TrueSciPhi

Podcast Profile: Science with Sabine

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149 episodes
2023 to 2026
Median: 22 minutes
Collection: Science

Description (podcaster-provided):

Themes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):

This podcast is a weekly science-news roundup hosted by physicist Sabine Hossenfelder, aiming to explain current research and headlines in straightforward terms. Across the episodes, the recurring focus is fundamental physics and cosmology: debates over dark matter and dark energy, tests of gravity and quantum theory, and the status of big theoretical frameworks such as string theory, “theories of everything,” multiverse ideas, and alternative models of spacetime, time’s direction, and causal order. Many items revolve around how new observations or experiments might confirm, rule out, or complicate long-running proposals—from anomalies in particle and atomic physics to claims about black holes, wormholes, faster-than-light signals, and the “cosmology crisis.”

Another central theme is the intersection of computation and physics. The show frequently discusses quantum computing progress and skepticism, hardware claims from major companies, new experimental platforms (including biological or brain-cell computing), and related topics like quantum communication and a prospective quantum internet. These stories often connect to broader questions about what quantum mechanics implies for reality, measurement, and concepts like free will.

Artificial intelligence is a major through-line as both a scientific tool and a societal force. The episodes cover AI capabilities and limitations, whether AI can meaningfully “think,” concerns about manipulation and misinformation, the spread of low-quality AI-generated content in science, and how AI may change scientific work, mathematics, and online information ecosystems. There are also discussions of science-policy and research-culture issues such as misconduct, incentives, plagiarism accusations, and the impact of funding cuts or geopolitical competition.

Beyond physics and AI, the podcast regularly turns to energy and climate-related science and technology: nuclear fission (including thorium and small modular reactors), nuclear fusion timelines and concepts, battery advances, geothermal prospects, electricity and grid questions, and climate risks and interpretation of climate studies. Occasional segments branch into Earth and space science (asteroids, interstellar objects, satellite reentry, Earth’s core and magnetic field, geology) and into life-and-mind topics such as origins-of-life ideas, “rules of life,” consciousness and qualia research, and fertility trends. Overall, the content blends explanations of new papers and experiments with scrutiny of how confidently headlines match the underlying evidence.

Episodes:

Weekly Digest: Biofuels are Delusion, New Data Reveal and more 2026-Feb-03 17 minutes

Weekly Digest: Finally a Use for String Theory and more 2026-Jan-19 18 minutes

Weekly Digest: A Major Blow for Unified Physics and more 2026-Jan-12 23 minutes

Weekly Digest: It’s The End Of An Era For Physics and more 2026-Jan-04 22 minutes

Weekly Digest: Are We Using the Wrong Kind Of Electricity? and more 2025-Dec-29 23 minutes

Weekly Digest: China Makes Breakthrough With Thorium Nuclear Reactor. Where is the West? and more 2025-Dec-22 21 minutes

Weekly Digest: This Discovery Might Change What We Know About Life! and more 2025-Dec-14 30 minutes

Weekly Digest: New Data Bring Trouble For Theory of Universe and more 2025-Dec-08 28 minutes

Weekly Digest: Scientists may have detected dark matter and more 2025-Dec-01 22 minutes

Weekly Digest: The Truth about Human-Caused Mass Extinction and more 2025-Nov-16 28 minutes

Weekly Digest: This Is Why Humans Hate AI and more 2025-Nov-10 23 minutes

Weekly Digest: Physicist Discover Hidden Rules of Life and more 2025-Nov-03 15 minutes

Weekly Digest: Physicists Find Artificial Objects Around Earth Before We Had Satellites and more 2025-Oct-28 33 minutes

Weekly Digest: Current AI Models have 3 Unfixable Problems and more 2025-Oct-21 27 minutes

Weekly Digest: Mathematicians In Denial About AI Replacing Them and more 2025-Oct-12 27 minutes

Weekly Digest: Academia’s Scam Problem is Getting Worse and more 2025-Oct-09 16 minutes

Weekly Digest: Free Will Can Be Tested with Quantum Computer, Physicists Say and more 2025-Sep-29 33 minutes

Weekly Digest: Physicists Find a Dark Matter Clump Near Us and more 2025-Sep-22 15 minutes

Weekly Digest: Was Einstein Wrong about Randomness? and more 2025-Sep-15 21 minutes

Weekly Digest: Crazy New Developments In Nuclear Battery Tech and more 2025-Sep-08 21 minutes

Weekly Digest: This Is What Happens After A Nuclear War and more 2025-Sep-01 18 minutes

Weekly Digest: Is AI Breaking Science Right Now? and more 2025-Aug-25 26 minutes

Weekly Digest: Stunning! AI “Creativity” Is Highly Predictable, Researchers Find and more 2025-Aug-18 28 minutes

Weekly Digest: New Theory: Space Has Memory, Stores Information and more 2025-Aug-11 20 minutes

Weekly Digest: Mass Extinction Isn’t What We Thought and more 2025-Aug-04 20 minutes

Weekly Digest: Leaking Nuclear Waste Barrels Found on Ocean Floor and more 2025-Jul-29 10 minutes

Weekly Digest: The Cosmology Crisis Just Got Even Worse and more 2025-Jul-21 15 minutes

Weekly Digest: Has One Man Just Saved String Theory? and more 2025-Jul-14 22 minutes

Weekly Digest: AI’s Breakthrough on 125 Year-Old Physics Problem and more 2025-Jul-06 21 minutes

Weekly Digest: AI’s “Intelligence Explosion” Is Coming and more 2025-Jun-29 28 minutes

Weekly Digest: Does AI Already Have Free Will? and more 2025-Jun-23 29 minutes

Weekly Digest: AI is becoming dangerous. Are we ready? and more 2025-Jun-16 21 minutes

Weekly Digest: The Quantum Internet Is Real And Coming! and more 2025-Jun-13 21 minutes

Weekly Digest: AI Slop Is Spreading In Science, Too and more 2025-Jun-01 21 minutes

Weekly Digest: The USA is crumbling at the bottom and more 2025-May-25 21 minutes

Weekly Digest: Four Starlink Satellites Fell From The Sky Each Day, Creating New Worries and more 2025-May-20 21 minutes

Weekly Digest: Four Starlink Satellites Fell From The Sky Each Day, Creating New Worries and more 2025-May-11 22 minutes

Weekly Digest: The AI Revolution Hiding in Obscure Research and more 2025-Apr-28 22 minutes

There's Helium in Earth's Core, Researchers Say -- and other science news of the week 2025-Apr-20 27 minutes

Is CERN's $40 Billion Mega-Collider Already Doomed? -- and other science news of the week 2025-Apr-14 20 minutes

Amazon’s Quantum Breakthrough That Everyone Missed -- and other science news of the week 2025-Apr-08 22 minutes

Huge Structures Discovered Under Pyramids? -- and other science news of the week 2025-Mar-31 35 minutes

Dark Matter Could Be Due to Extra Dimensions -- and other science news of the week 2025-Mar-24 24 minutes

Is AI the Solution for Quantum Computing? -- and other science news of the week 2025-Mar-19 23 minutes

Scientists Misreport Climate Cause of LA Wildfires -- and other science news of the week 2025-Mar-10 29 minutes

AI Gets Rapidly Smarter, And Makes Some of Us Dumber -- and other science news of the week 2025-Mar-04 22 minutes

Microsoft Reports Quantum Computing Breakthrough -- and other science news of the week 2025-Feb-25 32 minutes

This New Idea Could Explain the Laws of Nature -- and other science news of the week 2025-Feb-17 23 minutes

Everyone Is Giving Up On Climate Goals -- and other science news of the week 2025-Feb-10 23 minutes

The case for String Theory just got stronger -- and other science news of the week 2025-Feb-03 29 minutes

What Everyone Gets Wrong About AI -- and other science news of the week 2025-Jan-28 26 minutes

Physicists Say They Know How Cold Fusion Works -- and other science news of the week 2025-Jan-21 23 minutes

The Trouble with Carbon Dioxide Removal -- and other science news of the week 2025-Jan-13 24 minutes

Climate Scientists Are Very Confused -- and other science news of the week 2025-Jan-07 31 minutes

Scientists Uncover Hidden Pattern in Quantum Chaos -- and other science news of the week 2024-Dec-31 22 minutes

This Physics Problem is Unsolvable -- and other science news of the week 2024-Dec-16 22 minutes

Moore’s Law is So Back -- and other science news of the week 2024-Dec-09 23 minutes

We’ve Been Searching For Aliens All Wrong, Researchers Say -- and other science news of the week 2024-Dec-02 23 minutes

Webb Falsified Dark Matter Prediction -- and other science news of the week 2024-Nov-25 35 minutes

New Theory: Dark Energy Might Be Black Holes -- and other science news of the week 2024-Nov-17 22 minutes

Scientists Discover a Law of Natural Laws -- and other science news of the week 2024-Nov-11 23 minutes

This new “AI Scientist” can “fully automate discovery" -- and other science news of the week 2024-Nov-04 23 minutes

Tiny Black Holes Might Have Left Holes in… Everything 2024-Oct-29 23 minutes

The Quantum Computing Collapse Has Begun -- and other science news of the week 2024-Oct-23 22 minutes

Surprise Comeback: Dark Energy Could Be Holographic After All -- and other science news of the week 2024-Oct-14 28 minutes

These physicists say they know what's inside a black hole -- and other science news of the week 2024-Oct-07 29 minutes

This Lawsuit Could Change Science -- and other science news of the week 2024-Sep-30 34 minutes

No, Einstein Didn’t Solve the Biggest Problem in Physics -- and other science news of the week 2024-Sep-24 29 minutes

This New Idea to Detect a Quantum of Gravity Might Just Work -- and other science news of the week 2024-Sep-17 17 minutes

Nuclear Fusion Predictions are Nonsense -- and other science news of the week 2024-Sep-09 29 minutes

Core Meltdown Emergency Test At Chinese Nuclear Reactor -- and other science news of the week 2024-Sep-02 35 minutes

Will This Crazy Idea Make Mars Habitable? -- and other science news of the week 2024-Aug-26 24 minutes

Are childless people a problem? -- and other science news of the week 2024-Aug-19 31 minutes

Musk Promises Superhuman Vision, Experts Say It’s Nonsense -- and other science news of the week 2024-Aug-11 27 minutes

Faster than Light Particles Could Exist After All -- and other science news of the week 2024-Aug-05 32 minutes

The Trouble with Heat Pumps -- and other science news of the week 2024-Jul-29 31 minutes

Fossil Fuels Don’t Come From Fossils? Tucker Carlson Fact Check - and other science news of the week 2024-Jul-29 35 minutes

“The most dumb thing" for energy storage: Hydrogen -- and other science news of the week 2024-Jul-15 31 minutes

AI could prove that reality doesn’t exist, physicists say -- and other science news of the week 2024-Jul-08 23 minutes

I don't think we can control AI much longer -- and other science news of the week 2024-Jul-01 30 minutes

Is Bitcoin Mining Good for the Environment? 2024-Jun-26 17 minutes

This New Idea Could Explain Complexity -- and other science news of the week 2024-Jun-24 24 minutes

AI Learned to Lie Deliberately -- and other science news of the week 2024-Jun-23 31 minutes

The Benefits of Climate Change -- and other science news of the week 2024-Jun-17 23 minutes

Actor Claims His New Theory of Everything Improves Physics -- and other science news of the week 2024-Jun-17 32 minutes

Space-Based Solar Power is Dead -- and other science news of the week 2024-Jun-17 23 minutes

Time to Get Real About Climate Change -- and other science news of the week 2024-May-19 24 minutes

Einstein's Other Theory of Everything 2024-May-19 12 minutes

Scientific Progress Has Slowed Down -- and other science news of the week 2024-May-19 28 minutes

Fusion in Space: New Plasma Thruster Tested Successfully -- and other science news of the week 2024-May-19 24 minutes

Scandal over Nuclear Phase-out in Germany -- and other science news of the week 2024-May-19 27 minutes

Modified Gravity Strikes Back -- and other science news of the week 2024-Apr-26 23 minutes

New Superconductor Scandal -- and other Science News of the week 2024-Apr-17 43 minutes

Search for Quantum Gravity Begins at South Pole -- and other science news of the week 2024-Apr-17 39 minutes

New Theory says Irrationality comes from Quantum Physics -- and other science news of the week 2024-Apr-17 28 minutes

The Butterfly Effect is much Worse than We Thought -- And Other Science News 2024-Apr-17 42 minutes

How I fell out of love with academia 2024-Apr-08 13 minutes

New Theory of Gravity Needs No Dark Matter -- And other Science News of the Week 2024-Mar-23 36 minutes

Scientists warn of AI collapse -- And other Science News of the Week 2024-Mar-10 33 minutes

Black holes might have layers with dark energy inside -- and other science news of the week 2024-Mar-04 44 minutes

A new type of magnetism -- and other science news of the week 2024-Mar-04 36 minutes

Most robust time crystal ever -- And other Science News of the Week 2024-Feb-25 37 minutes

String theory nonsense makes comeback -- And other news of the week 2024-Feb-11 43 minutes

I wasn't worried about climate change. Now I am. 2024-Feb-11 19 minutes

AI Experts predict Megadeaths -- And other Science News of the Week 2024-Feb-02 29 minutes

Icelanders plan to drill into Magma Chamber -- And Other Science News of the Week 2024-Feb-02 25 minutes

Big Rip seems unlikely in light of new data -- And other science news of the week 2024-Jan-21 22 minutes

AI could kill quantum computing -- And other science news of the week 2024-Jan-11 29 minutes

Why is nuclear power so expensive? 2023-Dec-31 26 minutes

Gravity is not a force. But what does this mean? 2023-Dec-31 14 minutes

The experiment that could save physics (and other science news of the week) 2023-Dec-31 38 minutes

The biggest gap in science: complexity 2023-Dec-17 16 minutes

A new competitor for string theory (and other science news of the week) 2023-Dec-17 21 minutes

These scientists got sued for doing their job 2023-Dec-17 15 minutes

A particle accelerator that's just 10 cm long, and other science news of the week 2023-Dec-08 18 minutes

Why was Sam Altman fired from Open AI? And other science news of the week. 2023-Nov-30 18 minutes

All you need to know about Long COVID 2023-Nov-30 18 minutes

Is Science Dying? 2023-Nov-22 14 minutes

Mars glows green, and other science news of the week 2023-Nov-22 15 minutes

Net Zero will Be Virtually Impossible To Reach Without Carbon Removal 2023-Nov-17 16 minutes

New Data Spells Trouble for Dark Matter's Biggest Competitor 2023-Nov-17 16 minutes

The lost continent of Argoland has been found -- And other science news of the week 2023-Nov-10 13 minutes

Science News Nov 01: The sun's magnetic field will flip earlier than expected 2023-Nov-02 13 minutes

Beyond the Hype: All you need to know about Ozempic and Wegovy 2023-Oct-30 14 minutes

Science News October 25: Coin Tossing is Unfair, Science Proves It 2023-Oct-30 15 minutes

Does the Many Worlds Interpretation make sense? 2023-Oct-23 7 minutes

Three New Laws of Nature in One Week! 2023-Oct-20 14 minutes

Is time travel possible? 2023-Oct-15 16 minutes

Science News Oct 14: A New Candidate for a Cosmic String 2023-Oct-14 16 minutes

Quantum Computing in 2023: Three Newcomers 2023-Oct-08 16 minutes

Science News Oct 4: Nobel Prize in Physics 2023 2023-Oct-04 16 minutes

Science News Sep 26: Quantum Computing at Room Temperature? 2023-Sep-26 17 minutes

Is the universe pointless? 2023-Sep-24 15 minutes

Science News Sep 18: Possible Signs of Life on an Exoplanet 2023-Sep-18 17 minutes

Don't trust me, I'm an influencer! 2023-Sep-16 15 minutes

Science News Sep 12, 2023 2023-Sep-12 16 minutes

Web3: Next internet revolution or just a scam? 2023-Sep-09 16 minutes

I do my own research. And so can you. 2023-Aug-26 17 minutes

Science News Aug 22: Quantum Superchemistry! 2023-Aug-22 17 minutes

Do we have a mental health crisis? 2023-Aug-19 14 minutes

Fermilab Finds Feeble Fifth Force (Maybe) 2023-Aug-16 19 minutes

Is Moore's Law Dead? 2023-Aug-12 20 minutes

Science News Aug 8 2023: Superconductor LK 99 Update 2023-Aug-08 16 minutes

Do we have evidence for new physics? Or not? 2023-Aug-05 18 minutes

Science News July 31: A new room-temperature superconductor? 2023-Jul-31 17 minutes

Greenwashing: Spot and Avoid It 2023-Jul-29 15 minutes

Science News July 26: Einstein was right, again! 2023-Jul-26 18 minutes

Are personality tests the new horoscopes? 2023-Jul-23 18 minutes

Science News July 19 2023: Evidence for Dark Stars? 2023-Jul-19 16 minutes