How much reality is encoded in quantum mechanics? Is there room for unknowable things? Does there exist a kind of quantum magic? Or is our understanding of the microcosmos still incomplete? Are there fundamental limits to what we can ever know about the universe? Is there a conflict between the superposition principle from Quantum Mechanics and principle of equivalence from General Relativity?
Timothy Gowers solves Question 5 of the 2025 International Mathematical Olympiad in real time. The questions can be downloaded in different langiages and are summarized on the IMO site (linked below). It is instructive (and entertaining) to follow the reasoning of an expert solving a mathematical problem. Of course, you can (and should) stop the video here and there and try to solve the problem yourself. Whenever you are stuck for a longer time, you may watch a little sneak preview. Mathematics is more of a marathon than of a sprint.
International Mathematical Olympiad
International Mathematical Olympiad 2025
Problems
Timothy Gowers
WP: Timothy Gowers
Brian Cox in an interview with Cleo Abram about black holes - this is a long version of another video (Journey Into A Black Hole).
Roger Penrose asks beyond usual physics questions: what is consciousness, what are computational things in physics and what has gravity got to do with this? Why is it difficult to bring gravity and quantum mechanics together, what do free fall, the principle of equivalence and a cubic time dependent phase factor have to do with it? Why is conformal cyclic cosmology an option as explanation of the universeß Why is the collapse of the wave function the most important problem?
Is it possible to test quantum gravity in an experiment? Is it possible to verify limits of Einstein's theory of general relativity?
Related:
Falsifying General Gravity?
Brian Cox explains the ideas and basic concepts of quantum mechanics in less than half an hour.
The Official Website of Professor Brian Cox
WP: Brian Cox (physicist)
The transgender topic is emotionally charged, thus the debate is very difficult. Richard Dawkins thinks about the direction this topic is perceived in parts of society. What does this mean to freedom of speech?
Aeons are an idea from conformal cyclic cosmology.
A little debate about correlation, causality and experiments:
Conformal cyclic cosmology is a replacement theory for the Big Bang, proposed by Roger Penrose.