First hour: The crypto explosion
Second hour: Alien life: Rules of first contact
The price of Bitcoin and other forms of crypto currency has exploded in the past month. A surge in interest has Wall Street wondering if the prices can stay this high, and average citizens are wondering if they should be buying this kind of currency. What is crypto currency? How does it work? What is its future? We’ll answer your questions this hour. Our guests:
- George Conboy, chairman of Brighton Securities
- Gary Palmer Jr., Minting Coins
- Mike Komaransky, former partner at DRW and former head of Cumberland Mining, one of the world's largest bitcoin trading companies by volume
Then in our second hour, are we alone in the universe? China has custom-built the world’s first observatory designed to listen for messages from extraterrestrial life. The country's preeminent science-fiction writer, Liu Cixin, argues that making contact with outside civilizations might lead to our extinction because they may perceive us as a threat. Yet, others say that making contact would lead to advances in science, ethics, culture, and more. So as scientists continue to develop advanced telescopes and technologies, what kinds of messages should we be prepared to send, if any? What are the implications? And how likely is it that we will make contact at all? Our guests weigh in:
- Brian Koberlein, senior lecturer of physics at RIT
- Roger Dube, research professor and director of the Science Exploration Program at RIT
