Hacker Cinema
Through the Wormhole
2010 · TV series · documentary · 44 min episodes · 8 seasons
Created by Geoffrey Sharp
Hosted by Morgan Freeman, Through the Wormhole explores the deepest mysteries of existence - the questions that have puzzled mankind for eternity. What are we made of? What was there before the beginning? Are we really alone? Is there a creator? These questions have been pondered by the most exquisite minds of the human race. Now, science has evolved to the point where hard facts and evidence may be able to provide us with answers instead of philosophical theories. Through the Wormhole brings together the brightest minds and best ideas from the very edges of science - Astrophysics, Astrobiology, Quantum Mechanics, String Theory, and more - to reveal the extraordinary truth of our Universe.
4 positive5 neutralfrom 9 commenters
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Just as an FYI, the "scam artist" David Sinclair is in fact one of the leading scientists in the world studying the biomechanics of longevity:
David A. Sinclair, Ph.D., A.O. is a Professor in the Department of Genetics and co-Director of the Paul F. Glenn Center for the Biology of Aging at Harvard Medical School. He is best known for his work on understanding why we age and how to slow its effects. He obtained his Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics at the University of New South Wales, Sydney in 1995. He worked as a postdoctoral researcher at M.I.T. with Dr. Leonard Guarente where he co discovered a cause of aging for yeast as well as the role of Sir2 in epigenetic changes driven by genome instability. In 1999 he was recruited to Harvard Medical School where he has been teaching aging biology and translational medicine for aging for the past 16 years. His research has been primarily focused on the sirtuins, protein-modifying enzymes that respond to changing NAD+ levels and to caloric restriction (CR) with associated interests in chromatin, energy metabolism, mitochondria, learning and memory, neurodegeneration, and cancer. The Sinclair lab was the first one to identify a role for NAD+ biosynthesis in regulation of lifespan and first showed that sirtuins are involved in CR in mammals. They first identified small molecules that activate SIRT1 such as resveratrol and studied how they improve metabolic function using a combination of genetic, enzymological, biophysical and pharmacological approaches. They recently showed that natural and synthetic activators require SIRT1 to mediate the in vivo effects in muscle and identified a structured activation domain. They demonstrated that miscommunication between the mitochondrial and nuclear genomes is a cause of age-related physiological decline and that relocalization of chromatin factors in response to DNA breaks may be a cause of aging.
Dr. Sinclair is co-founder of several biotechnology companies (Sirtris, Ovascience, Genocea, Cohbar, MetroBiotech, ArcBio, Liberty Biosecurity) and is on the boards of several others. He is also co-founder and co-chief editor of the journal Aging. His work is featured in five books, two documentary movies, 60 Minutes, Morgan Freeman’s “Through the Wormhole” and other media. He is an inventor on 35 patents and has received more than 25 awards and honors including the CSL Prize, The Australian Commonwealth Prize, Thompson Prize, Helen Hay Whitney Postdoctoral Award, Charles Hood Fellowship, Leukemia Society Fellowship, Ludwig Scholarship, Harvard-Armenise Fellowship, American Association for Aging Research Fellowship, Nathan Shock Award from the National Institutes of Health, Ellison Medical Foundation Junior and Senior Scholar Awards, Merck Prize, Genzyme Outstanding Achievement in Biomedical Science Award, Bio-Innovator Award, David Murdock-Dole Lectureship, Fisher Honorary Lectureship, Les Lazarus Lectureship, Australian Medical Research Medal, The Frontiers in Aging and Regeneration Award, Top 100 Australian Innovators, and TIME magazine’s list of the “100 most influential people in the world”.
https://genetics.med.harvard.edu/sinclair/people/sinclair.php
I do agree that people will think that way, but it's actually not scarier. Giving the government the power it has, implies the government can basically do what ever it want. It has secret courts, secret arrests, and secret police. That is way more horrifying than the very small risk of being shot - which the numbers don't even fully support that it's getting worse, unjustified, or even preventable. I recommend the Through the Wormhole episode: are we all bigots?).
That being said, I do think we whould always be wary of police and generally question the government. It's important we keep into perspective what's actually a threat and whats just unfortunate. Both should be improved, but one (the NSA) can prevent any sort of improvement, the police shooting rate seems to be more of an over reaction and mistake that almost everyone agrees should be fixed.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/07/13/why-a-massive-new-study-on-police-shootings-of-whites-and-blacks-is-so-controversial/
http://www.sciencechannel.com/tv-shows/through-the-wormhole/are-we-all-bigots/
WARNING: Doom n' Gloom post :P
I'm not arguing against the need for such studies, however I find it amazing that this is debatable at all.
Expecting that we as a species or society aren't subject to the most fundamental laws of the universe isn't rational. Even in the negligible timescale of our own species we've seen repeated cycles of collapse, the planet is littered with the remains of failed species. The only reason this needs study is because we're so arrogant as to believe there's an exemption clause in the fine print of the immutable laws of the universe, just for us. Scarier still is that we don't even have to be all godded up to believe that, it's how we're born. (Tangent: watch "Through The Wormhole" the episode "Does Belief in God Cause More Self Control?")
A collapse is coming, it's just a question of when. 10 years? 100 years? 1000 years? a million?
Personally I'd lean toward the lower end of the scale. Whilst a substantial percentage of the world subscribes philosophies that essentially reinforce our innate belief that the earth "belongs" to man. Her resources perhaps put there for us to consume by some higher being. We're pretty fucked. Ecological responsibility can't be discussed with any creature that ultimately believes that a a higher being provides for them. Heck you can't even begin to discuss the timescales involved rationally with the vast majority of faiths around, and those that you can engage in dialogue are numerically so insignificant as to not matter.
Then there's the question of reproduction. Whilst first world populations are shrinking, the third world is growing, and we in the first world can't even agree that it would be in our own long term interests to pay for the education and food of every last man, woman and child amongst them that needs it. The reasons are purely selfish: it's the only humane way we can have even the slightest chance of avoiding a world with 10 + billion people on it. If the thought of that doesn't terrify you, it should. Assuming we agree that societal patterns observed in the past hold true of the future, then trouble and strife breeds conflict, breeds fascism, breeds violence. Picture a world a few decades from now where the poorest two thirds, armed with today's most horrific weapons use the model set by the past as their compass for the future. I'd wager the odds are heavily stacked in favour of things getting very bloody at some point. Believing that, whilst some may play with cataclysmic weapons, the genie will stay in the bottle for the rest, is naive at best. If you still can't picture what I mean, drop everything and go visit India, Bangladesh, Mexico or almost anywhere in sub-saharan Africa, spend a year or two outside the city, then picture what happens when that thin veneer if government and society is stripped away.
It's a fact that as a species and as individuals we're incredibly bad at forward looking decision making. We evolved geared to favour today and next week over next month or next year. Few plan and act for long term benefit even on a human scale, and collectively that's going to bite us in the ass. I don't imagine this is something that sits well with the entrepreneurial spirit of HN readers, but before you stand up and shout "Hey! I plan! I save! I recycle!" or whatever, remember this is about us in aggregate, each of us individually are quite irrelevant.
Ok, I'm done, I can't begin to address this subject properly.
“I'm gonna share with you a vision that I had, cause I love you. And you feel it. You know all that money we spend on nuclear weapons and defense each year, trillions of dollars, correct? Instead -- just play with this -- if we spent that money feeding and clothing the poor of the world -- and it would pay for it many times over, not one human being excluded -- we can explore space together, both inner and outer, forever in peace.” - Bill Hicks
There's a documentary (Are We Still Evolving / Through the Wormhole) that explores this and some other cases.
There was an episode in "Through the wormhole" where it showcased some experiments in how the subconscious mind can be utilized more. I bet this will become normal in coming decades.
If you want more information about this Through The Wormhole Season 2 Episode 5 "Is there a sixth sense" explored this and presented some theories on how it occurs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Through_the_Wormhole#Season_2
The show is excellent and presents a lot of science topics in and interesting and understandable way. Highly suggested viewing.
Anyone interested in NdGT, check out the show he hosts: Nova Science Now
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/
You can watch full episodes online, no commercial interruptions after they start. It does a good job at filling the popular science video niche, in addition to Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman.
I've been enjoying the Discovery channel's "Through the Wormhole" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1513168/). They cover a lot of the latest theories of the universe, time, physics etc, in an accessible way.
Usually listen to one of the SomaFM stations, but listening to one of the Through the Wormhole episodes ATM.