Brian Klaas

And so if it had hit anywhere else on the planet or if it had been delayed by a few seconds, it probably would have missed the Earth. Humans almost certainly would not exist. Mammals would not have risen as the sort of dominant player after the extinction of the dinosaurs. This is constantly happening.

And so if it had hit anywhere else on the planet or if it had been delayed by a few seconds, it probably would have missed the Earth. Humans almost certainly would not exist. Mammals would not have risen as the sort of dominant player after the extinction of the dinosaurs. This is constantly happening.

And so if it had hit anywhere else on the planet or if it had been delayed by a few seconds, it probably would have missed the Earth. Humans almost certainly would not exist. Mammals would not have risen as the sort of dominant player after the extinction of the dinosaurs. This is constantly happening.

My other favorite story of this type from evolutionary biology is the origin story of live births and the sort of emergence of placenta. That is, according to the best genomics research we have today, derived from a single chance event where one shrew-like creature got infected with a retrovirus about 100 million years ago. And this is why mammals don't lay eggs, right?

My other favorite story of this type from evolutionary biology is the origin story of live births and the sort of emergence of placenta. That is, according to the best genomics research we have today, derived from a single chance event where one shrew-like creature got infected with a retrovirus about 100 million years ago. And this is why mammals don't lay eggs, right?

My other favorite story of this type from evolutionary biology is the origin story of live births and the sort of emergence of placenta. That is, according to the best genomics research we have today, derived from a single chance event where one shrew-like creature got infected with a retrovirus about 100 million years ago. And this is why mammals don't lay eggs, right?

And you sort of think, I mean, such a profound evolutionary change. Maybe we wouldn't exist.

And you sort of think, I mean, such a profound evolutionary change. Maybe we wouldn't exist.

And you sort of think, I mean, such a profound evolutionary change. Maybe we wouldn't exist.

if not for this one shrew-like creature 100 million years ago, it's a very humbling thing to look into these backgrounds because the fragility, not just of your individual existence through the maddening random chance that leads to you being born rather than somebody else from your parents, but also just humanity's existence is incredibly, incredibly fragile.

if not for this one shrew-like creature 100 million years ago, it's a very humbling thing to look into these backgrounds because the fragility, not just of your individual existence through the maddening random chance that leads to you being born rather than somebody else from your parents, but also just humanity's existence is incredibly, incredibly fragile.

if not for this one shrew-like creature 100 million years ago, it's a very humbling thing to look into these backgrounds because the fragility, not just of your individual existence through the maddening random chance that leads to you being born rather than somebody else from your parents, but also just humanity's existence is incredibly, incredibly fragile.

So Edward Lorenz is a fascinating character because he accidentally ended up in meteorology during World War II, you know, when Uncle Sam was sort of drafting everyone into the military effort. Lorenz was a really bright guy and he had an interest in the weather.

So Edward Lorenz is a fascinating character because he accidentally ended up in meteorology during World War II, you know, when Uncle Sam was sort of drafting everyone into the military effort. Lorenz was a really bright guy and he had an interest in the weather.

So Edward Lorenz is a fascinating character because he accidentally ended up in meteorology during World War II, you know, when Uncle Sam was sort of drafting everyone into the military effort. Lorenz was a really bright guy and he had an interest in the weather.

So he joined up and ended up, believe it or not, working on forecasting weather during American bombing rains in the late stages of World War II in Japan. Now, after the war ends, he's sort of aware that there's some really limited computing power involved in forecasting. And we really don't know how we can predict the future of weather. It's really arbitrary and really poor quality.

So he joined up and ended up, believe it or not, working on forecasting weather during American bombing rains in the late stages of World War II in Japan. Now, after the war ends, he's sort of aware that there's some really limited computing power involved in forecasting. And we really don't know how we can predict the future of weather. It's really arbitrary and really poor quality.

So he joined up and ended up, believe it or not, working on forecasting weather during American bombing rains in the late stages of World War II in Japan. Now, after the war ends, he's sort of aware that there's some really limited computing power involved in forecasting. And we really don't know how we can predict the future of weather. It's really arbitrary and really poor quality.

So he starts to invent a weather computer and tries his best to improve forecasting of how he might be able to predict the weather. So he has this really rudimentary computer that can only handle a few variables. I think it was about 12 variables of the weather. So maybe you've got temperature and wind speed and so on.

So he starts to invent a weather computer and tries his best to improve forecasting of how he might be able to predict the weather. So he has this really rudimentary computer that can only handle a few variables. I think it was about 12 variables of the weather. So maybe you've got temperature and wind speed and so on.