Cool Worlds Podcast

#36 Hal Triedman - Hugging Face Hack, AI Meltdowns, Poisoning AI

33K views · 2w ago · 1:43:21

Guest: Hal Triedman

Upgrade your online protection with an all-in-one security app! It’s risk free with Nord’s 30 day money-back guarantee! In this week's episode, David is joined by Hal Triedman ( a PhD student at Cornell Tech researching why AI agents go rogue and how easily they can be poisoned.

Topics: The Hugging Face Hack · NordVPN · Agent Meltdowns · Why AI Agents Fail · Can We Make AI Agents Safe? · AI Poisoning

#35 Lee Cronin - Chemputation, Origin of Life, Assembly Theory

43K views · 2mo ago · 1:43:49

Guest: Lee Cronin

Upgrade your online protection with an all-in-one security app! It’s risk free with Nord’s 30 day money-back guarantee! In this week's episode, David is joined by Lee Cronin, Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Glasgow University, where he holds the Regius Chair. He is also the Founder and CEO of Chemify (

#34 We Need to Talk About That "First Exomoon" Discovery

93K views · 2mo ago · 1:05:14

Special solo episode about the recent news of the first exomoon discovery. To support this podcast and our research lab, head to REFERENCES Hoy et al. 2026, "Planetary-mass exosatellite detected around the substellar companion of a star": and Kral et al. 2026, "Exomoon search with VLTI/GRAVITY around the substellar companion HD 206893 B" Todorov et al. 2010, "Discovery of a Planetary-mass Companion to a Brown Dwarf in Taurus" Chauvin et al.

Topics: 0. Teaser · 1. Back in NYC · 2. Brief History of Exomoons · 3. New Claim · 4. Health Warnings · 5. Health Warning 1

#33 Sarah Rugheimer - LIFE Mission, Prebiosignatures, Mountains

41K views · 4mo ago · 1:55:26

Guest: Sarah Rugheimer

To support this podcast and our research lab, head to

#32 Chris Lintott - Technosignatures, Citizen Science, Scicomm

40K views · 6mo ago · 1:36:51

Guest: Chris Lintott

In this week's episode, David is joined by Chris Lintott, Professor of Astronomy at Oxford University and presenter of BBC's "The Sky At Night". To support this podcast and our research lab, head to

#31 Joshua Winn - Exoplanet New Discoveries, History and Future

45K views · 8mo ago · 1:07:19

Guest: Joshua Winn

In this week's episode, David is joined by Joshua Winn, Professor of Astrophysical Sciences at Princeton University and author of "The Little Book of Exoplanets". To support this podcast and our research lab, head to Thumbnail background from

#30 We Need To Talk About AI...

174K views · 9mo ago · 1:14:57

This episode is a bit different in that it's a solo episode! I spent this week visiting the Institute of Advanced Study at Princeton, and one meeting in particular shook me so much I felt compelled to make this special episode.

Topics: My IAS Visit · IAS Context · Why This Setting Matters · Meeting Brief · Coding Supremacy · Analytic Supremacy

#29 Nick Bostrom - Simulation Theory, Anthropic Reasoning, Great Filters

69K views · 9mo ago · 1:05:46

Guest: Nick Bostrom

In this week's episode, David is joined by Nick Bostrom, Professor of Philosophy at Oxford University and author of several books including "Deep Utopia", "Superintelligence" and "Anthropic Reasoning". To support this podcast and our research lab, head to

#28 Néstor Espinoza - JWST, Exoplanet Atmospheres, Molecule Detection

31K views · 10mo ago · 1:40:38

Guest: Néstor Espinoza

In this week's episode, David is joined by Néstor Espinoza - Associate Astronomer and Mission Scientist of Exoplanet Science at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore. Néstor is a prolific researcher, developing state-of-the-art statistical tools and performing some of the most exciting analyses of exoplanets with JWST.

Topics: How do we observe transiting planets? · Occultations/Secondary Eclipses · Phase Curves · Novium · JWST Performance · The future of JWST & Hubble

Fastest Airplane Boarding The Science Behind It!

12K views · 11mo ago · 3:00

#27 Jason Steffen - Kepler Mission Legacy, Particle Physics, Optimal Plane Boarding

43K views · 11mo ago · 1:47:41

Guest: Jason Steffen

In this week's episode, David is joined by Jason Steffen, Professor of Physics at University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Jason is the author of the book "Hidden in the Heavens: How the Kepler Mission’s Quest for New Planets Changed How We View Our Own".

#26 Will Kinney - Before the Big Bang, Inflation, Infinity of Worlds

148K views · 1y ago · 2:13:16

Guest: Will Kinney

Get exclusive NordVPN deal here It’s risk free with Nord’s 30 day money-back guarantee! In this week's episode, David is joined by Will Kinney, Professor of Physics at Buffalo University, NY. Will is the author of the fascinating book, "An Infinity of Worlds: Cosmic Inflation and the Beginning of the Universe".

#25 Matt O'Dowd - PBS Spacetime, Science on YouTube, Quasars

79K views · 1y ago · 1:39:17

Guest: Matt O'Dowd

In this week's episode, David is joined by Matt O'Dowd, Professor of Physics at Lehman College, CUNY. Matt is the host of the phenomenally successful PBS Spacetime (@pbsspacetime) show and an avid communicator of science.

Topics: Early inspirations & career motivations · Turning points in the journey · Research focus & collaborations · Reflections on progress so far · Galactic center discussion · X-ray emissions and astrophysics insights