That was Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov’s answer when asked to describe the true disruption of decentralized finance to a traditional finance audience.
On this episode of The Breakdown, Sergey and NLW discuss:
Brand-based contracts vs. math-based contracts
The history of smart contracts
What it means to build an “abstraction layer” for “universally connected smart contracts”
Key moments in the history of smart contract infrastructure
Where smart contracts and DeFi are in terms of analogies to the early internet
Why Sergey believes traditional finance will inevitably shift to a math-based contract model
Ian Hutchinson is a nuclear engineer and plasma physicist at MIT. He has made a number of important contributions in plasma physics including the magnetic confinement of plasmas seeking to enable fusion reactions, which is the energy source of the stars, to be used for practical energy production. Current nuclear reactors are based on fission as we discuss. Ian has also written on the philosophy of science and the relationship between science and religion.
Here’s the outline of the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.
OUTLINE:
00:00 – Introduction
05:32 – Nuclear physics and plasma physics
08:00 – Fusion energy
35:22 – Nuclear weapons
42:06 – Existential risks
50:29 – Personal journey in religion
56:27 – What is God like?
1:01:34 – Scientism
1:04:21 – Atheism
1:06:39 – Not knowing
1:09:57 – Faith
1:13:46 – The value of loyalty and love
1:23:26 – Why is there suffering in the world
1:35:08 – AGI
1:40:27 – Consciousness
1:48:14 – Simulation
1:52:20 – Adam and Eve
1:54:57 – Meaning of life
After the end of WWII in Europe, General Dwight Eisenhower was appointed the military governor of the American Zone in Germany.
During his travels around Germany, he noticed that the German autobahn was really good. His respect for the German highways later became the impetus for passing legislation for the United States Interstate Highway System.
Katie Crutchfield is a singer and songwriter from Birmingham, Alabama. She’s been making music under the name Waxahatchee since 2010. Her fifth album, Saint Cloud, came out this past March. Pitchfork named it Best New Music, and The Guardian called it the best album of the year so far. In this episode, Katie breaks down how she made the song “Fire."
More than 500 feet long and carrying missiles the size of small planes, the giant, nuclear-powered Kursk submarine was an apex predator of the high seas. At least, that is, until it was destroyed in one of the most catastrophic peacetime submarine accidents in history. The entire crew was lost and, decades later, some still believe this 'accident' was no accident at all.
At age 26, Solomon Goldstein-Rose has already spent more time thinking about climate change than most of us will in our lifetimes. He’s been a climate activist since age 11, studied engineering and public policy to understand what physically has to happen to solve climate change, and served in the Massachusetts state legislature on a climate-focused platform.
In 2018 he canceled his campaign for re-election so he could work full-time on climate change at the national and global levels. The 100% Solution framework is a product of his political experiences, numerous meetings with technical experts and activists, and intensive research and analysis.
The 100% Solution: A Plan for Solving Climate Change (Melville House) is a highly visual book, with informative and whimsical illustrations drawn by Violet Kitchen, a visual artist, illustrator, and writer based in western Massachusetts. She currently splits her time between being a full-time art student and a part-time hermit, and is available for commissions and freelance work. Violet also got her start at a young age: her instructional manual Drawing Comics Is Easy, Except When It’s Hard, written and drawn at age seven, earned her the title of youngest ever Eisner Award nominee.
In this New Books Network interview, we speak about the political, industrial, and scientific changes that need to occur by 2050 to solve climate change, as well as the importance of focusing on real solutions rather than wallowing in fear.
Solomon Goldstein-Rose was elected to the Massachusetts legislature on a climate change-focused platform at age 22. He previously interned in the Obama White House and in Congress, and ran a statewide carbon pricing campaign. He lives in Amherst, MA. For more see: SolomonGR.com
Matthew Jordan is an instructor at McMaster University, where he teaches courses on AI and the history of science. You can follow him on Twitter @mattyj612 or his website matthewleejordan.com.
Officials worry about a coronavirus surge in several states. The President doubles down on a discredited treatment. Tech CEOs address misinformation on Capitol Hill. CBS News Correspondent Steve Kathan has today's World News Roundup.
Three L.A. comedians are quarantined in a podcast studio during a global pandemic. There is literally nothing to be done EXCEPT make content. These are "The Corona Diaries" and this is Episode #61. Our guest today is comedian, musician, and all around hilarious dude Chris Crofton! Find him on Twitter @TheCroftonShow. Music is "Find Me in the Bar" by Chris Crofton.
Five years ago a $4.5bn hole in a development fund scrambled Malaysia’s politics. Now the inquiry has claimed its first scalp: that of Najib Razak, a former prime minister. We examine the grand shift of business to “shadow banks”—a more innovative, if less regulated, end of the industry. And we join a mushroom-picking expedition in China’s Yunnan province. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer
