“There is nothing new to discover in physics”, declared the British physicist Lord Kelvin in 1900. This is no longer true. Today it is becoming increasingly clear that there are problems that physics – at least as we currently know it – isn’t able to solve. Perhaps we just need more data, perhaps we need a new fundamental theory of reality.
Hosted by me, Miriam Frankel, science editor at The Conversation, and supported by FQxI, the Foundational Questions Institute, come with us on a mind-blowing journey as we explore hidden dimensions, consciousness and even colliding universes. We will discover the greatest mysteries facing physicists today – and discuss the radical proposals for solving them.
We cannot imagine reality without time flowing through it. But on the most fundamental level, physicists aren’t even sure whether time actually flows or even exists. In our first episode, we look at whether it could potentially move backwards as well as forwards. In later episodes, we explore whether the universe is just one of many in an enormous multiverse (despite what you may have been taught).
We also delve into the bizarre world of quantum mechanics, which among other things suggests that objects – if we are not looking at them – can exist in many different states at the same time, but the moment we measure them they pick one. It begs the question of whether nature is objectively real and true. And come to think of it, why can’t physics explain living matter or consciousness? And finally, given the limitations of what we currently know, we ask: is physics broken?
In the six-part series, we will hear from world-leading experts about the latest theories and experiments out there, including Sean Carroll, Katie Mack, Paul Davies, Sabine Hossenfelder, Jim Al-Khalili and Chanda Prescod-Weinstein.
The first episode launches on March 8. Listen on The Conversation or wherever you get your podcasts.
Great Mysteries of Physics is created and presented by Miriam Frankel and produced by Hannah Fisher. Executive producers are Gemma Ware and Jo Adetunji. Social media and platform production by Alice Mason, sound design by Eloise Stevens and music by Neeta Sarl.
You can also listen to Great Mysteries of Physics via any of the apps listed below, our RSS feed, or find out how else to listen here.