Look Who it Was Random video

In the Really, Really Long Run | Brian Thomas | TEDxTopeka

775 views · Published 22 January 2018 · 13:48 · Indexed 20 September 2026

Channel: TEDx Talks · 2018 · Nonprofits & Activism

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The great economist John Maynard Keynes famously said that "In the long run we're all dead." True for each of us as individuals, but what about humanity as a species? Will all of humanity eventually be dead, our species extinct? We may not be able to know for sure, but there's a lot we know about the universe and what it takes to stay alive. In this talk, I'll explore what we know about life in the universe and what that might tell us about our own fate as a species. Brian C. Thomas is a Professor at Washburn University, in the Department of Physics and Astronomy.  Dr. Thomas earned a Bachelor of Science degree in physics from the University of the Pacific in 1999 and Ph.D. in physics from the University of Kansas in 2005. Since 2003, Dr. Thomas’s research has focused on how events in the cosmos affect life on Earth, resulting in over two dozen peer-reviewed publications and two major research grants from the Exobiology program at NASA. This multi-disciplinary work involves collaboration across a wide range of fields including astrophysics, atmospheric science, geology, paleontology, and biology.  Along with researchers across the country and overseas, Dr. Thomas has done much of the pioneering work in understanding how explosions of massive stars in our Galaxy may have impacted life on Earth in the past and potentially in the future.  Brian is a native of central California, and has lived in Kansas since 1999; he is happy to call Topeka home, and This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

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