Interstellar visitor #3 is here. We unpack 3I ATLAS (why it’s moving so fast, why we finally saw a tail, and how Hubble/JWST—and maybe even Juno—could nail down its makeup). Then we dive into the Vera Rubin Observatory, the 32-gigapixel camera that will turn the entire sky into a time-lapse movie and supercharge discovery. Next: AI just boosted CRISPR by predicting and guiding DNA repair (Pythia), making edits cleaner—especially in non-dividing neurons. And we close with a crossover of dinos + particle physics: preserved T. rex blood vessels revealed by a synchrotron. Mystery Box: the viral “Black aliens” meme.

We go from the universe’s first chemistry to tomorrow’s designer biology, swing by Mars to tune Europa Clipper’s ice radar, and finish with a fresh take on the double-slit experiment.

In this episode

• The “oldest molecule” puzzle (HeH⁺), cooling the early universe, and why JWST’s findings matter

• Programmable proteins: reassigning codons, recoding organisms, and real biosafety

• Europa Clipper’s REASON radar test at Mars: frequencies, ice thickness & ocean clues

• Double-slit, demystified: single photons, “which-path” info, and measurement reality

Chapters
00:00 Intro

• 01:26 First molecule

• 22:27 Programmable proteins

• 43:05 Europa radar

• 55:00 Double-slit

• 1:15:03 Sign-off

Lester and Dr. Krishna dive into:

• Beetlejuice & “Bracelet” – why a red super-giant may soon swallow its tiny partner

• Atomic Harlem Shake – 0.15 Å resolution images of thermal jiggles in 2-D materials

• Too Fast, Too Furious – IceCube’s constraints on proton fractions in 10²⁰ eV cosmic rays

• Interstellar Google Maps – New Horizons proves star-pattern navigation works

• Mind-Body Woo-Woo – VR coughs that literally raise your white-blood-cell count

Last week the Earth finished a full rotation one millisecond early – but that’s just the opener.

In this week’s From First Principles we dive into six mind-bending headlines with our trademark mix of hard science and light-hearted banter:

Earth’s fastest spin ever recorded – what shaved a millisecond off the day and why your chakras are still safe.

ALMA spots a “baby Earth” forming 1,300 light years away – the first direct look at rocky planets in the making.

Biggest black-hole merger on record – 15 ☉ of mass vaporized into pure gravitational waves, detected by LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA.

CRISPR reveals a vitamin-D “kill switch” for tumors – how silencing one gene in pancreatic & colon cancers triggers 4,000 downstream changes.

A star that died… then died again – the first confirmed “double-detonation” white-dwarf supernova.

DeepMind’s Aeneas AI deciphers broken Latin tablets – giving historians new text, provenance and dating in seconds.

👋 Hosts • Lester Nare – storyteller & professional curiosity machine • Dr. Krishna Choudhary – Princeton-trained physicist & cosmic tour guide

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