Light, the Universe, and Everything

Podcast Episode Summary

ENCORE What’s it all about? And we mean ALL. What makes up this vast sprawling cosmos? Why does it exist? Why do we exist? Why is there something rather than nothing? Ow, my head hurts!

For possible answers, we travel to the moment after the Big Bang and discover all that came into being in those few minutes after the great flash: time, space, matter, and light. Plus, the bizarre stuff that makes up the bulk of the universe: dark energy and dark matter.

Also, what we set in motion with the invention of the light blub. How artificial light lit up our homes, our cities and – inadvertently – our skies.

Guests:

• Sean Carroll – Theoretical physicist at California Institute of Technology
• Leonard Susskind – Theoretical physicist, Stanford University
• Jane Brox – Author of Brilliant: The Evolution of Artificial Light
• Peter Fisher – Physicist, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Descripción en español

First aired September 6, 2010