Stephen Wolfram Livestreams

Science & Technology Q&A for Kids & Others (160 videos)

Weekly ask-me-anything about science & technology

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New episode streaming Friday, July 25, 2025 at 3:30pm ET. Submit your questions

Science & Technology Q&A for Kids & Others:
Science & Technology Q&A for Kids (and Others) [Episode 76] »

1 hour 41 minutes

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Could you build a reverse natural language understanding engine? One that would take in Wolfram Language/JavaScript/Python and output natural language explaining what the code is doing? Dr. Wolfram, any suggestion on what problems/casework to use for introductory programming? Why is it harder to compute integrals rather than derivatives? Are there any major changes to the design, architecture or low-level code of computers that are now standardized that you would change if you could? Are there laws governing the development of human history? Any tricks for reading textbooks that maximize the understanding of the material? View Less »
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Science & Technology Q&A for Kids & Others:
Science & Technology Q&A for Kids (and Others) [Episode 75] »

47 minutes

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​Do you think it's possible to time travel? Has Darwinian evolution stopped in humans? If so, are we descending to extinction because of dysgenics? How likely is it for a big asteroid to hit Earth? ​​How far ahead can you talk about human evolution adapting with technological progression? Could gene drive technology replace natural evolution in favor of intelligent design? View Less »
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Science & Technology Q&A for Kids & Others:
Science & Technology Q&A for Kids (and Others) [Episode 74] »

1 hour 17 minutes

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What is the difference between astroparticle physics and astrophysics? Which is more interesting in your opinion? Why do doctors say that no vaccination can be 100% effective? ​​According to Wikipedia, some bowhead whales have been "estimated to be between 135 and 170 years old." Is this alleged estimate correct? Can some mammals live to be 200 years old? ​What's different in the vaccines? Like what's the difference between one and another? View Less »
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Science & Technology Q&A for Kids & Others:
Science & Technology Q&A for Kids (and Others) [Episode 73] »

1 hour 3 minutes

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How common is "atomic oxygen" in the universe? If temperature and pressure both come from gas molecules bouncing around with a certain momentum, why are the two different? And what is the difference between the two? ​How do I educate my children like you were growing up in order to give them the potential for any STEM field? ​If you were in your early twenties and just graduated college, which field would you go into? AI/machine learning programming, aerospace engineering, blockchains/crypto? ​​Is there a closest packing for Spikeys? What are the smallest and largest Spikeys ever constructed or discovered? ​Speaking on AI, do you think we will see artificial general intelligence (AGI) this century? If yes, what is your best guess as to when? ​So what's the deal with superfluids? Do they have any useful purposes? View Less »
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Science & Technology Q&A for Kids & Others:
Science & Technology Q&A for Kids (and Others) [Episode 72] »

1 hour 9 minutes

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What's the physical limitation of the growth speed of humans? Can you get from 10 kg to 90 kg in a month, theoretically? What is the function of the human heart? Is it best understood as a pump, or as something else? Humans exposed to prolonged microgravity conditions suffer from well-known health issues. Short of 1g gravity, do we know the minimum gravity required to prevent such issues, e.g. 0.1g, 0.3g, 0.5g, etc.? ​How can quantum computers solve the protein folding problem? Is being able to get to the lowest energy state a statement that there is a "continuous" series of energy states that the molecule has? That the transformation from one state to another is "smooth" enough? That there is no energy state that is "isolated" from all others? View Less »
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Science & Technology Q&A for Kids & Others:
Science & Technology Q&A for Kids (and Others) [Episode 71] »

1 hour 1 minute

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Do you think will we get anti-gravity cars? How much memory does a rock have? Do protons or photons have memory? Do orbits have memory? When is someone considered dead? How do we define the line between alive and dead? How do sparrows in a flock know how to all change directions simultaneously? Do you think it's more important for humanity to look to colonize another planet or try to look after the Earth and make it habitable for the future? Can we push the jet streams? View Less »
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