The Art of The Impossible

Welcome to?The?Art?of?The?Impossible, a weekly newsletter where I unearth five pieces?of?content which I hope will both inspire?and?embolden you.

PODCAST

This week, I had the honour of speaking to Sarah Hamburg PhD – a cognitive neuroscientist working as a post-doctoral Neuromorphic AI Engineer in Developmental Robotics. Sarah is also a DeSci (decentralised science) advocate and organiser, heavily involved in the decentralised science (DeSci) space since early 2021. After working as a core member of an Open Science DAO, she published a letter in Nature to increase awareness of DeSci and was then commissioned to write a DeSci "explainer" article for a16z's Future magazine. In 2022 she cofounded a "web3" consultancy which worked with UK Aid on blockchain for International Development.?Listen here or wherever it is you get your podcasts from.

In this conversation, Sarah and I discuss her work and research, what neuroscience and consciousness is, why?neuromorphic computing?is such an exciting field to be working in. We also bond over a shared suffering of a chronic pain condition called fibromyalgia and I open up about the time as a kid when I nearly drowned and what I saw during that near-death experience. Listen here or wherever it is you get your podcasts from.

Also worth listening to this Design Matters episode with Alan Dye , Vice President of Human Interface Design at Apple, hosted by the brilliant Debbie Millman

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INTERVIEW

This is a must-listen interview from 1996 with Steve Jobs where he discusses what he's excited about in the coming years, including the web and the future of Apple.

Really worth your time.

BOOK

In Search of Memory: The Emergence of a New Science of Mind by Eric R Kandel

Following on from my interview with Sarah Hamburg this week, I have gone down a rabbit hole and this book stood out.

"Beyond autobiography, the book is also an accessible introduction to contemporary neuroscience, the study of how the brain produces thought and action. Included are brilliant vignettes on the history of neuroscience." Times Literary Supplement

Memory binds our mental life together. We are who we are in large part because of what we learn and remember. But how does the brain create memories? Nobel Prize winner Eric R. Kandel intertwines the intellectual history of the powerful new science of the mind-a combination of cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and molecular biology-with his own personal quest to understand memory. A deft mixture of memoir and history, modern biology and behavior, In Search of Memory brings readers from Kandel's childhood in Nazi-occupied Vienna to the forefront of one of the great scientific endeavors of the twentieth century: the search for the biological basis of memory.

Buy the book here.

WATCH

Oppenheimer?is a 2023?biographical thriller film?written and directed by?Christopher Nolan. Based on the 2005 biography?American Prometheus?by?Kai Bird?and?Martin J. Sherwin, the film chronicles the life of?J. Robert Oppenheimer, a theoretical physicist who was pivotal in developing the first?nuclear weapons?as part of the?Manhattan Project, and thereby ushering in the?Atomic Age.

The film has a stellar cast and had rave reviews wherever it has been shown so I am really looking forward to watching it this week.

Watch the trailer here.

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Thank you for reading?the?newsletter?and?for listening to?the?podcast, and?if you enjoy them, please do share with your network - my goal is to have these stories reach as many as possible so that others can be inspired too.

Until next time...

Danielle

PS Can you do me a favour? If you like the?podcast, could you please leave a short review on whatever platform you use? It would mean so much to me and will help others find it too.

Thank you!