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Physical Attraction


New? Head to the episode guide or drop us a line with the contact form.

We are a physics podcast. But not just that - interviews with scientists, scholars, authors and reflections on the history and future of science and technology are all in the wheelhouse. Over the years, for over 200 episodes, we've had shows on the astrophysics of stars, a comprehensive history of nuclear fusion, thermodynamics, particle physics, climate change, economics, philosophy, the psychology of conspiracy theories, and even the lives of Louisiana Senator Huey Long, or scientists under Stalin in the Soviet Union. 

We are an independent show: everything you hear is created by one person out of passion and love. My aim in producing this show is never to talk down to people, but instead to discuss fascinating and vital subjects with scientific rigour, compassion, and an eye for narrative: to educate, inform, and entertain. I hope that you, the listener, will find something you like here. 

You can read about us here, which includes a comprehensive episode guide for new listeners covering all of the shows that we've done, as well as links to transcripts of many of the episodes.  

You can contact us here - everything goes through to my email and I try to answer each one. Your comments and questions help me to improve the show and also motivate me to carry on, so I highly appreciate reading anything you feel like sending. 

If you like what we do and want to help us keep doing it, you can donate here. I am extremely grateful for those of you who have done so. 

You can also subscribe to the Physical Attraction: Extra! Feed over at Patreon: www.patreon.com/PhysicalAttraction - where for a small fee per bonus episode, you can help to support the show, and get some juicy bonus content too. The Patreon includes unique bonus episodes that stand alone, or alongside our existing series. But you will also get episodes as soon as I finish producing them, which is often months in advance: so, if you can't wait for your fix, that's where to go. 

We had a sister podcast, Autocracy Now, which deals with the lives of famous historical dictators. You can find some of their episodes on our feed, or the show itself at www.autocracynow.libsyn.com 

May 18, 2018

If we manage to survive the Sun gradually heating up, though, there might be a bigger problem before the Sun runs out of hydrogen. See, Monty Python and the Galaxy Song have it right; our galaxy is only one of millions and billions in this amazing and expanding Universe.

Physics is stunning. The reason is that it exists on so many different scales. On impossibly small lengthscales, we have no idea what’s going on; things are strange, and weird, and quantum. Then we move up towards the scales of subatomic particles; then the world of atoms and molecules; the world of microscopy. The world of us, and the objects we know; and the world of mountains, the world of worlds. The world of stars, and solar systems; the galaxy of stars and stellar systems. The world of galaxies, and, who knows – maybe the world of Universes, too.

 

This is the story of what happens if we make it through everything; if we survive the 21st century, and all of the centuries beyond. What new risks can we anticipate?
And how - to the best of our understanding - does everything, inevitably end? 


Theme music:
Get Ready for the Apocalypse - Astrometrics

Incidental music: 

Julie Maxwells Piano Music, Starry Sky

Both available via the Free Music Archive