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Physical Attraction

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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. 

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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 

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  2. TEOTWAWKI 3 - The Singularity, Part I

TEOTWAWKI 3 - The Singularity, Part I

Nov 24, 2017

Stephen Hawking, Elon Musk, Martin Rees... all have warned about the risk from Artificial Intelligence. Centres like the Future of Humanity Institute in Oxford, and the Centre for Existential Risk at Cambridge, rate the risk from artificial intelligence as way up there on the scale of potential human apocalypses. But it won't look like killer terminator-robots. We are standing on the precipice of a future that's almost impossible to comprehend. Will it be possible to survive?


In this episode, we'll lay the groundwork for talking about the singularity by introducing some of the fields involved - robotics, artificial intelligence and the efforts to create an artificial general intelligence. And we'll try to understand some of the incredible possibilities that might arise as we slowly blur the line between the artificial and the 'real'. We have a choice: tech utopia, or tech dystopia. But in the world of the Singularity, there is no room for Luddites.

Hit us up on Twitter @physicspod if your brain hasn't yet been uploaded to a computer and you still need to use a pesky keyboard interface in meatspace to interact. There, you can donate to the show (in fiat currency, not bitcoin, although I'll take some if you have any going.) Like and review us on iTunes, which will help their 'artificially intelligent' algorithms serve up this show to more consumer human robo-droids. Until next time, stay safe.