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The Crisis In Physics: Are We Missing 17 Layers of Reality?

2025-06-12 Education
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PBS Space Time
PBS Space Time
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Remove your personal information from the web at https://joindeleteme.com/SPACETIME Big things are made of smaller things, and those smaller things are made of smaller things still. That’s reductionism in a nutshell, and digging our way to the smallest layer has been one of the primary goals of physics for ever. But what if, just before we reach the bottom, we find out that reductionism fails? Sign Up on Patreon to get access to the Space Time Discord! https://www.patreon.com/pbsspacetime Check out the Space Time Merch Store https://www.pbsspacetime.com/shop Sign up for the mailing list to get episode notifications and hear special announcements! https://mailchi.mp/1a6eb8f2717d/spacetime Search the Entire Space Time Library Here: https://search.pbsspacetime.com/ Hosted by Matt O'Dowd Written by Matt O'Dowd Post Production by Leonardo Scholzer, Yago Ballarini & Stephanie Faria Directed by Andrew Kornhaber Associate Producer: Bahar Gholipour Executive Producer: Andrew Kornhaber Executive in Charge for PBS: Maribel Lopez Director of Programming for PBS: Gabrielle Ewing Assistant Director of Programming for PBS: John Campbell Spacetime is a production of Kornhaber Brown for PBS Digital Studios. This program is produced by Kornhaber Brown, which is solely responsible for its content. © 2025 PBS. All rights reserved. End Credits Music by J.R.S. Schattenberg: https://www.youtube.com/user/MultiDroideka Space Time Was Made Possible In Part By: Big Bang Tj Steyn Bryce Fort Peter Barrett Alexander Tamas Morgan Hough Juan Benet Vinnie Falco Mark Rosenthal Supernova Grace Biaelcki Glenn Sugden Ethan Cohen Stephen Wilcox Robert Ilardi Mark Heising Hypernova Thomas Mouton Zachary Haberman Spencer Jones Dean Galvin Mike Purvis Michael Tidwell Stephen Saslow Stephen Spidle Massimiliano Pala Justin Lloyd David Giltinan Kenneth See Gregory Forfa Alex Kern drollere Scott Gorlick Paul Stehr-Green Ben Delo Scott Gray Антон Кочков John R. Slavik Donal Botkin chuck zegar Daniel Muzquiz Gamma Ray Burst Todd J Lerner Sound Reason Michael Clark Collin Dutrow Marion Lang Kurt Gottselig Bryan White Eric Raschke aaron pinto Kacper Cieśla Satwik Pani Param Saxena John De Witt Nathaniel Bennett Sandhya Devi Michael Oulvey Arko Provo Mukherjee Christopher Wade Anthony Crossland treborg777 Robert DeChellis Tomaz Lovsin Anthony Leon Nick Hoffenstoffer III Lori Ferris Koen Wilde Nicolas Katsantonis Sean Owen Richard Steenbergen Joe Pavlovic Chuck Lukaszewski Jerry Thomas John Anderson Bradley Ulis Craig Falls Kane Holbrook Ross Story Harsh Khandhadia Michael Lev Rad Antonov Terje Vold James Trimmier Jeremy Soller Paul Wood Kent Durham jim bartosh John H. Austin, Jr. Diana S Faraz Khan Almog Cohen Daniel Jennings Ben McIntosh David Johnston Michael Barton Isaac Suttell Bleys Goodson Mark Delagasse Mark Daniel Cohen Shane Calimlim Tybie Fitzhugh Eric Kiebler Craig Stonaha Frederic Simon Tonyface Matthew Johnson Michael Purcell John Funai Adrien Molyneux Bradley Jenkins Vlad Shipulin Walter Flinn Thomas Dougherty Zac Sweers Dan Warren Joseph Salomone Cal Stephens

Top Comments (10)

@globin3477 2025-06-16

Me walking away with my suspiciously 17 layers of reality shaped belly:

671 3 replies
@artie4319 2025-06-12

I am not even from the US but I hope you guys can keep getting funds for educational purposes!

2.3k 319 replies
@AnerLucero 2025-06-13

PBS space time. Pushing the UV limit of my understanding.

287
@AnthonySNY 2025-06-13

I've been watching Spacetime for 10 years, and this is probably the biggest brain-flex I've seen from Matt. Definitely one of the best episodes in a decade.

739 21 replies
@spidalack 2025-06-12

A good example of "reality is under no obligation to make sense to you" If history holds up, figuring it out will lead to some impressive things.

1.1k 30 replies
@ShihammeDarc 2025-06-13

Gravity being a case of anti-reductionism is the biggest cliffhanger this channel has ever ended on.

686 17 replies
@garychisholm2174 2025-06-12

What I love about this channel is that - despite being a science fan already - it makes me think of things I would *never* have thought to otherwise think of.

449 8 replies
@Durrutitv 2025-06-13

Protect PBS SpaceTime at all costs.

655 70 replies
@southilgurl2003 2025-07-22

2:00 The universe has layers, like an onion. Or an Ogre.

18
@Pecos33109 2025-06-12

The best channel for reducing such advanced physics concepts into lay terms that a general audience can understand, imho. Thanks for being such a superb resource, Spacetime!

505 22 replies

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