‘Semfiloquia’ is the name of SEMF’s official podcast. With a format close to traditional colloquia (hence the name), Semfiloquia aims to gather a small group of experts with diverse backgrounds to discuss transversal topics. The meetings are prepared in advance and the live conversation is moderated by a SEMF associate to ensure an effective transdisciplinary dialogue takes place between the speakers. Semfiloquia are livestreamed and saved on our YouTube channel. Members of the audience are often given the chance to ask questions after the planned topics have been covered. The Semfiloquia Podcast will be available on audio streaming platforms soon.
Ugo Bardi   Ugo Bardi has been teaching Physical Chemistry at the University of Florence, Italy, up to 2022. He is at present associated with the Interuniversity Consortium for Materials Technology (INSTM) and the Club of Rome, of which he is a full member. He is engaged in research on sustainability and energy with a special view on mineral resources, circular economy, and recycling, as well as on modeling atmospheric phenomena related to biotic factors. He is the author and coauthor of numerous papers on sustainability, his most recent ones being "On the History and Future of 100% Renewable Energy Systems Research"; in IEEE Access, vol. 10, pp. 78176-78218, 2022” (with C. Breyer et al.) and “The role of ecosystem transpiration in creating alternate moisture regimes by influencing atmospheric moisture convergence.” Global Change Biology, 00, 1– 21, 2023 (with A. Makarieva et al.). He is the author of the books “The Limits to Growth Revisited” (Springer 2011), “Extracted” (Chelsea Green, 2014), “The Seneca Effect” (Springer 2017). “Before Collapse” (Springer 2019), “The Empty Sea” (Springer 2021) and “Limits and Beyond” (Exapt Press 2022). His books have been translated into Chinese, Italian, French, German, Rumenian, and panish. Ugo Bardi is also active in the dissemination of scientific results in sustainability and climate science on the blog “The Seneca Effect” (www.senecaeffect.com), “The Proud Holobionts” (www.theproudholobionts.blogspot.com), and “The Sunflower Paradigm” Tom Murphy     Tom Murphy has spent most of his life building and using instruments to explore astrophysical systems—from colliding galaxies to the foundations of gravity. After a PhD in physics from Caltech and a postdoc at the University of Washington, he became a professor of physics at UC San Diego in 2003. The author of the Do the Math blog and a free textbook called Energy and Human Ambitions on a Finite planet, Prof. Murphy now devotes most of his attention to the unsustainable predicament we know as civilization. Carlos Zapata Carratalá       PhD in Mathematical Physics, research on the mathematical foundations of science, particularly physics and cognitive science, founder and director of SEMF.
Civilizational Collapse In this episode Carlos Zapata-Carratalá discusses with physicists Ugo Bardi (University of Florence) and Tom Murphy (University of California San Diego) about the the Seneca Effect, by which civilizations grow slowly but collapse rapidly, and the challenges of tempering human technological and economical ambitions in an energy-constrained environment.
Curt Jaimungal         Curt Jaimungal is a Torontonian filmmaker who decided to pursue the lens while studying Mathematical Physics at the University of Toronto. As the host of Theories of Everything, Curt observes topics on theoretical physics (GUTs), consciousness, God, free will; all the profound questions that we tend to outwardly ignore but inwardly wrestle with. Theories of Everything is one of the fastest growing science and philosophy podcasts. TOE analyses the current state of TOEs: that is, a surveyance of the field of Theories of Everything (pros, cons, and relations of each). To be a part of the discussion, type Theories of Everything into YouTube, and subscribe to learn more about quantum paradoxes, free will, and consciousness.. Michael Garfield         Michael Garfield is a palaeontologist-futurist exploring the intersections of evolutionary theory, complex systems science, weird philosophy, deep history, and creative meta-disciplinarity. He hosts and produces the Santa Fe Institute’s Complexity Podcast (and manages their social media accounts) as well as the independent Future Fossils Podcast when he’s not writing, making art and music, and raising two kids and an alligator snapping turtle. Carlos Zapata Carratalá       PhD in Mathematical Physics, research on the mathematical foundations of science, particularly physics and cognitive science, founder and director of SEMF.
The Rise of the Podcast In this episode Carlos Zapata-Carratalá discusses with two podcast hosts Michael Garfield (Complexity Podcast) and Curt Jaimungal (Theories of Everything) about the rise of the online podcast format, the relatively high prominence of scientific and philosophical content in this space and what it all means for the future of research and science communication.
Vicente Raja         Postdoctoral Fellow at the Rotman Institute of Philosophy (Western University, Canada) and coordinator of The Eclectic Mind Research Group in the same institution. Member of the Minimal Intelligence Lab (MINT Lab), based at University of Murcia (Spain). His main areas of research are philosophy of cognitive science, theoretical neuroscience, history and philosophy of psychology, and plant behavior. He is specially interested in the way behavior and brain activity relate to each other in cognitive systems, and has worked on the concept of ecological resonance and its place within radical embodiment to address that issue. Miguel Segundo Ortín           Postdoctoral researcher at Utrecht University developing an embodied and situated account of human agency and self-control. Member of the Minimal Intelligence Lab (MINT Lab), based at University of Murcia (Spain). Specialized in the philosophy of the cognitive sciences, with a special emphasis on embodied and situated theories of cognition. Other research interests include the study of so-called “minimally cognitive agents” (e.g., plants), the explanation of skilled performance, and the relationship between culture and cognitive development. Mundy Reimer       Interested in potential axiomatic foundations for biophysics, and the intersection of biology with logic & computation. M.S. in Data Science. B.S. in Neuroscience & Cellular Biology. Carlos Zapata Carratalá       PhD in Mathematical Physics, research on the mathematical foundations of science, particularly physics and cognitive science, founder and director of SEMF.
Plant Cognition In this conversation Carlos Zapata-Carratala and Mundy Reimer discuss with Miguel Segundo and Vicente Raja about recent developments in the field of plant cognition.
Miroslav Kiš   Strategic, results-driven information technology and cybersecurity professional with a demonstrated history of providing expert advice and leading teams that deliver business value while ensuring secure systems operation. Carlos Zapata Carratalá       PhD in Mathematical Physics, research on the mathematical foundations of science, particularly physics and cognitive science, founder and director of SEMF.
Foundations of Finance In this conversation Carlos Zapata-Carratala discusses with Miroslav Kis the origins and fundamental ideas of financial systems and the impact of recent technological developments in the future of science, economics and civilization at large. Basic concepts such as ‘money’, ‘risk management’, ‘exchange’ or ‘blockchain’ will be reviewed and analyzed within the current technological environment.
Flavio del Santo       Flavio is completing a PhD at the University of Vienna on the foundations of quantum mechanics with a focus on the quantum measurement problem. His main research interests lie at the edge between conceptual and theoretical problems of physics and history and philosophy of science. He has worked with Nicolas Gisin developing a research program aimed at exploring indeterministic physics in different theoretical frameworks including. Flavio is currently a guest editor for a special issue of the European Physical Journal that aims to bring together working physicists and professional historians and engage in interdisciplinary research. He has also been the organizer of some international academic events, such as the lecture series on "Scientific Realism", or the symposium "Shut up and Contemplate". Marcel Ertel Graduate studies at the University of Utrecht, PhD student and research assistant at the University of Tübingen. Research in logic, foundations of mathematics, philosophy of mathematics, with a particular emphasis on proof theory, set theory, and the philosophy of Paul Bernays. Martin Green   Martin got his PhD in Theoretical Physics in Toronto in 1981 investigating the idea that the fundamental structure that gives rise to space, time and quantum matter is a unique topological 4-manifold with complicated global connectivity. He has been involved in the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics since its foundation where research on fundamental physics became his full-time dedication until his retirement. Martin has worked in gravitational wave data analysis, galaxy rotation, modified gravity and finite quantum field theory. Martin has enjoyed a diverse career beyond academic research in areas such as electrical engineering, enterprise architecture and risk management. Most recently he has been focusing on environmental sustainability, particularly in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Carlos Zapata Carratalá       PhD in Mathematical Physics, research on the mathematical foundations of science, particularly physics and cognitive science, founder and director of SEMF.
Foundations: Physics vs Mathematics Is mathematics the language of nature? A conversation about the role of the foundations of mathematics for physics, the concept of infinity in science and the cultural dynamics of theoretical disciplines.
Maximilian Schich           Max is a multidisciplinary scientist investigating the phenomenon of art and culture, he has had a long trajectory as a researcher applying quantitative techniques to history of art and culture studies and he is the current ERA Chair at the Cultural Data Analytics Open Lab at Tallinn University in Estonia. To give a sense of Max’s work, here is a description from the CUDAN Open Lab website: “Our project aims at building a new analytical approach, called ‘Cultural Data Analytics’ that integrates quantitative and qualitative methods, including aspects of network science, complexity science, computational social science, science of science, machine learning, data science, design research, visualization, art history, cultural semiotics, digital culture studies, and creative industries’ studies to work with digitized cultural heritage as well as with born-digital data acquired from contemporary platforms.” Carlos Zapata Carratalá       PhD in Mathematical Physics, research on the mathematical foundations of science, particularly physics and cognitive science, founder and director of SEMF.
Art vs Science Are art and science two ends of the same spectrum? This conversation explores the parallels between art and science from the point of view of modern cultural data analytics and multidisciplinary research collaborations. Topics include: the influence of modern computational frameworks in art history studies, the limitations of quantitative analysis, the future of social science, the prospect of society in the wake of the computational revolution, new paradigms of science, science-art feedback loops, etc.