Adam Frank
American physicist and astronomerWikipedia
52
MENTIONS
15
EPISODES
8
PODCASTS
Search complete. 52 mentions across 15 episodes found for "Adam Frank".
Sep 9, 2026
Megan McArdleHOST
I mean, what would it mean if we found life somewhere else, even just bacteria on one of Jupiter's moons? That question, the fascinating question, is getting buried under the conspiracy theories about Area 51 and the grainy footage of, uh, what exactly? Yet at the same time, there has been something that is simultaneously more exciting and less exotic because there's been a real shift in the technology and in the scientific effort to locate extraterrestrial life.
Megan McArdleHOST
So how do we separate science fiction from, well, science? To help us answer that, I'm joined today by Adam Frank, an astrophysicist at the University of Rochester and one of the leading thinkers in astrobiology, the science of life in the universe.
Megan McArdleHOST
Adam studies not only the stars and planets, but the possibility of biospheres, technospheres, and civilizations beyond Earth.
Megan McArdleHOST
And he brings to the alien question a combination I love: curiosity, scientific rigor, and the belief that the future can still be bigger, stranger, and better than the past.
9 MINS LATER
speaker_3ADVERTISER
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Megan McArdleHOST
Welcome back.
Megan McArdleHOST
We are talking to Adam Frank about space exploration and extraterrestrial life.
Megan McArdleHOST
So intelligent life elsewhere seems at least possible.
Nils GilmanHOST
There is also this question of intentionality because you were talking earlier about how one of the hallmarks of the modern mindset is that we are aware that the future is going to be different from the past and we have the formerly heretical notion that we can control or at least guide that in some way.
Nils GilmanHOST
There's a very interesting essay that was published a few years ago by Adam Frank, David Greenspoon, and Sarah Walker, where they talked about a four-stage evolution in the planet.
Nils GilmanHOST
There was an immature biosphere, a mature biosphere.
Nils GilmanHOST
We're now in an immature technosphere.
speaker_0NARRATOR
Welcome to Into the Impossible.
speaker_0NARRATOR
Today we're diving into a fascinating episode where Brian Keating sits down with Adam Frank from the University of Rochester and Nayesh Afshordi from the Perimeter Institute.
speaker_0NARRATOR
They tackle some big questions.
speaker_0NARRATOR
What does it mean for scientists to serve the public? Where does belief end and evidence begin? These are crucial questions right now.
speaker_0NARRATOR
I
speaker_1MODERATOR
like that framing.
speaker_1MODERATOR
And what about Adam Frank? How does he approach this responsibility to communicate?
speaker_0NARRATOR
Frank argues that research and communication are deeply connected.
David KippingHOST
Now since my last video on this there have been two studies published which really shake up the odds and also a third study published which doesn't actually change the odds but is still really important to mention so let's start with that one.
David KippingHOST
A provocative 2019 paper by Gavin Schmidt and Adam Frank, who, by the way, are both Coolwoods Podcast alumni, suggested that humanity might not be the first technological civilization on this planet, as my analysis certainly assumed.
David KippingHOST
They argued that a civilization could have emerged during the Carboniferous period, that's 350 million years ago, and really, we just wouldn't know about it.
David KippingHOST
Now, I should really do a video about this at some point, but fortunately, for the sake of today's video, it actually doesn't really change things.
Koshin Flint SparksGUEST
This episode is titled Ethical Considerations in an Age of AI, Panel Discussion.
Koshin Flint SparksGUEST
The speakers for this episode are Adam Frank, John Dunne, Molly Crockett, and Joan Halifax.
Koshin Flint SparksGUEST
[bell rings]
Joan HalifaxHOST
[laughs] It was ladies' day today.
26 MINS LATER
Molly CrockettGUEST
[laughs]
Judith HoffmanUNKNOWN
But I know that, but I know that, um, we're out of time, so I'm happy to defer, uh, to later.
Joan HalifaxHOST
Adam?
Judith HoffmanUNKNOWN
Thank you.
Koshin Flint SparksGUEST
This episode is titled Closing Q&A.
Koshin Flint SparksGUEST
The speakers for this episode are Adam Frank, John Dunne, Molly Crockett, and Joan Halifax.
Koshin Flint SparksGUEST
[bell rings]
Joan HalifaxHOST
Insights, no Aryas [audience chuckles] if you will.
speaker_1NARRATOR
This episode is titled Panel Discussion: AI, Experience, and Ethics.
speaker_1NARRATOR
The speakers for this episode are Adam Frank, John Dunne, Molly Crockett, and Joan Halifax.
speaker_1NARRATOR
[bell] No need even to notice it.
speaker_1NARRATOR
Simply be aware with the breath.
Molly CrockettGUEST
This episode is titled The Blind Spot, Part A.
Molly CrockettGUEST
The speaker for this episode is Adam Frank.
Molly CrockettGUEST
[bell rings] Is that better?
speaker_2UNKNOWN
Yeah.
Molly CrockettGUEST
Great.
Molly CrockettGUEST
Hope you enjoyed your lunch and your walk.
Molly CrockettGUEST
And, uh, my name's Molly Crockett, and, uh, I will be preparing us all to hear from Adam Frank in a bit.
Molly CrockettGUEST
[laughs]
Adam FrankGUEST
This episode is titled The Blind Spot, Part B.
Adam FrankGUEST
The speaker for this episode is Adam Frank.
Adam FrankGUEST
[bell rings] Do you remember the swirly one, the intermission one at the drive-in theaters? It was like this...
Adam FrankGUEST
As a kid, I always been, like, I thought it was, I thought it was, like, a hypnosis thing to get you go get hot dogs.
speaker_1NARRATOR
This episode is titled Panel Discussion: Time, Perception, and Not Knowing.
speaker_1NARRATOR
The speakers for this episode are Adam Frank, John Dunne, Molly Crockett, and Joan Halifax.
speaker_1NARRATOR
[bell rings]
John DunneGUEST
So as we're coming back together, and I think Molly will be here soon.
5 more episodes mention Adam Frank.
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