Summary
Marketers are increasingly vocal about the inefficacy of certain advertising metrics, coining the term "bull spend" to describe expenditures that may look good on paper but fail to deliver real results. This sentiment is echoed in discussions about the need to cut ineffective spending, particularly in the context of digital advertising platforms like LinkedIn, which offers targeted advertising options.
The conversation shifts to the Fermi paradox, which questions why, given the vastness of the universe, we have not yet encountered extraterrestrial life. The discussion highlights a significant evolutionary event that occurred over 2 billion years ago—the emergence of the first eukaryotic cell. This event is posited as a potential "great filter," a critical point in evolution that may explain why intelligent life is so rare in the galaxy.
Research indicates that the development of eukaryotic cells allowed for greater complexity in life forms, leading to a diversification of species. The integration of mitochondria into early cells is seen as a pivotal adaptation that enabled these cells to thrive in increasingly oxygen-rich environments. This evolutionary leap may have been a unique occurrence, suggesting that many planets may harbor simple life forms but struggle to progress to more complex organisms.
Ultimately, the discussion raises the possibility that humanity's survival through past evolutionary challenges could mean that we are among the few civilizations to have successfully navigated these bottlenecks, leaving our future in our own hands rather than dictated by statistical likelihoods.
Show Notes
Use code PBS to get 15% off all Hoverpens and free shipping to most countries for the first 48 hours, 10% off after that. North America / UK / Australia / International: https://bit.ly/pbs_novium EU: https://bit.ly/pbs_noviumeu
Around 2 billion years ago, life had plateaued in complexity, ruined the atmosphere, and was on the verge of self-annihilation. But then something strange and potentially extremely lucky happened that enabled endless new evolutionary paths. The first eukaryote cell was born. This may also explain why there are no aliens.
Patreon Interview with Dr. Matt Caplan https://youtu.be/hN1I01ZGzJc?feature=shared
Cool World Episode: https://youtu.be/6QZc9vUXWlk?feature=shared
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 Gavin Rowland
Supernova Grace Biaelcki Glenn Sugden Ethan Cohen Stephen Wilcox Robert Ilardi The Tyacke boys Mark Heising
Hypernova Spencer Jones Dean Galvin Mike Purvis Michael Tidwell Stephen Saslow Stephen Spidle Massimiliano Pala Justin Lloyd David Giltinan Kenneth See Gregory Forfa Alex Kern Scott Gorlick Paul Stehr-Green Ben Delo Scott Gray Антон Кочков John R. Slavik Donal Botkin chuck zegar Daniel Muzquiz
Gamma Ray Burst Collin Dutrow Marion Lang Kurt Gottselig Rick Magnun Bryan White Eric Raschke aaron pinto Kacper Cieśla Satwik Pani John De Witt Nathaniel Bennett Sandhya Devi Michael Oulvey Arko Provo Mukherjee Christopher Wade Anthony Crossland Robert DeChellis Tomaz Lovsin Anthony Leon Nick Hoffenstoffer III Lori Ferris Koen Wilde Nicolas Katsantonis Richard Steenbergen Joe Pavlovic Chuck Lukaszewski Cole B Combs Jerry Thomas John Anderson Bradley Ulis Craig Falls Kane Holbrook Ross Story Harsh Khandhadia Matt Quinn Michael Lev Rad Antonov Terje Vold James Trimmier Jeremy Soller Paul Wood Kent Durham jim bartosh John H. Austin, Jr. Diana S Polijar 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 Justin Waters Thomas Dougherty Zac Sweers Dan Warren Joseph Salomone Param Saxena
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
More from PBS Space Time
Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/DonateSPACEUploaded 04-10-17So what happens when two Super Massive Black Holes collide? We may be about to find out, because astronomers have spotted a pair of them in a close binary orbit for the very first time. This episode of Space Time Journal Club discusses:"A candidate sub-parsec binary black hole in the Seyfert galaxy NGC 7674", Kharb, Lal and Merritt 2017https://arxiv.org/abs/1709.06258You can further support us on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/pbsspacetimeGet your own Space Time tshirt at http://bit.ly/1QlzoBiTweet at us! @pbsspacetimeFacebook: facebook.com/pbsspacetimeEmail us! pbsspacetime [at] gmail [dot] comComment on Reddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/pbsspacetimeHelp translate our videos! https://www.youtube.com/timedtext_cs_panel?tab=2&c=UC7_gcs09iThXybpVgjHZ_7gPrevious Episode:Are the Fundamental Constants changing?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJzoelANL_Y&t=8sRelated Episodes:How to Build a Black Holehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xx4562gesw0Why Quasars are so Awesomehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TZEp_n3eIcLinks to Comments Response:Nevermindhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJzoelANL_Y&lc=z223hpipuozhh1qbj04t1aokgn5pfpqlq0zgbnrilm5obk0h00410Lutra Nereishttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJzoelANL_Y&lc=z22cwtzjvv3ojx0ucacdp430ixcyhmpsu1ahlosnyedw03c010cArnaldo Castrohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJzoelANL_Y&lc=z22txnyo1lnwh1j03acdp430bunzm5m4x3xf5jwx0xxw03c010c0xFFF1https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJzoelANL_Y&lc=z23sjnwjrwnljxe3macdp434i1lxdqjdsvf2ovd3r41w03c010cWispXLegendhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJzoelANL_Y&lc=z22rivtz4oz2db4kmacdp431v2mactt0223icalvag1w03c010cRubbergnomehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJzoelANL_Y&lc=z22phdvhwsyehtjxe04t1aokg3gkri0vdluvsttfuju0bk0h00410In this video, we discuss the reports about the detection of a pair of supermassive black holes orbiting only one light year apart from each other. Studying the dance of these giants should tell us a ton about how black holes grow. This paper was just published in Nature Astronomy by Preeti Kharb and Dharam Vir Lal from India’s National Center for Radio Astrophysics, and David Merritt from the Rochester Institute of Technology.Written and Hosted by Matt O'DowdProduced by Rusty WardGraphics by Kurt RossAssistant Editing and Sound Design by Mike PetrowMade by Kornhaber Brown (www.kornhaberbrown.com)Special thanks to our Patreon Big Bang, Quasar and Hypernova Supporters: Big BangBITISMCoolAsCatsDavid NicklasRichard SenegorQuasarTambe BarsbayMayank M. MehrotaMars YenturMark RosenthalDean FuquaY2Justin LloydHypernovaEdmund FokschanerMax LevineMatthew O’ConnorEugene LawsonBarry HatfieldMartha HuntJoseph SalomoneChuck ZegarCraig PetersonJordan YoungRatfeastJohn HofmannThanks to our Patreon Gamma Ray Burst Supporters: Nick VirtueAlexey EromenkoNicholas RoseScott GossettMark DykstraPeter DurocherMichael KersChris HicksMark VasilePatrick MurraySultan AlkhulaifiAlex SetoMichal-Peanut KarmiErik SteinDaniel LyonsKevin WarneJJ BagnellJ RejcAmy JieAvi GoldfingerJohn PettitShannan CatalanoFlorian StinglmayrYubo DuBenoit Pagé-GuitardNathan LenizJessica FraleyLoro LukicBrandon LabonteDavid CraneGreg Weiss Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
PBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. To support your local station, go to: http://to.pbs.org/DonateSPACE↓ More info below ↓Uploaded 05-10-20Check Out Overview of PBS Terra: https://bit.ly/33otrUnIf you rank the most habitable places in our solar system Venus lands pretty low, with surface temperatures hot enough to melt lead and sulphuric acid rain. And yet it may have just jumped to the front of the pack. In fact, we may have detected the signature of alien life - Venusian life -for the first time.Sign Up on Patreon to get access to the Space Time Discord! https://www.patreon.com/pbsspacetimeCheck out the Space Time Merch Storehttps://pbsspacetime.com/Sign up for the mailing list to get episode notifications and hear special announcements!https://mailchi.mp/1a6eb8f2717d/spacetimeHosted by Matt O'DowdWritten by Matt O'DowdGraphics by Leonardo Scholzer, Yago Ballarini, and Pedro OsinskiDirected by: Andrew KornhaberCamera Operator: Setare GholipourExecutive Producers: Eric Brown and Andrew KornhaberEnd Credits Music by J.R.S. Schattenberg: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRl6-nb4iOnsij-vnpAjp0QSpecial Thanks to All our Supporters on Patreon!Big BangBrodie RaoScott GrayRobert DoxtatorAhmad JodehCaed AldwychRadu NegulescuAlexander TamasMorgan HoughJuan BenetFabrice EapMark RosenthalDavid NicklasQuasarAlec S-LChristina OegrenMark HeisingVinnie FalcoHypernovaLucas MorganWilliam BryanMark Matthew BoskoJustin JermynJason FinnАнтон КочковJulian TyackeSyed AnsarJohn R. SlavikMathewDanton SpiveyDonal BotkinJohn PollockEdmund FokschanerJoseph SalomoneMatthew O'ConnorChuck ZegarJordan YoungHank SJohn HofmannTimothy McCullochGamma Ray BurstSean WarniahaTonyfaceJohn RobinsonA GKevin LeeAdrian HatchYurii KonovaliukJohn FunaiCass CostelloGeoffrey ShortBradley JenkinsKyle HoferTim StephaniLuaanAlecZeroMalte UblNick VirtueScott GossettDavid BethalaDan WarrenPatrick SuttonJohn GriffithDaniel LyonsJosh ThomasDFaulkKevin WarneAndreas NautschBrandon labonteLucas Morgan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/DonateSPACEUploaded 07-06-17Could the mysterious Cold Spot found in the CMB be the result of a collision with a bubble universe? Try 23andMe at http://23andme.com/spacetime____________________________________________________[CORRECTION: The calculated ISW cooling from cold spot observed voids is 0.000032 Kelvin not 0.032 K as is listed on screen, the actual cold spot temperature differential is 0.000150 Kelvin not 0.15 K, and the actual ISW cooling from the control region is 0.000014 Kelvin not 0.014 K. The actual control region temperature differential is 0.000015 Kelvin not 0.015K. Thanks to Chris Morong for catching this discrepancy!]You can further support us on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/pbsspacetimeGet your own Space Time tshirt at http://bit.ly/1QlzoBiTweet at us! @pbsspacetimeFacebook: facebook.com/pbsspacetimeEmail us! pbsspacetime [at] gmail [dot] comComment on Reddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/pbsspacetimeHelp translate our videos! https://www.youtube.com/timedtext_cs_panel?tab=2&c=UC7_gcs09iThXybpVgjHZ_7gPrevious Episode:The Fate of the First Starshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pSUtWBiuB4Space Time Journal Club examines Evidence Against a Supervoid Causing the CMB Cold Spothttps://arxiv.org/abs/1704.03814 If you study a map of the Cosmic Microwave Background, or CMB, you may notice a large, deep blue splotch on the lower right. This area, creatively named the Cold Spot. Is this feature a statistical fluke, the signature of vast supervoids, or even the imprint of another universe? Written by Matt O’Dowd and Alexandra Yep Hosted by Matt O'DowdProduced by Rusty WardGraphics by Kurt RossMade by Kornhaber Brown (www.kornhaberbrown.com)Resources:Local Voids as the Origin of Large Scale CMB Anomalieshttps://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0602478Watching Worlds Collidehttp://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1475-7516/2009/04/025Comments answer by Matt:Fjellrevenhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pSUtWBiuB4&lc=z12cydr5qvbsjpnja04cftmasve4uz1os40yemehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pSUtWBiuB4&lc=z13xstcqcwzetxvqr04cef3haoapz1oiork0kmyky992https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pSUtWBiuB4&lc=z12rtll43pybfnifk23tjftzhnb2xd023Andrew Wrighthttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pSUtWBiuB4&lc=z12svntwkwumv1n3l23mzlvomtr2zfjtgSpecial thanks to our Patreon Big Bang, Quasar and Hypernova Supporters: Big BangShane RobinsonDavid NicklasSamuel Dean JacinthoEugene LawsonSimone “Evilsocket” MargaritelliQuasarTambe BarsbayCoolascatsMax LevineHypernovaChuck ZegarJordan YoungRatfeastJohn HofmannJoseph Salomone Martha HuntScience Via MarketsCraig PetersonThanks to our Patreon Gamma Ray Burst Supporters: Alex SetoJustin LloydConor DillonJared MooreMichal-Peanut KarmiBernardo HigueraErik SteinDaniel LyonsJade BilkeyKevin WarneJJ BagnellJ RejcAmy JieAvi GoldfingerJohn PettitShannan CatalanoFlorian StinglmayrYubo DuBenoit Pagé-GuitardRonny PoloniaNathan LenizJessica FraleyLoro LukicBrandon LabonteDavid CraneGreg WeissEric Jackson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Thank you to Squarespace for supporting PBS. Go to https://www.squarespace.com/pbs for a free trial, and when you are ready to launch, go to Squarespace.com/PBS to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.
Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/DonateSPACEUploaded 15-08-18Let’s talk about the best evidence we have that the theories of quantum physics truly represent the underlying workings of reality. You can signup for your trial to The Great Courses Plus at: http://ow.ly/bugR30hIvbuQuantum field theory is notoriously complicated, built from mind-bendingly abstract mathematics. But are the underlying rules of reality really so far from human intuition? Or are physicists just showing off? For better or worse, the physicists are definitely on the right track. We know this because the predictions of quantum field theory stand up to experimental test time and time again. The Great Courses Plus is currently available to watch through a web browser to almost anyone in the world and optimized for the US, UK, and Australian markets. The Great Courses Plus is currently working to both optimize the product globally and accept credit card payments globally.You can further support us on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/pbsspacetimeGet your own Space Time t-shirt at http://bit.ly/1QlzoBiTweet at us! @pbsspacetimeFacebook: facebook.com/pbsspacetimeEmail us! pbsspacetime [at] gmail [dot] comComment on Reddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/pbsspacetimeHelp translate our videos!https://www.youtube.com/timedtext_cs_...Previous Episode:How Close To The Sun Can Humanity Get?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOzaGEAGzzA&t=1sHosted by Matt O'DowdWritten by Graeme Gossel and Matt O'DowdGraphics by Luke MaroldiAssistant Editing and Sound Design by Mike PetrowMade by Kornhaber Brown (www.kornhaberbrown.com)Special thanks to our Patreon Big Bang, Quasar and Hypernova Supporters: Big BangAnton LifshitsCoolAsCatsDavid NicklasFabrice EapQuasarDean FuquaMark RosenthalMayank M. MehrotaRoman PinchukTambe BarsbayVinnie FalcoHypernovaChuck ZegarDonal BotkinEdmund FokschanerEugene LawsonJohn HofmannJordan YoungJoseph SalomoneMatthew O’ConnorRatfeastThanks to our Patreon Gamma Ray Burst Supporters: Alexey EromenkoAsa HoodBenoit Pagé-GuitardBrandon CookBrandon LabonteDaniel LyonsDavid CraneDeborah WhittakerFabian OlesenGreg AllenGreg WeissIan AnoanJames FlowersJames HughesJJ BagnellJon FolksKevin WarneMalte UblMark VasileNicholas RoseNick VirtueScott GossettShannan Catalanoسلطان الخليفي Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices