Into the Impossible With Brian Keating Podcast By Big Bang Productions Inc. cover art

Into the Impossible With Brian Keating

Into the Impossible With Brian Keating

By: Big Bang Productions Inc.
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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© 2025 Big Bang Productions Inc. 719843 Natural History Nature & Ecology Physics Science
Episodes
  • Did We Find Alien Technology? Avi Loeb Explains

    Did We Find Alien Technology? Avi Loeb Explains
    Mar 21 2026
    Please join my mailing list here 👉 https://briankeating.com/yt to win a meteorite 💥 Brian Keating sits down with the ever-curious Avi Loeb for a mind-bending exploration into some of science's greatest mysteries and controversies. The conversation spans everything from the evolving understanding of comets and meteors—highlighting the false starts and surprising twists in scientific history—to the tantalizing possibilities of extraterrestrial life and the intrigue surrounding potential government disclosure. Key Takeaways: 00:00 "Aliens.gov: Speculation and Mystery" 06:02 "Satellite Imaging Unveils Unusual Objects" 15:37 "Alien Claims or Smokescreen?" 26:16 "Interstellar Object Anomalies Explained" 31:46 "Life Clues on Icy Object?" 39:08 "Academic Harassment by Editors" 47:05 "Finding More Interstellar Objects" 54:05 "Life on Mars: Earth Origin?" 59:15 "Life Transfer: Natural or Directed?" 01:08:32 "Dwarf Stars and Habitability" 01:16:06 "AI: Alien Intelligence's Impact" 01:23:37 "Technosignatures and Extraterrestrial Communication" 01:29:22 "Are We Ready for Answers?" 01:41:38 "CMB Analysis: No AI Allowed" 01:44:46 "Open Science via Simons Observatory" - Join this channel to get access to perks like monthly Office Hours: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmXH_moPhfkqCk6S3b9RWuw/join 📚 Get my books: Think Like a Nobel Prize Winner, with productivity tips from 9 Nobel Prize winners: https://a.co/d/03ezQFu Focus Like a Nobel Prize Winner, with life-changing interviews with 9 Nobel Prizewinners: https://a.co/d/hi50U9U 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 Follow me to ask questions of my guests: 🏄‍♂️ Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrBrianKeating 🔔 Subscribe https://www.youtube.com/DrBrianKeating?sub_confirmation=1 📝 Join my mailing list; just click here http://briankeating.com/list ✍️ Detailed Blog posts here: https://briankeating.com/blog 🎙️ Listen on audio-only platforms: https://briankeating.com/podcast #universe #podcast #briankeating #intotheimpossible #science #astronomy #cosmology #cosmicmicrowavebackground #AviLoeb #AlienTechnology #UFO #ExtraterrestrialLife #SETI #Astrophysics #SpaceDiscovery #UAP #Interstellar #ScienceExplained Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 54 mins
  • Andy Weir Explains the Real Science of Project Hail Mary

    Andy Weir Explains the Real Science of Project Hail Mary
    Mar 20 2026
    Please join my mailing list here 👉 https://briankeating.com/yt to win a meteorite 💥 In this episode of The INTO THE IMPOSSIBLE Podcast, Brian Keating sits down with Andy Weir, the bestselling author of The Martian and Project Hail Mary, to explore the real science behind one of the most ambitious science fiction stories ever written. With the upcoming film adaptation of Project Hail Mary generating excitement among fans, we dig into the physics, astrophysics, and speculative biology that make the story so compelling. Could the mysterious energy source known as astrophage actually exist? What does real astrophysics say about interstellar travel, relativistic journeys, and humanity’s chances of reaching nearby star systems? Andy Weir explains how he builds scientifically grounded worlds while still telling gripping stories, and Brian breaks down which elements of the novel are plausible according to modern physics. The conversation also explores the process of writing hard science fiction, how scientific accuracy shapes storytelling, and why readers and scientists alike have embraced Project Hail Mary as one of the most scientifically informed sci-fi novels of the last decade. Along the way, Brian and Andy discuss the challenges of adapting such a technically rich story into a major Hollywood film and what audiences might expect when the movie arrives. If you enjoy deep conversations about physics, astronomy, science fiction, and the boundary between imagination and reality, this episode will give you a fascinating look at how real science inspires great storytelling. - Key Takeaways: 00:00 Andy Weir Discusses 'Project Hail Mary' 10:44 "Balancing Science and Creativity" 16:03 "Global Unity Against Common Threats" 18:56 Amateurs Driving Innovation 25:35 Fermi Paradox: Light Speed Limit 29:30 "Building a Shared Language" 35:32 "5,000 Words Weekly Writing System" 46:58 UCSD Physics Experience Reflection 51:23 "Colleges Should Be Trade Schools" 57:08 Billion-Year Human Legacy Capsule - Join this channel to get access to perks like monthly Office Hours: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmXH_moPhfkqCk6S3b9RWuw/join 📚 Get my books: Think Like a Nobel Prize Winner, with productivity tips from 9 Nobel Prize winners: https://a.co/d/03ezQFu Focus Like a Nobel Prize Winner, with life-changing interviews with 9 Nobel Prizewinners: https://a.co/d/hi50U9U 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 Follow me to ask questions of my guests: 🏄‍♂️ Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrBrianKeating 🔔 Subscribe https://www.youtube.com/DrBrianKeating?sub_confirmation=1 📝 Join my mailing list; just click here http://briankeating.com/list ✍️ Detailed Blog posts here: https://briankeating.com/blog 🎙️ Listen on audio-only platforms: https://briankeating.com/podcast #universe #podcast #briankeating #intotheimpossible #science #astronomy #cosmology #cosmicmicrowavebackground #andyweir #projecthailmary #themartian #sciencefiction #hardsciencefiction #scifibooks #spacescience Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 11 mins
  • Meta NeuroScientist SHOCKED Me: AI Will Never Be Conscious!

    Meta NeuroScientist SHOCKED Me: AI Will Never Be Conscious!
    Mar 16 2026
    Please join my mailing list here 👉 https://briankeating.com/list to win a meteorite 💥 David Sussillo spent years training neural networks at Google Brain and now leads research at Meta Reality Labs. His verdict on the path to artificial consciousness might surprise you. In this conversation, we discuss why scaling transformers alone won't produce conscious AI, how recurrent neural networks differ from the transformer architectures powering today's LLMs, the FORCE algorithm he developed to train RNNs, what his work on Meta's EMG wristband reveals about AI and biological signals, Rich Sutton's Bitter Lesson and whether we're locked into a GPU-transformer paradigm, and why studying the brain may be the only way out of AI's current limitations. David is also the author of Emergence, a braided memoir that tells the story of his path from foster care to the frontier of neuroscience and AI research. David Sussillo is a research scientist at Meta Reality Labs and an adjunct professor at Stanford University. He completed his PhD at Columbia University under Larry Abbott and previously worked at Google Brain. Key Takeaways: 00:00 Scale alone won't produce consciousness — here's why 00:25 The "bitter lesson": big data crushes every algorithmic invention 01:15 How hallucinations were discovered early at Google 05:00 The lock-in problem: why LLM + GPU may cap AI's ceiling 08:25 What Meta's neural wristband is actually trying to solve 11:20 Rich Sutton's bitter lesson explained 14:15 "More is Different" — why you can't reduce complexity upward 28:30 The book Emergence — two stories braided into one 36:00 Why mentorship matters more than intelligence for at-risk kids 47:00 Stability over intensity: what kids in foster care actually need ➡️ Follow David Sussillo 🌐 Website / Research: Meta Reality Labs 📚 Emergence (memoir): https://www.amazon.com/Emergence-Memoir-Boyhood-Computation-Mysteries/dp/1538768577 🎓 Stanford / Columbia / Carnegie Mellon Alumni ✍️ Email: davidsussillo@gmail.com 🏄‍♂️ Twitter: https://x.com/SussilloDavid Join this channel to get access to perks like monthly Office Hours: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmXH_moPhfkqCk6S3b9RWuw/join 📚 Get my books: Think Like a Nobel Prize Winner, with productivity tips from 9 Nobel Prize winners: https://a.co/d/03ezQFu Focus Like a Nobel Prize Winner, with life-changing interviews with 9 Nobel Prizewinners: https://a.co/d/hi50U9U 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 Follow me to ask questions of my guests: 🏄‍♂️ Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrBrianKeating 🔔 Subscribe https://www.youtube.com/DrBrianKeating?sub_confirmation=1 📝 Join my mailing list; just click here http://briankeating.com/list ✍️ Detailed Blog posts here: https://briankeating.com/blog 🎙️ Listen on audio-only platforms: https://briankeating.com/podcast #universe #podcast #briankeating #intotheimpossible #science #astronomy #cosmology #cosmicmicrowavebackground #intotheimpossible #briankeating Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    58 mins
All stars
Most relevant
Greatest guests, Great topics. Thoughtful discussions with guests at the top of their fields. For listeners who crave pioneering into subjects that extend to the edges of what humanity knows, this is the podcast for you. Thanks Brian!

Great Guests, great topics

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I've just started listening to Brian Keating's podcasts and I know I'm going to binge them. So entertaining, and so thought provoking, and so clear. I hesitated to listen to the September 6 with Steven Koonin since I thought, no way am I going to spend time with a climate change denier. I'm glad I trusted Brian though and gave him a chance. The podcast may not have changed my mind but the time spent hearing the science, the statistical model, and Brian's careful and respectful presentation was a total pleasure. Very highly recommended!

Great Podcast!

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Even if you're not an expert of the cosmos (like me) this podcast is very easy to digest and super interesting. The big question of "How did the universe begin?" is not an easy one to answer, but it's a super cool topic to dive into. Dr. Keating takes you on a journey with other scientists to tackle this question and other intriguing phenomena throughout time and space. I love these deep dives and even if we never really find out how it all began I'll keep going into the impossible to learn more about our universe.

Highly recommend!

Insightful & An Awesome Listen For Anyone

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I have been binging this podcast recently, here and on other platforms. There have been many great episodes but the ones with Shep Doeleman, Heino falcke, Rai Weiss and Barry Barish really resonated with me for both the depth of the technical discussion, passion and interest from both the guests and Dr. Kearting, and the unguarded nature with which they answered the more personal questions.

Going through the history of the podcasts, I think Dr. Keating has grown as an interviewer becoming stronger in the follow-up to guest responses and striking a good balance in the science topics explored. Not to say early episodes were weak. For me, the content of the episodes and passion of the discussions are the main appeal, and those stood out for their excellence right from the beginning.

I would like to thank Dr. Keating for putting these out there. I hope you are able to continue for as long as people keep doing science,

Fascinating and often inspiring

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The personalities of each guest quite down to earth in their human discussions of esoteric concepts.
The thought process fascinating.
Have recommended highly to everyone!

Content Accessible and Enjoyable

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