Stephen Wolfram Livestreams


Science & Technology Q&A for Kids & Others (142 videos)

Weekly ask-me-anything about science & technology

icon

New episode streaming Friday, April 5, at 3:30pm ET. Submit your questions

Science & Technology Q&A for Kids & Others:
Science & Technology Q&A for Kids & Others:
If there's a way to create climate change, does that mean there's a way to reverse it? ​I feel like the greenhouse effect was based on Venus's greenhouse effect. But Venus is ~95% CO2, has no magnetic field, is a lot closer to the Sun, is tidally locked to the Sun, does not a have moon so has no spin, there is no carbon cycle on Venus, no plants or algae, less gravity, etc. Carbon capture research has all the focus. Isn't this just kicking the can down the road? The carbon is stored but not converted, so what is the real benefit? ​ Is climate change necessarily bad? As in, what equilibrium could we reach after the instability has stabilized? Would that new equilibrium necessarily be worse than the one we have enjoyed for a while? But if we do that, do we really understand the effect well enough? I mean, you don't know if more plankton is good for the carbon dioxide situation, but maybe it may make something worse too. ​Think how lucky human beings are. We had one asteroid hit the Earth to make the Moon = seasons, plants grow to make oil and coal. The K–PG asteroid kills all the giant dinosaurs that would have eaten us. We get free reign on the Earth and enough energy-dense oil to create economies to jumpstart up to nuclear fission and fusion and become self-sustaining. We are pretty dang lucky. ​Do you think there are life forms out there whose spectrum of visible light is totally different than ours? Do you think there's a plateau we must break through for space exploration to be more feasible, or is our progress as is good enough? ​Dr. Wolfram, thank you for your time! "Sustainable" energy is a major issue these days, but I'm skeptical that renewables like solar and wind can meet growing demand. What are your thoughts on fission and Gen IV reactor technology? ​We could study Moon rocks in greater detail, and then after that, we can do it again. View Less »
View More »
Science & Technology Q&A for Kids & Others:
Science & Technology Q&A for Kids & Others:
Science & Technology Q&A for Kids & Others:
Science & Technology Q&A for Kids & Others: