex Life
12:13 Feynman's Iconoclastic Nature and Humor
15:07 The Legacy of Richard Feynman: A Lasting Impact
18:01 Feynman's Approach to Learning and Teaching
20:49 The Man Behind the Genius: Feynman's Flaws and Foibles
-
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My tell-all cosmic memoir Losing the Nobel Prize: http://amzn.to/2sa5UpA
The first-ever audiobook from Galileo: Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems: Ptolemaic and Copernican https://a.co/d/iZPi9Un
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Think like a physicist. Wonder like a human. Into the Impossible is where Cosmic Conversations happen — uniting Nobel Prize winners, iconoclasts, authors, and technologists to explore reality’s deepest questions. From AI to aliens, from biophysics to the brain, from the cosmos to the multiverse, Brian Keating, Chancellor’s Distinguished Professor of Physics at UC San Diego covers it all.
If you’ve ever asked What’s out there? or What’s next?, this is where curiosity meets clarity.
Learn to think like this. 🎙 Full episodes, notes & more: briankeating.com/podcast