Big Ideas

Albert Einstein shattered previous ideas about time, but left many pivotal questions unanswered: Does time have a beginning? An end? Why does it move in only one direction? Is it real, or something our minds impose on reality? Journalist John Hockenberry leads a distinguished panel, including renowned physicist Sir Roger Penrose and prominent philosopher David Albert, as they explore the nature of time. This program is part of the Big Ideas Series, made possible with support from the John Templeton Foundation.Learn More

View Additional Video Information

TOPICS: Art & Science, Biology & Origins of Life, Earth & Environment, Mind & Brain, Physics & Math, Science in Society, Science Unplugged, Space & The Cosmos, Technology & Engineering, Your Daily Equation, Youth & Education

TAGS: 2009, Albert Einstein, David Albert, Does time have a beginning, Fotini Markopoulou-Kalamara, full program, George Ellis, is time real, John Hockenberry, Michael Heller, New York, New York City, NYC, science of time, Sir Roger Penrosefull, the nature of time, time, time since Einstein, 2009, Albert Einstein, David Albert, Does time have a beginning, Fotini Markopoulou-Kalamara, full program, George Ellis, is time real, John Hockenberry, Michael Heller, New York, New York City, NYC, science of time, Sir Roger Penrosefull, the nature of time, time, time since Einstein

PLAYLISTS: Big Ideas, Physics & Mathematics

Video Duration: 01:36:21

Original Program Date: Saturday, June 13, 2009

Moderator: John Hockenberry

Participants: David Z. Albert, Fotini Markopoulou-Kalamara, George F. R. Ellis, Michael Heller, Sir Roger Penrose

Up Next

Can Theories of Consciousness Supercharge AI?

00:35:50

Supermassive Black Holes: Rethinking Their Origin

89,709 views |

Is the Cosmos a Vast Computation?

87,639 views | 00:43:05

Crafting Qubits: Harnessing quantum mechanics for computation

00:41:15

Infinite Beginnings? Time in Cutting Edge Cosmology

93,265 views | 00:38:29

Consciousness, Free Will, and Psychedelics: Exploring Mysteries of the Mind

66,371 views | 01:23:40

Straight Talk on Quantum Computing

99,165 views | 01:38:13

Beyond Planets: The Quest for Exomoons

00:35:11

Code to Cure: AI and the Future of Health

00:40:19

AI Creativity: Genius or Gimmick?

00:40:00

Roger Penrose: Time, Black Holes, and the Cosmos

388,971 views | 01:09:22

Coding Consciousness: An Algorithm for Awareness?

72,940 views | 00:41:48

Dark Matters: Have We Really Failed to Identify Most of the Cosmos?

199,893 views | 00:34:15

Quantum Computing: Hype vs. Reality

354,531 views | 00:44:44

Visual Arts in the Age of AI

00:41:14

Do We Owe it All to Asteroids?

00:33:59

Will AI Spark the Next Scientific Revolution?

102,923 views | 00:40:00

Did Einstein Crack the Biggest Problem in Physics…and Not Know It?

379,115 views | 00:43:14

Can AI Read Your Mind?

00:44:05

What Creates Consciousness?

639,781 views | 00:45:44

Cosmology in Crisis? Confronting the Hubble Tension

244,812 views | 00:36:25

Did Repulsive Gravity Jumpstart the Cosmos?

115,616 views | 01:28:41

Is Dark Energy Decaying?

157,922 views | 01:10:30

Is Quantum Reality in the Eye of the Beholder?

118,629 views | 00:31:20

Does Quantum Mechanics imply Multiple Universes?

322,495 views | 00:34:08

Can Particles be Quantum Entangled Across Time?

303,589 views | 00:35:18

Why a Forefather of AI Fears the Future

138,317 views | 01:10:40

AI and Quantum Computing: Glimpsing the Near Future

490,565 views | 01:25:32

Beyond Einstein: Gravitational Rainbows

120,568 views | 00:30:19

Beyond Einstein: Gravitational Echoes

84,907 views | 00:35:32

Carlo Rovelli and Brian Greene on Black Holes and White Holes

121,827 views | 00:31:57

Intelligent Thinking about Artificial Intelligence

142,829 views | 01:04:47

Unifying Nature’s Laws: The State of String Theory

549,775 views | 01:29:56

Was the Big Bang the Beginning? Reimagining Time in a Cyclic Universe

449,716 views | 01:26:01

Searching for Cosmic Origins

281,322 views | 01:31:42

Coding the Cosmos: Does Reality Emerge from Simple Computations?

908,506 views | 02:32:54

AI: Grappling with a New Kind of Intelligence

804,919 views | 01:55:50

String Theory, Quantum Gravity and Black Holes (Or, Are we Holograms?)

241,531 views | 01:27:55

Mind Over Molecules: the Biology of Memory

85,085 views | 00:53:51

The Past and Future of Life and the Cosmos (Or, How We Got Here & Where We’re Going)

206,239 views | 01:30:53

Seeing Further: Searching for the Echoes of Creation

156,903 views | 01:03:59

Quantum to the Cosmos: A Brief Tour of Everything

395,147 views | 01:17:15

Shedding Light on the Dark Universe

134,690 views | 00:57:17

James Webb Space Telescope: Comets, Planets, and the Origin of Life

124,160 views | 00:50:59

Gravitational Waves and the Dark Universe

111,499 views | 01:17:37

Until the End of Time: Mind, Matter and Meaning

192,725 views | 00:56:13

Revealing the Cosmos: A Startling New View From the James Webb Space Telescope

400,193 views | 01:25:34

The New Golden Age of Space Exploration

108,230 views | 01:29:34

MEMORY: The Hidden Pathways That Make Us Human

360,721 views | 01:28:32

Rewriting the Story of Humankind

281,490 views | 01:40:51

Brave New Prehistoric World

117,896 views | 01:07:30

Rewiring the Brain: The Promise and Perils of Neuroplasticity

708,085 views | 01:26:29

Visual Illusions: Catching the Brain Creating Reality

261,213 views | 01:17:59

The Deep: Exploring Earth’s Last Frontier

207,560 views | 01:32:20

To the Moon, Mars, and Beyond: The Next Step in Space Exploration

55,387 views | 00:57:15

The Dreaming Mind: Waking the Mysteries of Sleep

1,377,563 views | 01:21:57

Karen Armstrong: Sacred Nature – A Conversation with Brian Greene

76,080 views | 00:57:45

Psychedelics: Chemicals, Consciousness & Creativity

1,739,935 views | 01:39:47

First Images: James Webb Space Telescope’s New View of the Cosmos

266,683 views | 00:56:47

Live Discussion with Brian Greene

104,341 views | 01:12:54

Black Holes: Seeing the Unseeable

635,639 views | 01:00:03

Riddles of Reality: From Quarks to The Cosmos

523,267 views | 00:59:54

Lifespan Expanded: The Scientific Quest for a Fountain of Youth

155,051 views | 01:30:00

Einstein and the Quantum: Entanglement and Emergence

2,523,491 views | 01:05:36

Science, Life, and Purpose: A Conversation with Francis Collins and Brian Greene

58,653 views | 00:59:28

The Future of Cosmology: A Live Conversation

162,304 views | 01:30:39

Things We’ve Never Seen: The James Webb Space Telescope Explores the Cosmos

2,828,434 views | 01:21:02

2021 Nobel Laureates in Conversation with Brian Greene

76,127 views | 01:06:09

Mind Your Language: Metaphor, Thought and Imagination

852,171 views | 01:51:57

Does Math Reveal Reality?

1,695,080 views | 01:36:02

On the Shoulders of Giants: Steven Weinberg and the Quest to Explain the World

135,663 views | 00:57:27

Beyond Higgs: The Wild Frontier of Particle Physics

1,353,393 views | 01:30:08

Making Room for Machines: Getting Ready for AGI

51,637 views | 01:27:46

We Will Be Martians

56,565 views | 01:25:38

Outsourcing Humanity: Do Algorithms Make Better Decisions Than People?

Rethinking Thinking: How Intelligent Are Other Animals?

1,506,165 views |

The Richness of Time

2,600,869 views | 01:29:37

Eyes In the Skies: Bringing the Universe Down to Earth

66,297 views | 01:24:01

The Technology That Transforms Us: From the Stone Age to the Computer Age

01:12:02

Intelligence Without Brains

1,271,890 views | 01:29:11

Physics in the Dark: Searching for the Universe’s Missing Matter

1,245,675 views | 0122:24

On the Shoulders of Giants: Shep Doeleman

72,799 views | 00:32:32

The Reality of Reality: A Tale of Five Senses

1,453,757 views | 1:11:33

On the Shoulders of Giants: Andrew Strominger

00:35:03

The Science of Extreme Behavior: The Line Between Courageous and Crazy

01:11:03

Can We ‘Cure’ Deafness and Blindness? Should We?

01:11:53

Revealing the Mind: The Promise of Psychedelics

5,151,944 views | 01:24:38

Loose Ends: String Theory and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory

2,496,421 views | 01:27:24

The Right Stuff: What It Takes to Boldly Go

01:20:43

The Believing Brain: Evolution, Neuroscience, and the Spiritual Instinct

3,878,914 views | 1:17:46

Alien Contact: What Happens Next?

1,471,682 views | 1:00:10

Rethinking the Internet: How We Lost Control and How to Take it Back

00:58:06

How Music Affects Your Brain: Notes on the Folds

00:52:42

Rewriting Life: The Promise and Peril of Editing Your DNA

00:48:20

Neutrinos, Matter, and Antimatter: The Yin Yang of the Big Bang

109,650 views | 00:57:28

Sylvia Earle: On the Shoulders of Giants

00:57:18

Harnessing the Power of Neuroplasticity: The Nuts and Bolts of Better Brains

1,584,874 views | 01:00:35

RESISTANCE IS (NOT) FUTILE: THE END OF ANTIBIOTICS AND THE FUTURE OF FIGHTING INFECTIONS

00:51:17

Teach Your Robots Well: Will Self-taught Robots Be the End of Us?

1,054,315 views | 01:02:39

Black Holes and Neutron Stars: A Merger in Space

85,579 views | 00:41:54

Is Alien ‘life’ Weirder Than We Imagine: Who Is Out There?

1,392,269 views | 00:59:56

Growing Up Digital: Coming of Age in a Virtual World

01:02:05

The Roots of Extremism in Your Brain

01:17:53

The Microbiome: Vital Cells of Existence

69,547 views | 01:06:47

The Matter Of Antimatter: Answering The Cosmic Riddle Of Existence

4,702,824 views | 01:39:21

Pondering the Imponderables: The Biggest Questions of Cosmology

742,913 views | 01:06:44

The Social Synapse: Neuroscience and the Roots of Human Connections

107,814 views | 01:07:13

Cartographers of the Brain: Mapping the Connectome

116,132 views | 01:33:49

Quantum Reality: Space, Time, and Entanglement

7,961,437 views | 1:32:48

Computational Creativity: AI and the Art of Ingenuity

00:58:53

Forever Young: The Promise of Human Regeneration

957,972 views | 01:02:40

The Future of Augmented Intelligence: If You Can’t Beat ‘em, Join ‘em

01:02:01

Engineering Immortality: the End of Aging?

56,319 views | 00:59:50

Quantum Computing – The Qubit Technology Revolution

109,722 views | 01:03:48

Science In A Polarized World: A Global Town Hall Meeting

01:00:35

Evolution Beyond Earth

59,230 views | 00:59:31

Shaking Up the Dark Universe: The Dark Horses of Dark Matter

556,697 views | 01:17:01

Testing the Limits of Cosmology

142,787 views | 00:57:13

Moral Math of Robots: Can Life and Death Decisions Be Coded?

59,494 views | 01:34:35

Beyond Beauty: The Predictive Power of Symmetry

476,661 views | 01:33:30

Splicing and Dicing DNA: Genome Engineering and the CRISPR Revolution

533,163 views | 01:24:26

To Unweave a Rainbow: Science and the Essence of Being Human

212,980 views | 01:38:53

It’s Alive, But Is It Life: Synthetic Biology and the Future of Creation

1,232,061 views | 01:27:13

Mind Melds and Brain Beams: The Dawn of Brain-to-Brain Communication

1,406,272 views | 01:25:32

My Neurons, My Self

482,656 views | 01:39:51

Wizards of Odds: The Power of Probability

529,166 views | 01:23:44

The Next Quantum Leap: Here, There, and Everywhere

162,651 views | 01:02:32

Planet of the Humans: The Leap to the Top

192,376 views | 01:19:33

Spark of Genius? Awakening a Better Brain

141,321 views | 01:21:33

To Infinity and Beyond: The Accelerating Universe

819,402 views | 01:22:23

Time Is of the Essence… or Is It?

1,206,086 views | 01:22:11

Mind Over Masters: The Question of Free Will

463,656 views | 01:23:39

Designer Genes: Fashioning our Biological Future

01:13:31

Alien Life: Will We Know It When We See It?

7,400,268 views | 01:33:30

The Deceptive Watchman: How Our Brains Twist Time

303,003 views | 01:23:57

Measure for Measure: Quantum Physics and Reality

3,814,990 views | 01:38:44

Infinity: The Science of Endless

1,652,230 views | 01:23:57

A Matter of Time

983,449 views | 01:27:52

Architects of the Mind: A Blueprint for the Human Brain

769,601 views | 01:28:48

Destiny and DNA: Our Pliable Genome

53,010 views | 01:24:33

The Whispering Mind: The Enduring Conundrum of Consciousness

784,624 views | 01:26:02

Engineering the Brain: Deploying a New Neural Toolkit

01:03:39

Multiverse: One Universe or Many?

3,464,476 views | 01:22:35

James Watson: On the Shoulders of Giants

01:08:08

The Elusive Neutrino and The Nature Of The Cosmos

456,165 views | 01:30:42

Why We Prevailed: Evolution and the Battle for Dominance

161,711 views | 01:31:59

Exoplanets: The Search for New Worlds

108,840 views | 01:24:28

Madness Redefined: Creativity, Intelligence and the Dark Side of the Mind

377,469 views | 01:35:31

Beautiful Minds: The Enigma of Genius

543,911 views | 01:30:32

The Illusion of Certainty: Risk, Probability, and Chance

698,621 views | 01:28:02

The Dark Side Of The Universe

1,170,168 views | 01:44:14

Mysteries of the Mathematical Universe

827,968 views | 01:16:48

A Thin Sheet of Reality: The Universe as a Hologram

3,018,438 views | 01:30:10

The Limits of Understanding

1,661,690 views | 01:33:00

Faith and Science

95,399 views | 01:41:19

Back to the Big Bang: Inside the Large Hadron Collider

375,078 views | 01:35:29

Food 2.0: Feeding a Hungry World

01:32:13

Mind and Machine: The Future of Thinking

274,181 views | 01:25:28

What It Means to Be Human: The Enigma of Altruism

01:18:33

NOTHING: The Subtle Science of Emptiness

1,042,111 views | 01:25:19

Infinite Worlds: A Journey through Parallel Universes

2,460,172 views | 01:43:58

Time Since Einstein

872,871 views | 01:36:21

What It Means to be Human

01:25:35

Science Faith and Religion

336,431 views | 01:46:12

Beyond Einstein: In Search of the Ultimate Explanation

245,986 views | 01:02:50

Echoes From The Beginning: A Journey Through Space And Time

168,372 views | 01:17:21

The Invisible Reality: The Wonderful Weirdness of the Quantum World

4,885,319 views | 01:30:56

Faith and Science