Quanta Writers And Editors Discuss Trends In Science And Math

Why doesn’t our universe make sense? What is time? What is life? On Friday, more than 200 readers joined writers and editors from Quanta Magazine at the Simons Foundation for a wide-ranging panel discussion that examined the newest ideas in fundamental physics, biology and mathematics research, including the questions of whether our universe is “natural”, the nature of time, the origin and evolution of life, whether mathematics is invented or discovered, and what role it plays in science and society.

Listen to this podcast where writers and editors from Quanta Magazine and the director of the Institute of Advanced Study discuss some of the fundamental mysteries of the universe and the current limits of our scientific theories. They begin by discussing the idea that's being considered: whether our universe is even "natural" or not. And how we're getting to a point where, because our tools are simply incapable of seeing further out into the universe, both macro and micro, it becomes increasingly difficult to test or falsify new theories of the universe.