#6 Alice O'Keefe: Nanoparticles to Treat Brain Tumours, Interpreting Quantum Mechanics and the Utility of Buddhism for Science

The Jack Lawrence Podcast

"The fact that Science can call itself out when there are gaps in its knowledge - and it can update and make revisions overtime - people see that as being inconsistent, but it's actually more about being being more and more confident over time as we update our understanding. People think that Science contradicts itself, but that's the best part."
My guest today is Alice O'Keefe.
Alice is a PhD student at the University of Wollongong in Australia, where she is studying the usage of Nanoparticles for treating brain tumours - which turns out to be just as cool as it sounds. Alice also makes videos on TikTok about physics, most recently around the interpretations of Quantum Mechanics.
The conversation you're about to hear was incredibly fun to record. When Alice and I first spoke on a call before the podcast, she said to me that she suspected that she and I were basically the same person, which was remarkably prophetic given how similar some of our ideas turned out to be. We start off talking a bit about her research, and then shift into talking about science and philosophy more broadly. We ask questions such as:
What qualities make for a good scientist and teacher?
What are the interpretations of Quantum Mechanics and why are they needed?
And we even touch on ideas in Buddhism and Daoism and how they relate to science.
You can find more from Alice O'Keefe on her socials below:
Instagram: @aliceo.keefe
Tiktok: @labratbag
My socials:
Instagram/Tiktok: @jack.lawro
jacklawrence.net
Patreon.com/jacklawrence