Widdershins Podcast

This week in my conversation with Seth Shostak, we chat about SETI and their search for intelligent extraterrestrial life and trying to find evidence that there’s someone out there, other than us. I first heard Seth in his TED talk where he made a very grand prediction that we will hear from aliens in the next decade so it was exciting to hear that he still believes this to be true.   See more from Dr Seth Shostak   #sethshostak   Website: https://www.seti.org/our-scientists/seth-shostak    Further Reading and Resources: This episode is based on Invasion of the Body Snachers by Jack Finney and can be purchased here. ET is (probably) out there -- get ready - Seth Shostak   Follow Widdershins and please Rate and Review us in your favourite Podcast app so others can easily find Widdershins!   Visit our website: www.widdershinspodcast.com/ for member-only access and merchandise   Facebook: www.facebook.com/WiddershinsPodcast/   Twitter: https://twitter.com/WiddershinsP   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/widdershins_podcast/   Email us: [email protected]   Widdershins proudly uses the services of Letitia Stafford – The Ultimate Podcasting Virtual Assistant

It was such a wonderful experience chatting with Professor Paul Davies, who is an incredible theoretical physicist, cosmologist, astrobiologist and best-selling science author of 31 books. He has published hundreds of research papers and review articles across a range of scientific fields. He is also well-known as a media personality and science populariser in several countries. Professor Davies is the author of Demon In The Machine which, in the very first chapter, begins with the question ‘What is life?’ so I naturally had to begin with the question of panspermia, which is the theory which suggests that life on Earth did not originate on our planet. Big questions were tackled this week as we dove into our origins, whether or not we are alone and the hunt for a new earth. See more from Professor Paul Davies   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PhysicistPaulDavies/    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-davies-33634114    Website: http://cosmos.asu.edu/    Further Reading and Resources: This episode is based on The Black Cloud by Fred Hoyle and can be purchased here. The Demon in the Machine: How Hidden Webs of Information Are Finally Solving the Mystery of Life - by Paul Davies   Follow Widdershins and please Rate and Review us in your favourite Podcast app so others can easily find Widdershins!   Visit our website: www.widdershinspodcast.com/ for member-only access and merchandise   Facebook: www.facebook.com/WiddershinsPodcast/   Twitter: https://twitter.com/WiddershinsP   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/widdershins_podcast/   Email us: [email protected]   Widdershins proudly uses the services of Letitia Stafford – The Ultimate Podcasting Virtual Assistant

In this episode, I chat with Robert Powell who is both a UFOlogist and Chemist. I sought out to interview Robert after I found he was the co-author of the book UFOs and Government alongside a cast of international authors headed by Michael Swords, a retired professor at Western Michigan University with extensive knowledge of UFO history, and managed by Robert Powell, director of research at the Mutual UFO Network. The authors spent more than four years researching thousands of government documents and archives in order to present a work of historical scholarship on the U.S. government’s bungling response to the UFO phenomenon. How and why the U.S. government—and other governments around the world—have dealt with the UFO phenomenon during most of a century is the focus of this historical inquiry. We cover a lot of ground in this episode including the real-life x-files, how many sightings are legitimate and the most convincing, the element 115, the government, and the future with aliens. See more from Robert Powell Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/explorescu/  Twitter: https://twitter.com/explorescu?lang=en  Website: https://www.explorescu.org/    Further Reading and Resources: This episode is based on Chariots of the Gods by Erich von Däniken's and can be purchased here. UFOs and Government: A Historical Inquiry by Michael Swords and Robert Powell     Follow Widdershins and please Rate and Review us in your favourite Podcast app so others can easily find Widdershins! Visit our website: www.widdershinspodcast.com/ for member-only access and merchandise Facebook: www.facebook.com/WiddershinsPodcast/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/WiddershinsP Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/widdershins_podcast/ Email us: [email protected]   Widdershins proudly uses the services of Letitia Stafford – The Ultimate Podcasting Virtual Assistant

Season 4 is all about making contact with Aliens and how to do so effectively. This week I chat with Dr Douglas Vakoch, president of Messaging Extraterrestrial Intelligence (METI) a nonprofit research and educational organization dedicated to transmitting intentional signals to nearby stars and hopefully Aliens. There are so many things to consider, wether or not we will be dealing with AI extraterrestrials, how to send messages that express the better traits of humans, how to respond to signals without starting a war.  "There may be more 'wise' civilizations out there, I would bet on humanity being the civilization with the most exquisite balance of joy and sorry of any species in the milky way." - Dr Douglas Vakoch   See more from Dr Douglas Vakoch Facebook: https://facebook.com/METIintl Twitter: https://twitter.com/METIintl LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/19190208/admin/   Further Reading and Resources: This episode is based on The War of The Worlds by H.G Wells and can be purchased here.   Message sent from northern Norway, to a star 12 light-years from Earth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hYAz68lJzo The need to take a long terms perspective: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryLWL-24GMo Dr Vakoch discussing the messages people would want to send and an analysis of  the words to use in those messages: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hx9i-KRMCCc   Follow Widdershins and please Rate and Review us in your favourite Podcast app so others can easily find Widdershins! Visit our website: www.widdershinspodcast.com/ for member-only access and merchandise Facebook: www.facebook.com/WiddershinsPodcast/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/WiddershinsP Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/widdershins_podcast/ Email us: [email protected]   Widdershins proudly uses the services of Letitia Stafford – The Ultimate Podcasting Virtual Assistant

This week I chat with Dr Federico Carminati the chief innovation officer at CERN openlab. Dr Carminati is investigating potential applications of machine learning and quantum computing for high-energy physics. We talk about the increasing need for stable quantum computing and the race to discover the elusive algorithm that will inevitably launch quantum computers into the mainstream market. The penny drops when I finally realise the true value of efficient quantum computing coupled with machine learning being the ability to truly analyse data for the benefit of mankind.  See more from Dr Fedrico Carminati Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fcacarminati Twitter: https://twitter.com/fcacarminati?lang=en    Further Reading and Resources: This episode is based on The Quantum Spy: A Thriller by David Ignatius and can be purchased here.   Follow Widdershins and please Rate and Review us in your favourite Podcast app so others can easily find Widdershins! Visit our website: www.widdershinspodcast.com/ for member-only access and merchandise Facebook: www.facebook.com/WiddershinsPodcast/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/WiddershinsP Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/widdershins_podcast/ Email us: [email protected]   Widdershins proudly uses the services of Letitia Stafford – The Ultimate Podcasting Virtual Assistant