From First Principles

What’s Next in Science? Nobel Prizes, Space Missions & More (EP 57)

What science should you be watching this fall? From Nobel Prize season to NASA’s Roman Space Telescope, Mars’ moons and Mercury, Lester Nare and Krishna Choudhary take a

The Yak Mutation That Could Help Repair the Brain (EP 56)

What can a yak living thousands of meters above sea level teach us about repairing the human brain? In Episode 56 of From First Principles, Lester Nare and Krishna Choud

Why Spin Qubits Will Win the Quantum Race (Part 2) (EP 55)

Which quantum computer will actually scale? In Part 2 of our quantum computing deep dive, Lester Nare and Krishna Choudhary move from theory to hardware—comparing superc

How Quantum Computing Actually Works (Part 1) (EP 54)

Quantum computers do not simply “try every answer at once.” So what do they actually do—and why have governments and technology companies spent billions trying to build t

What Claude Actually Did to the Riemann Hypothesis (EP 53)

Claude did not solve the Riemann Hypothesis. But what it actually did may be one of the clearest examples yet of how rapidly AI systems are changing the way difficult mat

The Amazon’s Hidden Civilization (One Year Anniversary) (EP 52)

In this anniversary episode, Lester Nare and Krishna Choudhary look back at how two longtime friends turned their regular conversations about science into a show now shar

The Tech Elon Has Been Waiting For (EP 51)

What happens when electronics can operate at temperatures hot enough to melt aluminum? In this deep-dive episode, Lester Nare and Krishna Choudhary examine a new high-te

AI Breaks a 90-Year Math Problem, Life’s Alphabet in Space, and Science Funding (EP 50)

Hosted by Lester Nare and Krishna Choudhary, this episode moves from astrobiology to science policy to the rapidly changing frontier of artificial intelligence and mathem

FIFA Data Scientists Explain Match Momentum (EP 49)

In this special interview episode, Lester Nare speaks with Juan Busso, Senior Football Data Scientist at FIFA, and Arron Ackerman, FIFA’s Team Lead for Football Performan

Black Hole Movies, Digital Heart Twins, and World Cup Tech (EP 48)

Hosted by Lester Nare and Krishna Choudhary, this episode returns to the FFP science rundown with stories spanning astrophysics, precision medicine, medical imaging, arti

America 250: The Breakthroughs That Built American Science — Part 2 (EP 47)

Hosted by Lester Nare and Krishna Choudhary, this episode is part two of our July 4th America 250 special: a celebration of the scientific, technological, institutional,

America 250: The Breakthroughs That Built American Science — Part 1 (EP 46)

Hosted by Lester Nare and Krishna Choudhary, this episode is part one of our July 4th America 250 special: a celebration of the scientific, technological, institutional,

The Physics of the World Cup: VAR, Smart Balls, and Soccer Aerodynamics (EP 45)

Hosted by Lester Nare and Krishna Choudhary, this episode is our World Cup special — a deep dive into the science, physics, engineering, and data behind the beautiful gam

New Rules For Heredity (Non-Mendelian Inheritance of Epigenetics) (EP 44)

Hosted by Lester Nare and Krishna Choudhary, this episode marks Krishna’s return to the studio after paternity leave — and the timing could not be more fitting. Today’s d

Dr. Michael Blanton on Open Data, Galaxy Surveys, and the Future of Astronomy (EP 43)

Hosted by Lester Nare and Krishna Choudhary, this episode is the second interview in our ongoing collaboration series with Carnegie Observatories. Krishna sits down with

How Scientists Actually Study Dark Matter (EP 42)

Hosted by Lester Nare, this episode features astrophysicist Dan Gilman for a deep conversation on one of the biggest open questions in modern physics: what dark matter ac

Dr. John Mulchaey on Carnegie Science and the Future of Astronomy (EP 41)

Hosted by Lester Nare and Krishna Choudhary, this interview features John Mulchaey, the 12th President of Carnegie Science and former Director of the Carnegie Observatori

Ant Scans, Lunar Chickpeas, Hidden Galaxies & Superconductivity (EP 40)

Hosted by Lester Nare and Krishna Choudhary, this rundown episode covers four new science stories at a high level: a huge new 3D ant imaging database built with synchrotr

The Prometheus Constellation: Dramaturgical and Scientific Analysis of the Physicists in Oppenheimer (EP 39)

Hosted by Lester Nare and Krishna Choudhary, this special episode ranks the 26 scientists shown in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer by one standard only: their contributio

Harder Than Diamond? The New Hexagonal Diamond Breakthrough (EP 38)

Hosted by Lester Nare and Krishna Choudhary, this episode is a deep dive into one of the strangest and most hard-fought materials science stories in decades: the claim th