Science, Spoken

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An Electric Shock Could Keep Patients From Bleeding Out May 16, 2017

Show notes

Fifteen years ago, Kevin Tracey sat in a Washington DC conference room surrounded by officials from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. They’d been paying the neurosurgeon to study how doctors could stimulate the vagus nerve—a long nerve that controls everything from blood pressure to sexual arousal—to treat inflammation associated with PTSD. Now they wanted to know: Could he stimulate anything else into submission? He searched his brain.

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The Traditional Lecture Is Dead. I Would Know—I’m a Professor May 15, 2017

Show notes

When I was young, there was no such thing as the world wide web or video streaming. If you wanted to watch something, you had to wait until it appearedon television. Sometimes you might think,“Hey, I think I’ll watch a show” and flip the channels until you found something interesting. This is how I discoveredThe Mechanical Universe … And Beyond.

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The Finesse of Flying Cassini Between Saturn’s Rings May 12, 2017

Show notes

The Cassini space probe is going to dive through Saturn’s rings again on Wednesday, the third of a planned 22 orbits threading that planetary needle as the probe continues a ballistic death-drop inward. And like the first ring-crossing two weeks ago, this one required a bit of complicated piloting. Remote-controlling a robot spaceship from 750 million miles away ain’t like dusting crops, as Han Solo might say. (RIP.) (Spoilers.

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Brian Greene on How Science Became a Political Prisoner May 11, 2017

Show notes

Brian Greene is one of those physicists. You know the type: Blessed with a brain capable of untangling the mysteries of the universe,and a knack for clearly explaining it all to the rest of us schlubs. His enthusiasm for doing these things keeps him quite busy, what with the three best-selling physics books for grown-ups, a children’s book about time dilation(!), a fewTV specials, and, of course, a TED talk.

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Want to Know How Long a Fidget Spinner Spins? Get a Laser and Some Physics May 10, 2017

Show notes

Fidget spinners are the new Rubik’s Cube. Or maybe the new Tamagotchi. Or … I don’t know. Pick your fad. You see these toys, ostensibly designedto help kids fidgety concentrate, everywhere now. Seriously. Everywhere. Afidget spinner is basically a small bearing mounted in a piece of plastic or other material. You hold it and spin it. I guess it’s sort of amusing.

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What Happens When You Train Like Nike’s Two-Hour Marathon Runners May 09, 2017

Show notes

I did it. On Saturday afternoon, a few hours after Eliud Kipchoge ranastunning, historic marathon in two hours and 25 seconds in Monza, Italy - narrowly missing his goal of breaking the two-hour marathon mark for Nike's Breaking2 initiative, but obliterating the current world record and everybody's idea of what is possible in the sport - I ran a half-marathon on the same course in 1:26:52.

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In Which We Literally Calculate the Power of the Force May 08, 2017

Show notes

I have a tradition of doing a little analysis on one of my favorite movie franchises to celebrate Star Wars Day (May the Fourth Be With You). Given thatRogue One: A Star Wars Storyrecently appeared on DVD and various streaming services, I think its OK to look at that film without worrying about spoilers. In this case, I will calculate Darth Vader’s power output as he uses the Force.

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A Rare Journey Into the Cheyenne Mountain Complex, a Super-Bunker That Can Survive Anything May 05, 2017

Show notes

In the background of Colorado Springs, Pike’s Peak dominates the sky. But just to that mountain’s southeast looms another geological ripple. Cheyenne Mountain—a rounded, rocky thing that rises 9,565 feet above sea level—looks wild and quiet. But deep inside the mountain, a crew of humans toils in one of the nation’s most secure military installations.

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How a Missing Penny Explains the Conservation of Energy May 04, 2017

Show notes

Energy is the answer to so many questions. Pull back a spring-powered toy car and rolls forward. Why? Energy. You used your phone all day and it suddenly shut down. Why? No energy. A child eats six bags of M&Ms and runs around screaming and giggling because he has energy. But then he doesn’t want to clean his room because he has no energy. But what is energy? Ah… that is the real question. To answer it, let me start with a story about three friends, Alby, Bobby, and Cami.

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India’s Silicon Valley Is Dying of Thirst. Your City May Be Next May 03, 2017

Show notes

On the outskirts of Bangalore one morning last summer, a sullen young man named Manjunath stood high atop a cocoa-colored 1,850-gallon tanker truck, waiting for its belly to fill with water. The source of the liquid was a bore well, a cylindrical metal shaft puncturing hundreds of feet down into the earth. An electric pump pulled the water up from the depths and into a concrete cistern; from there, a hose snaked across the mud and weeds and plugged into Manjunath’s truck.

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