Bright Future, by Baba Brinkman

How high can an exponential go?

Bright Future

by Baba Brinkman

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1.	Qubits 04:58 video	lyrics	buy track
Information density unbeatable in this industry Mincemeat made out of classical rap tendencies So pick your favorite synonym for “supreme” Eminence, excellency  Call it “Indefinitely Deep Skill” John Preskill, get a release filled Agitated electrons, be still Like a ten millikelvin dilution fridge, be chill Double exponential growth, that’s a steep hill Let the beat spill, rhymes hit the 808s Logic gates pullin’ lines from a database Animal, and I ain’t talkin’ ‘bout The Muppets Every word search Grover Algorithm-level luscious If you think you got a better algorithm, then run it Simulate it or sum it – do somethin’ on Summit So come on, who want it? My mental computer quantum I got that superposition, you got that Boolean logic That string of classical bits that rapidly switch Faster than abacuses but no match for entanglement How can I rap like this, with no faulty words? It's 'cause I shop that search out to the multiverse I shop that search out to the… Qubits, on a microchip Any noise and they might flip Qubits, decohere and fail Noisy intermediate scale Qubits, with amplitudes That switch like vacuum tubes Qubits, in quantum states Watch them calculate Oh, watch them calculate One qubit, two qubit, three qubit, four Five qubit, six qubit, seven, keep score Sycamore style, more sicker than yours Every qubit doubles the circuit before Fifty four, one qubit hits the floor Only nine quadrillion states left in store Three hundred qubits of data encodes more Than there’s atoms in the universe, ask Niels Bohr And yes, when you listen to any lyric I’m spittin’ Don’t forget, it’s the era before error-correction It’s the NISQ, but once we get ancillas connected That can be tested, without decohering the rest of it Woo! A thousand physical qubits should probably do it A parliamentary grouping into a 'logical qubit' And with a thousand logic qubits process computing Imagination’s the only limit to what we can do with it Woo! Machine learning, autonomous driving Efficient power transmission, drug synthesizing Molecular design, supply chain optimizing And last but not least, quantum rhyming Qubits, on a microchip Any noise and they might flip Qubits, decohere and fail Noisy intermediate scale Qubits, with amplitudes That switch like vacuum tubes Qubits, in quantum states Watch them calculate Oh, watch them calculate Quantum computing is like a song you can play Every three minutes and twenty seconds of every day And every chorus was written for us to recite While a supercomputer chokes on a petabyte Quantum algorithms are hidden diamonds You gotta find them, put them in the system and try them Physical simulation is a difficult assignment ‘Cause nature is quantum, damn it, just ask Feynman Computational explosions emerge From just a couple of swerves, ridiculous integers Look up from the earth, see the satellites whir This is just the era between Sputnik and Mir When the payoff’s near but not here from a Bloch sphere It’s all beautifully weird, until it decoheres And still it improves with each test This is gonna be the one to… Ah, blue screen of death So how supreme is it? Whatever, just keep it humming And keep the media hungry ‘Cause Quantum Winter is Coming And on the far side of the J-Curve, whoah! How high can an exponential go? On the far side like "Whoah How high can it go?!" Qubits, on a microchip Any noise and they might flip Qubits, decohere and fail Noisy intermediate scale Qubits, with amplitudes That switch like vacuum tubes Qubits, in quantum states Watch them calculate Oh, watch them calculate
2.	Ballad of a Zombie 05:15 video	lyrics	buy track
It’s the ballad of a zombie… Like a slave to a parasite… I got a hatchet and I’m buryin’ it It’s the lament of a zombified marionette I feel my limbs moving, but I’m unaware of intent Like there’s somethin’ parasitic in them I can’t escape! Inexplicable forces got me sprinklin’ spores Just like a bullet ant infected with Ophiocordyceps Grippin’ a branch, fungus rippin’ my cortex Every leaf in the forest littered with corpses I can relate! Parasitic organisms promote their fitness At the expense of a host, and evolve to control them better And hosts evolve defenses, to protect their own interests And fall victim to novel stimuli, like scrollin’ Twitter Hijacked! Hi, Jack, you got me screenified Hits of dopamine arrive, extended phenotype Retweets and likes, keepin’ eyes locked Like a green-banded broodsac worm in a snail’s eyestalk So this goes out To all the profiles I stalk… It’s the Ballad of a Zombie I don’t know who’s in control But it’s not me Ballad of a Zombie I feel an urgent pull And it’s got me Feelin’ like a zombie Like a slave to a parasite (Gotta get it off me) Brains Got me actin’ wonky Ballad of a Zombie Zombified for the thrill of it, jacked on euphoria Cicadas high on psilocybin drippin’ Massospora Abdomen a mass of spores, junk completely gone And all they wanna do is get their freak on To the zombie theme song, a parasitic meme song Apparently we evolved to pass genes and these on Over eons, ideas, beliefs, thoughts, true or not You’re nothin’ to them but a cockroach to a jewel wasp And yeah, some of those memes do keep you alive Just long enough for their progeny to eat your insides Defend your beliefs ’til you die, despite the blunt trauma Like a caterpillar defending a pupating wasp larva Horrible, but part of our lives, unignorable Posting articles online ‘cause someone called you “deplorable” Curating your feed when you’re the feed, the product being sold Like a crab grooming a sack of Sacculina barnacles Shout out to everyone Who’s ever been part of a cult It’s the Ballad of a Zombie I don’t know who’s in control It’s not me, but it’s got me In it’s urgent pull Feelin’ like a slave, a parasite I’m feelin’ wonky tonight No I don’t feel quite right Zombie Okay, parasitic relationships aren’t all bad I have kids to answer to, I’m the one they call “dad” So I provide – takin’ out the garbage at night Fully aware that my relations are makin’ me zombified I love my wife, that’s exactly how I get manipulated Reciprocal altruism doesn’t begin to explain it Full cooperation even unenvenomated Domesticated, cheater-detection system disabled Like, “I get it, she’s got all types of cares to avoid” Like a Russian Doll, baby, hyperparasitoids With fleas biting fleas with smaller fleas to bite ‘em And even me biting scientists, ad infinitum So what are we? Nothin’ but lambs to the slaughter? Nothin’ but crickets led by Mermithid worms to the water? Nah, ‘cause we can skeptically see when we’re zombified And sometimes wake up when things are out of line So bring on the bite… Braaiiiins! It’s the Ballad of a Zombie I don’t know who’s in control But it’s not me Ballad of a Zombie I feel an urgent pull And it’s got me Feelin’ like a zombie Like a slave to a parasite (Gotta get it off me) Brains Got me actin’ wonky Ballad of a Zombie This is the Ballad Of a Zombie I don’t know Who it is in control But it ain’t me, oh no Just like a slave To a parasite, I Am feeling the urgent pull The Ballad of a Zombie
3.	Bright Future 04:17 video	lyrics	buy track
Lyrics: Blackout, blackout, too late to back out From New York city to Krakow, no turnin’ back now We demand infinite power that never taps out And the shutting of all fossil fuel smoke stacks down Don’t forget to ask “how?” Use every single tool Got that solar bling on my roof, all of my neighbors are thinkin’ it’s cool Renewables are beautiful, get them connected to every cottage But the crucible is: can they get us city-level wattage? Ten percent, maybe twenty five, until the wind power dies No flow from a hydro reservoir that a drought has dried The sun sets under cloudy skies, out of sight Out of mind, old king coal comes out at night Sunrise capacity surges, crashin’ the circuits Batteries would be perfect, it’s too bad they don’t work yet Plus the cost of purchase, it straight up doubles the pesos So again with the fossil fuel steppin’ up to cover the base-load Commuter, sky polluter Ride my scooter, climate movement Computer, WiFi booster Fly juicer, HiFi music Clean energy means everything Everything, bright future Clean energy means everything Bright future So here we go yo, whatsa whatsa whatsa scenario? The carbon footprint is low in France and Ontario The way they chose to carry the load is scary to folks But the resulting quality of life there is very dope Look at what they did in Sweden, low-emission Sweden Took the power grid and cleaned it safely, ask a physics teacher Fifty years of nuclear waste fits in a single arena And nature is more radioactive, check a dosimeter reader Carcinogenic coal ash kills half a million people Every single year, after leavin’ ‘em feelin’ a lil wheezy Replace particulate coal with fission and breathe easy Some people will get a little heated, but I don’t give a millisievert You want to fight climate change? Fight nuclear decommissions Replace fission with fossil fuel and you increase emissions Keep that clean efficient energy in the system How is that politically divisive? Commuter Sky polluter Ride my scooter Climate movement Computer WiFi booster Fly juicer HiFi music Clean energy Means everything Everything Bright future Clean energy Means everything Bright future Abundance, that’s what happens when everything functions One billion people today still have nothin’ to plug in Every third of a second another one comes in, no judgement Just take the power production number today and double it Now every solar panel planned is just keepin’ up with new demand Burn baby burn, another natural gas plant The air is a trash can for fossil fuel when you’re burnin’ it But frack that, we have a zero carbon alternative That’s so radioactive, we can’t discuss it calmly A nuclear reaction to a sensible energy policy I’m afraid of a meltdown, but only psychologically In response to a technology that produces juice constantly Is it dangerous? Compared to what, fairy dust? It’s safer than other major energy production areas Climate change is scary enough, even with various Solutions at play, take one of the biggest away And it’s gonna bury us Commuter Sky polluter Ride my scooter Climate movement Computer WiFi booster Fly juicer HiFi music Clean energy Means everything Everything Bright future Clean energy Means everything Bright future
4.	Cloud Feedback (feat. Skillz FJ) 05:32 video	lyrics	buy track
Rain your secrets down Feelin’ that equanimity Like, “Yeah, whatever will be will be” But still get jittery considering Equilibrium Climate Sensitivity Riddle me this: how hot is it gonna get? If CO2 levels end up doublin’? Between 1.5 and 4.5 degrees of extra heat? You gotta be kidding me How you gonna plan for a three degree range? Somewhere between mild fever and extreme pain? Estimation of ECS That’s the Holy Grail of the climate quest The heat trap is set, but sensitivity Depends on complex feedback effects Like Planck’s Law, it says: “The hotter it gets The more radiation a body emits” That’s a negative feedback, hey that’s great Coolin’ us off like Lapse Rate change But the hotter it gets, the more liquid evaporates And that just jacks up the pace ‘Cause water vapor is a greenhouse gas That doubles the carbon impact But whether that final measure goes up or down Is mostly down to little fluffy clouds Little fluffy clouds Spill your secrets out High wispy clouds Wrap us in your shroud Low wavy clouds Long, dark, and round Rain your secrets down Clouds, condensation on aerosols When you’re talkin’ feedback they’re involved Bounce sunlight back like a parasol There’s a real puzzle in there to solve Does a cloud heat the planet up, or cool it? Depends on the height and thickness through it Plus the light reflected like a mirror Blanket-like high-altitude cirrus Absorb more heat than they bounce back Damn, that fixed anvil temperature’s FAT Warm it up and the clouds move up Positive feedback heat trap booster What about low clouds though, in the tropics? Endless flat vistas to get lost in They look vast and voluminous now But those stratocumulus clouds are newly in doubt In fact, a new model found That burning enough CO2 from the ground Can break them up into cumulus clouds And that’s gonna stop them from cooling us down Plus, once you bust them up into pieces It’s tough to go back, ‘cause hysteresis The past is present, it's a sequence We just need clouds to spill their secrets Little fluffy clouds Spill your secrets out High wispy clouds Wrap us in your shroud Low wavy clouds Long, dark, and round Rain your secrets down Clouds, leavin’ models jammed up Since 1970, what’s the answer? Better science, y’all, that’s what Add the feedbacks up, that’s “Lambda” Clouds, are cooling the planet on average But warming the atmosphere changes the balance And tiny reshaping of feedback effects Can have radiative impacts that are massive And heating the planet is changing the clouds We need to know how, we need a “Eureka” To see how the clouds and convection entrain And which is the swept-up and which is the sweeper What’s the answer? That’s the wrong frame Instead ask: “What’s the probability range?” That feedback dampens or amplifies And how much is the physics parameterized? Multiple lines are converging to find That the bottom is no longer 1.5 For ECS, it’s 2.3 degrees With a 95% probability Which means we’re not getting off cheap I guess that “three degree range” got squeezed By the gap in the clouds where the light struck Revised up, so, time to wise up Tick tick tick… Time’s up  Little fluffy clouds Spill your secrets out High wispy clouds Wrap us in your shroud Low wavy clouds Long, dark, and round Rain your secrets down Little fluffy clouds Rain your secrets down
5.	Stay Home 04:39 video	lyrics	buy track
And ye though I walk Through the valley Of the shadow of death I will fear no evil For I know that coronavirus Is not evil It’s a mindless biological agent A tangle of RNA in a lipid sheath That evolved to replicate itself inside of cells Just as we evolved an immune system to repel it This I know because of science Folks in my section Like askin’ questions Takin’ measurements Testin’ hypotheses About how policy interventions Limit the spread of infection Natural selection Only game in town You can find it any place a replicator is found I’m DNA-based, and staycation-bound now ‘Cause there’s a new replicator in town Takin’ the crown RNA-based with a lipid shell Soap can rip it apart, so give it hell But just in case, update your living will Shelter in place, regardless if you’re ill Stay home! Reduce transmission rates When it’s too late to contain, mitigate When there’s no universal test you can get No contact tracing just community spread Stay home! Survival of the biggest introverts Bend the curve, end the surge, revenge of the nerds Who stay home! ‘Cause intuition is hollow “Y’all need to listen to the models” And stay home! It’s not a hoax, not a joke “This is their new hoax” In November gotta vote Stay home! Let the message go viral Instead of infection, it’s so vital To stay home! And watch Contagion Runnin’ from the viral invasion with Matt Damon Isolation, double-front campaign wagin’ Against the virus and misinformation Wrap it up in public, mask and glove it Ask the Czech Republic, you don’t have to love it When the floodgate’s open you just have to shut it The Wuhan plan ain’t nothin’ to muck with Now that’s government in control of its citizens No civil liberties, and no COVID-iots No Floridians open for business No governors who don’t know about symptomless Spread – now a doctor’s havin’ a talk with her kids About the plan in case she’s not gonna live Workin’ a shift with no personal protective equipment Which is somethin’ no president ever could’ve predicted Especially one who never paid attention, sleeping Through intelligence briefings, the seeds have been  Sown for years, corona’s doing the reaping With grieving loved ones doing the weeping Stay home! Protected “respirator style” Or watch the curve rise up “escalator style” Stay home! Stop damaging MDs And EMTs – “oxygen, they can’t breathe” Stay home! It’s not a joke, not a hoax “Like a miracle” Register to vote! But for now, stay home! Let the message go viral Instead of infection, it’s so vital To stay home! Stay calm, stay sanguine We had some bad luck mutations in a pangolin But I don’t give a plasmid about who first brang it in I just wanna see how administrations handle it And buy time to develop a vaccine In a year, maybe two, optimistically COVID-19, nobody’s immune system works Anyone can get it from Prince to Prime Minister So, be careful where you get your info On Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome SARS Cov 2, this is just the intro You can reduce fatalities tenfold Stay home! This is triage, beyotch No need to see a concierge, use a kiosk Social distance is the best shot we got Don’t let the germ win by fiat Stay home! The next victim might be you Five percent are “guaranteed to be in ICU” Stay home! This is Russian Roulette “People jumpin’ over people just to rush to the set” Stay home! Antivax activists How about it, ready for shots after this? Stay home! Let the message go viral Instead of infection, it’s so vital To stay home!
6.	Data Science 03:55 video	lyrics	buy track
Data Science Statisticians (Repeat) Academic classical statistician, sit down and listen You’re about to witness the power of algorithms Linear regressions is suckin’ us into a recession Interpretability is dead, the gold standard is now prediction Please, you think ‘cause a method is new, it isn’t bad? Everything about your “big data” movement is a fad All you have is a glittering enigma wrapped in a complex riddle Nothing but a black box with lots of little knobs to twiddle I’ll take a black box that delivers accurate answers On any question you can ask it, from genetics to cancer Over a transparent box we understand that’s “interpretable” With tractable math… Yeah, too bad it doesn’t work so good though Algorithms are just another kind of statistical inference That’s fine. You’re advocating scientifical ignorance You’re like the Wizard of Oz in a balloon, floating over the earth "Come back!" “I can’t! I don’t know how it works!” Here’s how it works: data goes in, predictions emerge Talk to Mark Zuckerberg if you really question its worth Forget it, stay bottled up in a college and data model I’ll solve problems, drive an Audi, and date a model Data science, we predict the outcome And if you see it's workin’, there’s no need to question “how come?” Statisticians, we want it precise How is it “science” if you can’t explain your model designs?!? Data science, we don’t want it basic Life is complicated, the original “black box” is nature Statisticians, reveal how nature functions All I need is a model with articulated assumptions Is that too much to ask from a data analyst? Show your work!? That’s basic practice, but they can't handle it Move fast, break things, it just isn't right Not at the expense of parsimony and scientific insight You got it backwards, pops, scientific progress Is a step-by-step process from simple to complex Quantum physics comes after Newtonian mechanics And classic statisticians never discovered exoplanets You’re the one with the model backwards, son, you got distracted We get results! Yeah, with no thought for the causal factors Tech investors keep earning, algorithms keep churning But it’s a shallow journey if only the machine’s learning We’re learning, never doubt that, data science is about facts And if it catches mice, that makes it a better mousetrap Statistics is either gonna get with artificial intelligence Or it’s gonna lose in the data battle for relevance Well if that’s your position, then I'm a converted mathematician First, check if it works, and then unpack the algorithm With statistical methods; that’s just more for us to perceive Just don’t lose sight of the random forest for the trees Data science, we predict the outcome First check if it's workin’, and then question “how come?” Statisticians, we want it precise How is it “science” if you can’t explain your model designs? Data science, we don’t want it basic Life is complicated, the original black box is nature Statisticians, reveal how nature functions All I need is a model with articulated assumptions Data Science Statisticians (Repeat)
7.	Green is Good 04:34	lyrics	buy track
A tree grows competitive Reachin’ for the light, aimin’ to soak up every bit of it Photosynthetic Olympian, throwin’ shade At its brethren, coniferous to deciduous Leaves trickle down and get biodegraded Every niche underneath is wild populated From the base to the apex of an ecological Matrix – trees are the main job-creators Cellulose and lignum in a silo Struggle for survival, natural cycle Reachin’ for the sky, so high, so vital And all they want is domination of a rival That’s the best competition The kind that benefits everything next to the competition Like a free market economic engine Positive externalities and we all can get it Like Gordon Gekko in a pristine wood Sometimes greed is good Greed is what pushes every tree to the canopy hood And Green is Good Green is Good, Green is Good, baby Make green like Wall Street in 80s Stay green like a shade tree Green is Good, so make green, baby Green is Good, sustain green Make All Nature Great Again, stay green Like a shade tree, green is amazing Green is Good, so make green, baby Make green and you make a range of good products Reforestation and sustainable harvest Plus climate change is upon us And every tree free growing is retaining some carbon It may take an ecologist from a fine university To trace the complex web of biodiversity From turtle to spider to birch tree To underground fungal mycelial circuitry Do the research, and refill it if you deplete it You can be a future-feeder instead of a future-eater Solid ecological planning is not a new procedure It’s just a prerequisite for a future leader Greed is good? I do concede it’s a half-truth Witness the damage humanity can do Extract, pollute, the Lorax knew If you turn a green patch into a sand dune That’s a bad move, that’s the worst competition Lose-lose, humans and the earth all diminished Negative externals hurt your grandchildren Get a land-use plan and we can rebuild it Green is Good, Green is Good, baby Make green like Wall Street in 80s Stay green like a shade tree Green is Good, so make green, baby Green is Good, sustain green Make All Nature Great Again, stay green Like a shade tree, green is amazing Green is Good, so make green, baby Make green, don’t starve, feed kids Invest in the future sustainable green biz Plant trees, billions and billions Reverse the loss of biodiversity quick And don’t forget what a gorgeous forest is A slow motion rat race for resources A snapshot of Ascot horses Foamin’ at the mouth for sun beam nourishment No armistice, ‘cause trees keep us alive When they reach for the sky for a piece of the light, And likewise, we can compete to shine In a green climate, with no ecocide Try to keep in mind every intricate part Including communities if it’s in their backyard Build with indigenous traditions and Local people living in the midst of the wilderness Ecosystem enrichment pays forward Stakeholders get enlisted, from rainforest To everglades to boreal territory Green is good, end of story Green is Good, Green is Good, baby Make green like Wall Street in 80s Stay green like a shade tree Green is Good, so make green, baby Green is Good, sustain green Make All Nature Great Again, stay green Like a shade tree, green is amazing Green is Good, so make green, baby
8.	Molten Salt 04:34 video	lyrics	buy track
Let’s take a minute to applaud the good actions On the planet’s behalf of Light Water Reactors If greenhouse gases are what you want to tackle Dismissing atomic is really not a good tactic Unlike fossil fuel, the carbon is absent And the fatalities per terawatt is a fraction So if you hate on it and you want to attack it Don't forget to factor in the cost of inaction Although, lookin’ back it could’ve been a bit foolish To go with a solid fuel in a water coolant That cracks when it fissions, so you gotta remove it With ninety-nine percent of the juices still useless And plus, it does take a lot of pressure To heat that water to three hundred degrees And trap it in a concrete containment vessel In case radioactive steam gets released I mean, Three Mile Island? Zero deaths Fukushima Daiichi? Zero deaths Is a nuclear technician a hero? Yes It’s not whether it’s safe, it’s where to go next Liquid Sodium Makin’ new fuel out of former junk A traveling wave comes Molten salt with Thorium No meltdowns anymore ‘Cause a plug drains out When you warm it up Fourth generation Molten salt with Thorium Or molten salt without it Uranium, Plutonium, you know we ‘bout it ‘bout it Decades of waste can now get routed Back to the reactor to tackle a power outage Salt, but not what's on a dinner table Lithium and Beryllium Fluoride moderate the flow Of neutrons – it’s hell-a chemically stable Fission products gotta bond with it, unbreakable So how can Cesium and Iodine hurt Your thyroid? They’re locked in salt binders Fissioning and circulating in a purifier And spinning a turbine, ask Alvin Weinberg Now the half-life of the waste is like Three centuries, and we can pay that price Like the preservation of an ancient relic, we can achieve it And use isotopes for cancer treatment No reason to fear radiation at all When elements dissolve in molten salt It can leak and a meltdown won’t result It just solidifies and the whole thing halts This warming rock Is gonna still get hot Until we clean our power Sources up Get it from the wind Offshore and the sun And the molten salt With Thorium Liquid Sodium Makin’ new fuel out of former junk A traveling wave comes Molten salt with Thorium No meltdowns anymore ‘Cause a plug drains out When you warm it up Fourth generation Molten salt with Thorium Come on, sing along, is it hard To build a modular reactor in a shipyard? And bring it on a truck to deliver the spark And tell the haters to sit in the dark ‘Cause it’s way way way way safer than climate change Don’t lose sight of the plot of the play It’s all about decarbonization all day And energy poverty is not gonna wait So no pressure, no more than a garden hose Temperature high, so the wattage flows Price low, hydrocarbons, synthesize those Desalinize, access to water grows Watch coal plants fall like dominoes This tech is so close, y’all, so vamanos Close all emissions that are poisonous And let economists calculate avoided deaths And let everyone, Nigerian to American Celebrate the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment Oak Ridge Lab, Tennessee Which invented cheap, safe, unlimited energy Liquid Sodium Makin’ new fuel out of former junk A traveling wave comes Molten salt with Thorium No meltdowns anymore ‘Cause a plug drains out When you warm it up Fourth generation Molten salt with Thorium
9.	Stirling Engine 04:54 video	lyrics	buy track
I’m on that slow roll, that’s how I go the distance Like a space probe exiting the solar system With all the generators I need To provide decades of energy, maintenance free Take it slow on the way to big things You would’ve thought I was invented in 1816 And then slept on, and never fully deployed Except as a fan in ventilators and toys I’m not annoyed, I just bide my time ‘Cause I know my hyper-scientific version of rhyme Can seem costly, heavy, and slow to ignite And tough to commercialize, though many have tried The dude abides, ‘cause all I need is inches Competition leapin’ past me obsolete in minutes I’m out to leave a legacy, not a speed record Listed in a museum with the steam engines I thought internal combustion had me Fifteen hundred degree ignition, I can’t compete! Until the onset of climate change Every gas-guzzlin’ contraption, apply the brakes I keep it movin’ like a Stirling Engine Converting heat to work in an instant I keep it tight like a closed-cycle Thermodynamic system, churning pistons I keep fresh with external combustion Plus low internal pressure Regenerator for thermal retention Low key like a Stirling Engine Low key like a Stirling Engine Oh, look who’s comin’ back around Who’s got that steady energy capture now? The mainstream stays deep in hydrocarbons But any heat source gets my cycle started Carnot cycle-target-level efficiency Hydrogen, geo-thermal, solar, no difference to me Nuclear fission, any industry, waste heat Converted into electrical energy Oh, your fuel source has to be really pure? Mine can be anything, even pig manure I can transform it into AC/DC Which means farmers in the developing world need me I can even act as a battery for renewables Trap that heat in recycled molten aluminum And then convert it to current, for the final user I can even work in reverse as a cryocooler Make it freeze, when I pump that heat Make it negative 80 degrees for vaccines Not to mix metaphors, but I’m universal Stirling style, wild versatile My compressed air knows how to work a valve Reducin’ methane waste and personnel In other words, my flow is so low-maintenance The type you want to go into space with I keep it movin’ like a Stirling Engine Converting heat to work in an instant I keep it tight like a closed-cycle Thermodynamic system, churning pistons I keep it fresh with external combustion Plus low internal pressure Regenerator for thermal retention Low key like a Stirling Engine Low key like a Stirling Engine I’m on that slow roll, like a space probe And this is my time, if I do say so Settings records for continuous effort Technology finally catching up to my potential Space Age Rap Star, NASA said it “The most reliable heat engine ever invented” Not to take credit, but I just keep running Steppin’ over dead energizer bunnies Plus dead quiet, for sonar evasion A Gotland-class sub in the Swedish Navy Not to mix metaphors, but I’m freakin’ crazy Sneak up and take a pic of the USS Ronald Reagan Too much noisy friction in these engines I got that free piston flow that’s efficient Never crashing, practically everlasting Don’t ask me when the springs wear out, it’s never happened If you ask me about my future work I’m running scientific instruments on Jupiter KRUSTY reactors in a Mars colony Not bad for a centuries-old technology Not to mix metaphors But there’s no stoppin’ me I keep it movin’ like a Stirling Engine Converting heat to work in an instant I keep it tight like a closed-cycle Thermodynamic system, churning pistons I keep fresh with external combustion Plus low internal pressure Regenerator for thermal retention Low key like a Stirling Engine Low key like a Stirling Engine Low key like a Stirling Engine
10.	Counterfactual (feat. Aaron Ross) 05:50 video	lyrics	buy track
Waiting for the vaccine, like a mouse in a trap All my COVID-19 lockdowns, bounce to the track If you want to get back to business, it’s time ask Yourself what you believe that’s counter to fact They told you to go with your gut, but now you just can’t Instead you gotta listen to Tony Fauci and mask To keep the virus in check, Lauren Hill said it best Everybody wear the mask, but how long will it last? From now until herd immunity Until vaccinations saturate your community ‘Cause every one of us is embedded in networks And some of them reject experts who test first And know the scientific method works incrementally Evaluating every hypothesis skeptically Experimentally building models and factoring Causes and effects counterfactually Like: what if everybody had masked and distanced Ever since this started, would that have made a difference? With fewer margarita parties at the height of COVID season Would we have a few more New Zealands? So what do you believe? And is it up for debate? And can you imagine evidence confronting your faith That makes your level of confidence in it fluctuate? Inoculate yourself against suspect claims! If you believe it And you really feel it It’s still not impossible It’s counter-factual If you can show it How you really know it We got a way to find The counterfactual You better wait… If you make claims that are evidence-based It’s best to check ‘em in evidence-based ways You better wait… It’s tough to reason someone out of believin’ Something they were never reasoned into in the first place You better wait… Counterfactual studies are just a practical Part of scientifically modeling where a path will go And if enough people hold counter-factual Beliefs, they form an angry mob and storm a capital Yeah, true beliefs are a form of capital Societies rich in them tend towards rational Evidence-based medicine instead of magical Witchcraft when a pandemic explodes So, what’s the counterfactual for true beliefs About the greenhouse gasses that you release When driving and keeping the lights on and producing heat? Ignorance is gonna put us over two degrees With melting ice, droughts, rising seas Forest fires, and climate refugees Motivated by the same basic needs that made Ted Cruz leave for Cancun in a Texas freeze Yeah, false beliefs are a form of poverty And like true beliefs, they spread virally “COVID-19 is connected to 5G And you can kill it, try bleach in your IV I learned it from IG – it’s my personal belief That I should do whatever personally works for me” But that’s the thing, no person is an island And science denial is workin’ to spread the virus Pushing temperatures higher, and that’s costly When everybody shares the same air commonly Reduce the garbage heap with a carbon fee ‘Cause false beliefs are not free If you believe it And you really feel it It’s still not impossible It’s counter-factual If you can show it How you really know it We got a way to find The counterfactual You better wait… Please, keep your faith-based beliefs To yourself on matters of public safety You better wait… Think about your neighbor’s needs If you’re not sure, hey, wait and see You better wait… Do I have false beliefs too? I do That’s just my biased social primate view My truth is that my truth is quite skewed And yours is too, that’s why science is cool ‘Cause it ritualistically fact-finds Our brains tend to match the frames of allies And separate the good guys from the bad guys But the scientific method is designed To transcend tribes – it’s just a set of norms You can use it to evolve tools into better forms Or craft laws and policies informed By the best of our knowledge about what’s in store Are we in for a world increasingly divided By political tribalism, echo chambers and silos? Or, are we really in it together Like a Mars lander, a human scientific endeavor? Whether climate change, or beating a new disease Science is the finder of maximally true beliefs Casting light ahead so we can choose judiciously So what do you believe? If you believe it And you really feel it It’s still not impossible It’s counter-factual If you can show it How you really know it We got a way to find The counterfactual You better wait… Gotta wait ‘til your spot gets locked And then don’t hesitate to get the shot You better wait… It takes patience To trigger the better angels of human nature You better wait… So have patience, ‘cause after that The promised land awaits us You better wait…

about

About:

Bright Future is Canadian Science Rapper Baba Brinkman’s 12th full-length album, a collection of ten songs about science and society and a blueprint for improving the human condition through greater understanding of the natural world, medicine, and technology.

Each of the ten songs was commissioned by a scientist or an organization with science at its core, for the purpose of communicating an important and complex idea to the general public.

The release of Bright Future coincides with the launch of Baba Brinkman’s new company, Event Rap Inc, a custom rap agency where you can commission original songs and videos on any topic, for any event.

Visit www.eventrap.com for more info.

Reviews:

"One of the better popularization efforts our field has seen in the past 25 years—more coherent than the average journalistic account and with a much better backbeat."
–Scott Aaronson
www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=5536

"Wonderfully clever... great fun"
– Physics World
physicsworld.com/a/quantum-rapper-has-a-bright-future-dancing-quantum-magic-understanding-quantum-computers/

credits

released May 28, 2021

1. Qubits
(D. Brinkman, J. Simmonds)
Produced and Mixed by Mr. Simmonds
Additional Vocals by Jessie Davis 

Scientific Consultation by Hartmut Neven

Made with support from Google Quantum AI
quantumai.google

Further Reading:
• www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/07/biggest-flipping-challenge-quantum-computing

2. Ballad of a Zombie
(D. Brinkman, A. Ross, J. Simmonds)
Produced and Mixed by Mr. Simmonds
Chorus Vocals by Aaron Ross

Scientific Consultation by Athena Aktipis and Dr. Joe Alcock

Made with support from the Zombified Podcast
www.zombified.org

Further Reading:
• www.popsci.com/zombies-mind-control-and-body-snatchers-natures-horrifying-parasites/
• www.businessinsider.com/zombies-in-nature-science-2019-5
• www.buzzfeednews.com/article/mattsimonauthor/zombies-are-real-and-nature-is-terrifying

3. Bright Future
(D. Brinkman, A. Ross, J. Simmonds)
Produced and Mixed by Mr. Simmonds
Chorus Vocals by Eric Meyer

Scientific Consultation by Joshua S. Goldstein and Staffan A. Qvist

Made with support from Generation Atomic
www.generationatomic.org

Further Reading:
• www.nytimes.com/2019/04/06/opinion/sunday/climate-change-nuclear-power.html
• www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2019/11/25/nuclear-power-does-slow-climate-change/?sh=50f92b5a7202

4. Cloud Feedback (feat. Skillz FJ)
(D. Brinkman, T. Caruana, S. Taukave)
Produced and Mixed by Tom Caruana
Guitar and Additional Percussion by Skillz FJ
Keys by Simon Kendall

Scientific Consultation by Professor Stefan Buehler
Made with Support from U of Hamburg Meteorological Institute

Further Reading:
• www.carbonbrief.org/guest-post-why-low-end-climate-sensitivity-can-now-be-ruled-out
• www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/02/world-without-clouds-hardly-clear-climate-scientists-say

5. Stay Home
(D. Brinkman, J. Simmonds)
Produced and Mixed by Mr. Simmonds

Scientific Consultation by Mark J. Fitzpatrick and Carl T. Bergstrom

Further Reading:
• www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/03/how-will-coronavirus-end/608719/
• www.ft.com/content/a2901ce8-5eb7-4633-b89c-cbdf5b386938

6. Data Science
(D. Brinkman, J. Simmonds)
Produced and Mixed by Mr. Simmonds

Made with support from alteryx
www.alteryx.com

Further Reading:
• towardsdatascience.com/thoughts-on-the-two-cultures-of-statistical-modeling-72d75a9e06c2?gi=d272e2a7d7dd
• www.nature.com/articles/nmeth.4642

7. Green is Good
(D. Brinkman, A. Ross, J. Simmonds)
Produced and Mixed by Mr. Simmonds
Chorus Vocals by Aaron Ross

Made with support from Forests Ontario
forestsontario.ca

8. Molten Salt
(D. Brinkman, A. Ross, J. Simmonds)
Produced and Mixed by Mr. Simmonds
Additional Vocals and Guitar by Aaron Ross

Made with support from Generation Atomic and the Thorium Energy Alliance
energyfromthorium.com

Further Reading:
• www.discovermagazine.com/environment/nuclear-technology-abandoned-decades-ago-might-give-us-safer-smaller-reactors

9. Stirling Engine
(D. Brinkman, J. Simmonds)
Produced and Mixed by Mr. Simmonds

Made with support from Qnergy
www.qnergy.com

Further Reading:
• en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stirling_engine
• www.nasa.gov/feature/glenn/2020/stirling-convertor-sets-14-year-continuous-operation-milestone

10. Counterfactual (feat. Aaron Ross)
(D. Brinkman, A. Ross, R. Sticklor)
Produced by DJ Plain View
Additional Production and Mix by Lin Gardiner
Clav and Additional Organ by Clef Seeley

Scientific Consultation by Gary Yohe

Further Reading:
• www.scientificamerican.com/article/counterfactual-experiments-are-crucial-but-easy-to-misunderstand/

Album Mastered by Mr. Simmonds

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about

Baba Brinkman New York, New York

Science rapper and inventor of several novel hip-hop variants. Canadian transplant to New York. Pathological optimist.

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