The Mind of the Universe

Rick Tumlinson on colonizing space and our future work and life on other planets. VPRO

Geneticist and bio-engineer George Church interviewed in his office talking about what motivates him, the current revolution in dna editing and the implications for the future of mankind. VPRO

Canadian computer scientist Yoshua Bengio on artificial intelligence and how we can create thinking and learning machines through algorithms. VPRO

An influential computer scientist reflecting on how networks and the world of technology will impact our future lives. VPRO

British psychologist Nicky Clayton on the theory of mind. What is thinking? How do people and animals think? VPRO

Biochemist Lee Cronin of the Univesity of Glasgow about his quest for creating synthetic life and the possibilities of printing molecules. VPRO

Mathematician Erik Demaine talks about understanding complex problems and design solutions through play and gaming. VPRO

Russian nuclear physicist Yuri Oganessian from the world renowned nuclear lab in Russia's Dubna welcomes the first non-Russian film crew at his lab, talking on how to find new chemical elements. VPRO

Chemist and nanoscientist George Whitesides on the impact science and technology will have on the future of human kind VPRO

Exoplanet hunter Sara Seager talks about her pioneering work in finding exoplanets, planets that orbit stars other than the sun, her search for extraterrestrial life in the universe and the future of exoplanetary science. VPRO

A modern day Jules Verne, Norwegian geophysicist Trond Helge Torsvik wants to reconstruct the evolution of the earth and to answer the question why the earth is the only planet with plate tectonics. What makes the earth so special? VPRO

Brazilian math genius Artur Avila searching for ways to understand chaos in complex dynamic systems that evolve over time such as planets moving around a star or a population of organisms growing or declining over time. VPRO

UK's Astronomer Royal reflects on the future of humanity in the cosmos VPRO

British experimental psychologist Charles Spence on reprogramming and enhancing your senses. VPRO

Demographer wants to find the elixir for life by studying communities with super old and healthy people VPRO

Pope's astronomer Brother Guy Consolmagno on combining his belief in God as Director of the Vatican Observatory with his knowledge of meteorites, older than our planet. VPRO

Cognitive scientist Donald Hoffman talks about how evolution and quantum physics can let us experience other realities than we think. VPRO

Building peace in the Middle East through a better understanding of pre-islamic languages and cultures VPRO

Chinese quantum physicist Jan Wei Pan on how the Chinese are exploring the quantum world and the launch of the first quantum satellite. VPRO

Dutch chemist Hans Clevers makes organoids (living organs outside the body) out of stem cells. If every human body part can be replaced by organoids, what defines a human? VPRO