Episode notes
What does it take to turn a banned psychedelic into an FDA-approved medicine? Visit MAPS to read about the latest progress is psychedelic research: https://maps.org/ In this episode, we speak with Rick Doblin, founder of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), about the decades-long mission to make MDMA-assisted therapy a legal treatment for PTSD and other mental health conditions. Rick received his PhD from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government in public policy focusing on the regulation of medical use of psychedelics in 2001. Rick shares the science behind MDMA’s…
Podcast
632nm
Misha Shalaginov, Michael Dubrovsky, Xinghui Yin · Tech & Science · English
Technical interviews with the greatest scientists in the world.
More from 632nm All episodes →
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E40 · 21 Oct 2025 · 1 hr 1 min
Why Do Quantum Computers Make So Many Mistakes? | Mikhail Lukin on Quantum Error Correction
You can’t copy a qubit. So how do quantum computers remember anything? In this episode, we sit down with Mikhail Lukin, Harvard physicist and co-director of the Harvard Quantum Initiative, whose lab is building quantum computers from arrays of individually trapped atoms. Lukin explains the paradox of quantum error correction—how you can safeguard quantum information even though it can’t be copied or measured directly—and why this breakthrough may be the key to making large-scale quantum computers possible. We dive into the strange logic of superposition, entanglement, and “small cat states,”…
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E39 · 9 Oct 2025 · 1 hr 6 min
We Interviewed the Winners of the Ig Nobel Prize | Ig Nobel 2025
The scientific stories behind this year's research that made people LAUGH, then THINK. Watch the 2025 Ig Nobel Ceremony here: https://youtu.be/z1cP4xKd_L4 In this episode, we bring together three of this year’s Ig Nobel winners whose research spans psychology, food science and human biology. You’ll hear how a team of psychologists devised a counter-intuitive way to boost a narcissist’s self-confidence; how two physicists uncovered the “mozzarella phase” of pecorino cheese while perfecting cacio e pepe; and how a group studying lactation discovered that garlic changes breast-milk’s aroma and…
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E38 · 7 Oct 2025 · 1 hr 41 min
What Science can Learn from Startups | Adam Marblestone on Focused Research Organizations
Science has stalled. And Adam Marblestone thinks he knows why. Check out the Research Gap Map here: https://www.gap-map.org/?sort=rank In this episode, we sit down with Adam Marblestone, neuroscientist, nanotechnologist, and founder of Convergent Research, to explore how new “Focused Research Organizations” (FROs) could reignite scientific progress. From DNA “ticker-tape” neural recording to optical connectomics and Neuralink, Marblestone explains how emerging neurotechnologies reveal both the brilliance and the bottlenecks of today’s research system. We discuss why traditional funding often…
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E34 · 23 Sep 2025 · 1 hr 53 min
What Optical Atomic Clocks Tell Us About Space-Time | Jun Ye
Times have changed. And cesium clocks can't keep up. In this episode, we sit down with Jun Ye, Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics (JILA) Fellow and pioneer of optical lattice clocks, whose work has pushed timekeeping far beyond traditional cesium atomic clocks. Ye explains how combining ultra-stable lasers, frequency combs, and ultra-cold atoms produces clocks more than 100× more precise than today’s standards: so sensitive they can detect gravitational time dilation across the width of a human hair. We explore how this next generation of atomic clocks may open windows onto…
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E33 · 9 Sep 2025 · 2 hr 24 min
Laser Cooling and Quantum Timekeeping | Bill Phillips
How did cooling atoms with lasers revolutionize our understanding of time? In this episode, we speak with Bill Phillips, Nobel Laureate in Physics, about his groundbreaking work on laser cooling and trapping of atoms: research that not only won him the Nobel Prize but also transformed modern timekeeping and technology. Phillips explains why breaking the Doppler cooling limit changed physics forever and what it means that today’s clocks can measure time differences caused by moving a device just a few millimeters in Earth’s gravity. We discuss the history of timekeeping from sundials to…
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E31 · 12 Aug 2025 · 1 hr 31 min
Biology's Biggest Chicken and Egg Problem | Jacob Fine
Life’s First Blueprint Wasn’t DNA; it was RNA. Read Jacob Fine’s latest publication here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022283625001901 Today we spoke with Jacob Fine, graduate student researcher in Computational Biology from the University of Toronto. We explore the physics of replication, the role of entropy and information theory, and how modern biology is reconnecting with theory to understand the most fundamental question in science. Our conversation takes place in a Russian sauna, where the hot and humid environment mimics some of the conditions needed for life to…
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E30 · 5 Aug 2025 · 2 hr 16 min
The Final Interview with MIT Physicist Keith Johnson
One of Keith Johnson’s final interviews: a brilliant mind on dark matter, water, and fusion. Read about Keith’s legacy here: https://news.mit.edu/2025/keith-johnson-materials-scientist-independent-filmmaker-dies-0723 This episode is one of the final recorded conversations with MIT physicist Keith Johnson, who passed away just weeks after our interview. In this conversation, he unpacks his early research on the quantum structure of matter, his cold fusion theories, and how it all led to a screenplay about a young female physicist. Johnson also suggests a radical idea: water clusters in space…
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E29 · 29 Jul 2025 · 1 hr 44 min
How We Build Telescopes to Explore the Early Cosmos | Brian Keating
Did the Big Bang really happen? Telescopes, dark matter & cosmic origins explored. Join cosmologist Brian Keating as we explore the mysteries of the universe, from building telescopes at the South Pole to measuring the polarization of the cosmic microwave background and chasing signs of gravitational waves. We discuss Galileo’s influence, cosmic inflation, and how the Nobel Prize could be changed to better reflect the way we do science. Follow us for more technical interviews with the world’s greatest scientists: Twitter: https://x.com/632nmPodcast Instagram:…
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E28 · 15 Jul 2025 · 2 hr 2 min
Quantum Complexity: Scott Aaronson on P vs NP and the Future
In this episode of the 632nm podcast, Scott Aaronson shares his early fascination with calculus at age 11 and how “rediscovering” old mathematics led him toward groundbreaking work in complexity theory. He gives a lucid explanation of P vs NP, revealing how seemingly trivial questions about verifying solutions speak to some of the deepest unsolved problems in all of computing. Aaronson also explores the frontiers of quantum computing, from the nuances of quantum supremacy experiments to the idea of quantum money and certified randomness. He explains how amplitudes—rather than straightforward…
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E27 · 24 Jun 2025 · 1 hr 33 min
Science Memes, Epigenetic Inheritance, and Rethinking Peer Review
In this episode of the 632nm podcast, we explore cutting-edge ideas in epigenetics and academic publishing. Oded Rechavi reveals how C. elegans worms defy conventional genetics by passing on traits through small RNAs, and discusses how these mechanisms might reshape our understanding of heredity. We also hear about a remarkable experiment hijacking Toxoplasma gondii—the so-called “cat parasite”—to deliver proteins into the brain, opening possible routes for new therapies. Beyond the lab, we explore problems with modern publishing, from glacial review timelines to flawed incentives that push…
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