150k q&a
Hi patrons!
I am doing this over on my community page on youtube but if you all have any questions please post them here. I may do a separate patreon only video though I have brought that up on here before and I think there is limited interest compared to over on youtube. So if you are not interested please ignore!
Comments (72)
I appreciate your wit and love of science! Unlike other author’s videos, I never fast forward yours since I know it will be packed with information and insights. Keep up the great story telling!
I suspect I'm slightly on the wrong channel, I love your book reviews and your physics (but also the billionaires<>physicists). Have you ever read any pynchon? specifically what did you think of crying of lot 49?
Any advice for current physics students?
Imagine it's very likely you've read one/some/all of them (maybe you've mentioned them in videos before, sorry, I can't remember), but what's your thoughts on the Discworld series? Favourite book? Character? Theme? Cover? Throwaway joke? (Could create endless Qs for this)
What if gravity ISN'T a fundamental force, but an emergent one?
Do you have any opinions on nuclear energy? I know you refferenced the "its just 10 years until fusion energy" thing, but do you have opinions on fission? I think there are plenty of science communication issues to talk about with both fission and fusion
What's the probabilty of a solar flare taking out the worlds electrical infrastructure this year? Some "science" newspapers are floating this
A Carrington event? About once in 100/150 years. Solar activity is monitored so there would be some warning and time to switch everything off for a while.
Are there things you miss about working in academia?
At what point in size and power will a particle accelerator pose a danger to us, such that we shouldn't build it on the Earth? Is it more likely to produce a black hole at higher energies or is that whole idea silly?
Silly question: How many pair of glasses do you have? Is there a deliberate choice for which pair you gonna use to fit the theme of the video?
I want her to do a glasses rating question.
Love your videos. Loved the video about string theory and the shortcomings. You've mentioned that you have a spouse (I think), in your videos about post-doc life. I'm so curious about what kind of person someone so smart paired up with. Can we meet them?
I'm positing the existence of a child as a saw a "child-proofed" outlet in the background once. Maybe she could just drop little clues...
like rob jones above, although i love your physics/mathematics material (as far as i can follow, not far: one very elementary college physics course, little calculus), what i most enjoy are your autobiographical stories (particularly the first gen/eastern kentucky/space girl stuff). i also enjoy your political rants even where i disagree (the life insurance data about the excess deaths vs. the vax disturbs me). thank you for your great channel and your killer sense of humor.
Have you ever found it hard to stay focused on and/or passionate about your scientific research, especially while things going on out in the world are so… bad? I’m a very early career (planning to start grad school next fall) environmental archaeologist/paleoecologist, which means all I really want to do is dig in the dirt, collect my little samples, and study how humans have interacted with their environments in the past. Sometimes, though, while I’m reading or watching something about ongoing genocide, the pandemic that hasn’t actually ended, the fact that we’re destroying our climate, or some other terrible thing, I feel like what I’m doing isn’t all that important and I should be applying myself to something else. If you’ve ever felt similarly, how have you dealt with it? (Sorry for this bummer of a question!) Edit: Just watched the apocalypse physics video; sounds like you know exactly what I mean :(
Hang in there. I'm old so I'll probly be dead before the worst hits, but humanity will need guys like you.
now that oppenheimer won the academy award .. since u haven't watched it, what are ur fav physics-related movies instead ?
What tools and frameworks are needed at this moment to make the scientific process/practice (publication and documentation) more rigorous and reproducible?
How much "being an attractive woman on the internet" shit do you have to put up with? How much does this affect your mental health? 🙁
So… I feel dumb asking this because obviously someone somewhere had this thought in the last 50 years. But if dark matter is missing and anti matter is missing could dark matter be anti matter?
Not a dumb question at all, anti matter seems quite magical. And acollierasto has even done videos explaining that it has normal time, even though it's a somewhat popular myth that time goes backwards and it has normal gravity. However, these are in fact different things, antimatter will interact with electromagnetic waves (fancy physics for light) in the normal way, so we can see their reflections, whereas darkmatter seems to not reflect anything, meaning it looks like empty space. I'm not doing this justice, but basically antimatter reflects light so we can see it, dark matter doesn't, the only way we know it's there is through its gravitational effects on everything around (galaxies spinning... see the whole dark matter is not a theory video)
Any recommendations for Youtuber's that you enjoy watching, ? Do you try to engage in the larger Youtuber-sphere, or mostly keep to your own corner of the internet? Any recommendations for those of us who tapped out around calc I-II, but want to keep their math skills sharp? Finally, what would you change about math/STEM education in K-12, if you could make curriculum larger structural changes. I've come across "A Mathematician's Lament", an essay about how math is taught in such a way as to drain kids of their passion for math, and am curious as to your thoughts. Thank you!
Thank you for referring to "A Mathematician's Lament"! I feel like I should put it through the "How do I know if this science thing is a scam"- test because of how intuitively I reacted to it in a "this explains everything, the Establishment is Wrong" kind of way. But, as a parent to a kid who taught themselves fractions (to a 1/100 + 1/100 = 1/50 level) before entering school, while watching My Little Pony, drawing dragons, cutting up square sheets of paper in halves, quarters, 1/16,... and asking questions from time to time - and who school has thoroughly drained of every last bit of joy or interest in the matter (and, to a significant degree, in life itself), this hits close.
If we doubled public funding for science and you were given the responsibility of allocating the new funds*, which fields would you give the biggest chunks to? *Is it possible to die of impostor syndrome? if so, this might do it for me. For purposes of this question, assume that doesn't happen.
Limited interest? Mine certainly isn’t limited. It’s actually relatively free of limits. I think you’ll find. Obviously I really enjoy your physics-heavy videos and think they’re fascinating, but personally I especially like it when you have your own particular take or views on some phenomenon, whether it’s scientific, societal or neither of those things. Obviously that means it’s better (from my perspective) if you choose the topic because you know what you’re fired up about, but if I have to suggest a topic how about: what things have you been a fan of, subscribed to, bought the t-shirt, etc? Also congratulations on successfully launching a second career that’s going really well, from where I’m standing!
What's your biggest annoyance with the status quo? Like what could be solved so incredibly easily but isn't?
Is there any topic/creator you follow where you worry that if you better understood their field, you would lose your enjoyment of their content?
Excluding nonfiction about science and science fiction, what books do you think shaped your outlook on the world the most?
Hypothetical: We discover a black hole that’s a safe distance away, but close enough for us to send a probe and get back data within 25 years or so. You’re in charge of the probe, what experiments do you put on it?
You've expressed in the past that you experience a 'the grass is always greener' effect when it comes to theoretical vs experimental physics. If you were in undergrad again in 2024, would you be more likely to pursue a career in experimental physics? And is there a specific field in physics you would be drawn to, experimental or theoretical?
My 13 year old son is interested in astronomy and astrophysics. Should I be encouraging or discouraging this field of study as a possible career choice? Of course I will be encouraging him to learn everything he wants to learn, just to feed his curiosity, but in terms of schooling and profession and all that, I'm just not so sure there's much of a future for many kids in this regard, particularly given the cost and level of competition.
I'm not an astronomy major, but I can say this: many physicists (including me) end up working in industry (just like Angela) and many work in fields different from what they studied (unlike Angela, but like me). So if you make it clear to you son that he might not end up working in his field of study and if he accepts that, then I do not see a problem. However, it would be helpful if he gained a bit of industry-related experiences during his studies. Internships come to mind. Such experience is not a downside for a career in academics, and it is certainly a plus when applying for industrial positions.
Favorite music/bands? Type of coffee you prefer Bookshelf tour?
How does getting a phd in america compares to getting a phd in europe (bachelor 3y, master 2y, phd 3-5y)
Please everyone ask Angela to make a video of her experiences working at McDonalds. As always, I think she'll have some great insights!
I vehemently agree!
What field of science/ scientific theory do you think is the least well understood by people outside of that field?
Maybe too long of a hypothetical but I'll shoot: say one day we're visited by Aliens, who have become so technologically advanced that from our perspective it's as if they've 'solved' science (lol). Anywho they grant you one question you can ask and get an answer to - applied or theoretical, general or specific What's the one question you would ask that you would like to know the answer to most or you think would be the biggest thing humanity could be given a gimme on?
Wouldn't one just ask for a unified theory of everything, including quantum gravity, dark matter, dark energy and any other unknown forces and particles that might exist?
What scientific theory (any field) do you personally hope is true, or will be proven false? (Due to personal preference, impacting your work, etc?)
What class do you play in wow?
Guesses here! I'll say mage or druid. Cat durid is 4 fite!
What's your favorite video game franchise?
If you could be reborn as a physics equation or physics theory, which would it be?
Does "theory of everything" count?
What are currently unsolved problems/challenges in space weather simulation, whose solution would make your work noticeably easier?
Can you recommend any strategies to teach statistics and math to a less motivated audience?
how will you watch the eclipse?
What are your thoughts on the Block Universe theory?
Has quitting your day job and going 100% YouTuber crossed your mind yet?
What level of engagement with your audience are you comfortable with? I try to keep mine in the realms of “I like your video” unless I have something relevant to the topic at hand that I can express politely.
Also, it's kinda funny that you thought you'd get no responses on YT and got over 150 in the first 3 hours.
Also I wouldn't qualify this here as "no interest compared to YouTube"!
What field of work would interest you besides what you do right now and education (as you kinda did/do that as well)?
Can you explain to me, a primordial black holes truther, why I should abandon this belief in favor of other Dark Matter models? Thanks.
How far along are you on the plasma book you showed on video? The pretty one
If I recall correctly you left academia and are now in industry. What aspects of industry do you like better, and what (if anything) do you miss about academia?
Many of your videos have focused on ways academia has failed: underpaid adjuncts, successful crackpots, etc. Are there rules or regulations around academic you would add/remove/change to improve that world or are the problems more cultural?
First generation college student (in my late 20s now) here. Can you give any advice as to how I can balance going to school full time while working full time? I want my degree so bad but the prospects of finishing school are so far down the line and dismal at this point.
Physics question: Garrett Lisi’s attempts at a GUT through relationships in the e8 Lie group, is there anything there? Is he a quack?
would love to hear you talk about black holes vs. science fiction misconceptions about them, like in the movie Interstellar for ex. why colonizing planets near a black hole or flying into one would be incredibly dumb.
Might be a silly question, but: did you find pursuing astrophysics in school gratifying? Was getting your doctorate as rewarding as you expected?
How do you balance home life with kids with working and still find time for your science/physics passion? Also, were your kids born while you were in grad school? If I am misunderstanding something in your biography please forgive.
If you were to isolate for a year and focus on a problem (physics or other) with whatever tools you need to make progress on it, what problem would you pick?
Similarly as a first generation college graduate from rural KY, I'd be super interested in hearing any more reflections you have on that experience. I still live in Lexington and travel back home frequently. I often feel stuck in this no mans land of hearing "smart" folks I interact with denigrate rural Kentuckians - reducing them to a hick stereotype, or hearing people from my old home town putting down people that have moved on from the hollers.
My 16 year old son was given a hardcover copy of Michio Kaku's book as a Christmas gift. Even if he had the time to read it, he wouldn't be the least bit interested. What the hell are we supposed to do with this damn book?
Almost everything is an opportunity to learn as a 16-year-old. At the very least, you should teach him to question why the person gifting chose this book in particular. Might be worthwhile. As for the paper: donate it to your local library or (if you are in Europe) your local book rack. Or better yet, have him donate it. Donating things is an acquired skill.
You have stated in the past that you didn’t have access to advanced science classes in high school. What made you interested in pursuing the sciences? When you were a teacher, how did you engage your students in STEM topics? If schools have limited resources, what are some techniques/ideas that tend to hold student interest?
I asked this on YouTube but might as well do it here too. How do you (or the physics communities you’ve been a part of) feel about engineering/engineers?
Why astrophysics?
I asked on youtube but I’ll post here too: who do you think is the most underrated physicist?