Trace Elements

Latest Episodes:

The Birth And Death Of Earth's Oceans Jun 07, 2018

Show notes

Ocean acidification, over-fishing, warming climate and other environmental triggers may spell the next "Great Dying," but are we there yet?

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Sources:

Early Accretion Of Water In The Inner Solar System From A Carbonaceous Chondrite-like Source:

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/346/6209/623

“Determining the origin of water and the timing of its accretion within the inner solar system is important for understanding the dynamics of planet formation."

Dehydration Melting At The Top Of The Lower Mantle:

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/344/6189/1265

“The high water storage capacity of minerals in Earth’s mantle transition zone (410- to 660-kilometer depth) implies the possibility of a deep H2O reservoir, which could cause dehydration melting of vertically flowing mantle."

Why Do We Look For Water When Searching For Extraterrestrial Life?:

https://io9.gizmodo.com/5728932/why-do-we-look-for-water-when-searching-for-extraterrestrial-life

“The assumption that alien biochemistries probably require liquid water may seem a little Earth-centric. But given the chemical possibilities available from the most abundant elements in the universe, even an alien scientist with a different biochemistry would probably agree that a water-solvent-based biochemistry is quite likely to occur elsewhere in the universe – and might well be the most likely foundation for a complex ecosystem in which intelligent life could develop."

Scientists Discover The Oldest, Largest Body Of Water In Existence — In Space:

https://www.fastcompany.com/1769468/scientists-discover-oldest-largest-body-water-existence-space

“Scientists have found the biggest and oldest reservoir of water ever—so large and so old, it’s almost impossible to describe. The water is out in space, a place we used to think of as desolate and desert dry, but it's turning out to be pretty lush."

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Seeker inspires us to see the world through the lens of science and evokes a sense of curiosity, optimism and adventure.

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What's Up With Sleep May 31, 2018

Show notes

We spend 36 percent of our entire life asleep, but what exactly is happening to your body and brain while snoozing?

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Listen to our new podcast That's Absurd Please Elaborate where Julian Huguet and Trace Dominguez answer your strangest, wackiest, most ridiculous questions with as much science research as they can muster.

Find it wherever you get your podcasts or click here to listen now! https://link.thatsabsurdshow.com/from-seekerplus

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Sources:

Do All Creatures Sleep?

https://animals.howstuffworks.com/animal-facts/all-creatures-sleep.htm

Do Microbes Sleep?

https://www.popsci.com/blog-network/our-modern-plagues/do-microbes-sleep

Sleep vs Coma vs Anesthesia

https://www.tuck.com/anesthesia/

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What's Up With The Calendar? May 24, 2018

Show notes

We've all learned it takes 24 hours for the Earth to rotate once on its axis but that isn't the whole story at all. There's much more to it.

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Find it wherever you get your podcasts or click here to listen now! https://link.thatsabsurdshow.com/from-seekerplus

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Sources:

Why Are There 24 Hours In A Day?:

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2011/11/15/3364432.htm

“While each country has (in broad terms) historically had distinct measurements for distance, weights etc the method of splitting the day into 24 hours, one hour into 60 mins and one minute into 60 seconds seems to be the only one in use, and indeed to me the only one I know of. "

Keeping Time: Why 60 Minutes?:

https://www.livescience.com/44964-why-60-minutes-in-an-hour.html

“How did we come to divide the hour into 60 minutes and the minute into 60 seconds? These smaller divisions of time have been in practical use for only about 400 years, but they were vital to the advent of modern science."

Why Is A Minute Divided Into 60 Seconds, An Hour Into 60 Minutes, Yet There Are Only 24 Hours In A Day?:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/experts-time-division-days-hours-minutes/

“In today's world, the most widely used numeral system is decimal (base 10), a system that probably originated because it made it easy for humans to count using their fingers."

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This is Your Brain on Noise... Any Questions? May 17, 2018

Show notes

Noise and sound are not the same thing… Noise is more than just an annoyance, it's messing with our heads, literally. Too much noise can actually affect how we evolve, but just the write amount of noise makes us more productive! In this episode with Trace Dominguez, and special guest Mike Rugnetta (Reasonably Sound, CrashCourse) explores how exactly noise impacts our lives.

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Find it wherever you get your podcasts or click here to listen now! https://link.thatsabsurdshow.com/from-seekerplus

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Sources:

How Sound Shaped The Evolution Of Your Brain

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/09/10/436342537/how-sound-shaped-the-evolution-of-your-brain

The World Now Sounds Different to How it Did a Century Ago

http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20161110-the-world-now-sounds-different-to-how-it-did-a-century-ago

Owls use 'stealth technology' to help capture prey

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/aug/17/owls-use-stealth-technology-to-help-capture-prey

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Follow Trace on the socials:

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And subscribe on YouTube too:

http://youtube.com/@trace-elements for more podcasting

http://youtube.com/@tracedominguez for explainers, explorations and excitement

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Plan To Evacuate Earth May 10, 2018

Show notes

Earth has shaped the way humans look and behave. How will future generations in space evolve under radiation and little gravity?

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Find it wherever you get your podcasts or click here to listen now! https://link.thatsabsurdshow.com/from-seekerplus

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Sources:

How Many People Can Earth Support?:

https://www.livescience.com/16493-people-planet-earth-support.html

"The power of population is so superior to the power of the Earth to produce subsistence for man, that premature death must in some shape or other visit the human race."

AFTER EARTH: WHY, WHERE, HOW, AND WHEN WE MIGHT LEAVE OUR HOME PLANET:

https://www.popsci.com/science/article/2011-02/after-earth-why-where-how-and-when-we-might-leave-our-home-planet

"Earth won't always be fit for occupation. We know that in two billion years or so, an expanding sun will boil away our oceans, leaving our home in the universe uninhabitable-unless, that is, we haven't already been wiped out by the Andromeda galaxy, which is on a multibillion-year collision course with our Milky Way."

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Follow Trace on the socials:

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X (formerly, Twitter): https://twitter.com/tracedominguez

And subscribe on YouTube too:

http://youtube.com/@trace-elements for more podcasting

http://youtube.com/@tracedominguez for explainers, explorations and excitement

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Why Is Blood So Important? Apr 26, 2018

Show notes

Blood is the red liquid that flows through your body and each of us have about 9-12 pints in us. Today we're taking a deep dive into the science of blood: what it's made of, what it does, and why it's so bloody important.

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Find it wherever you get your podcasts or click here to listen now! https://link.thatsabsurdshow.com/from-seekerplus

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Sources:

Blood Facts And Statistics

https://www.redcrossblood.org/content/redcrossblood/en/donate-blood/how-to-donate/how-blood-donations-help/blood-needs-blood-supply.html

Researchers closer to being able to change blood types https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/04/150429132926.htm

Innate immunity: the first line of defence

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/lab-rat/innate-immunity-the-first-line-of-defence/

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Follow Trace on the socials:

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X (formerly, Twitter): https://twitter.com/tracedominguez

And subscribe on YouTube too:

http://youtube.com/@trace-elements for more podcasting

http://youtube.com/@tracedominguez for explainers, explorations and excitement

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A Battery Is a Dynamic and Crazy Place, And We Ain’t Li-Ion Apr 19, 2018

Show notes

Today we're diving into everything you’re ever going to need to know about the tiny bricks that power all the devices on (and in) your person. We'll talk about some of the best batteries in the world, the oldest batteries ever found, what batteries actually are (they’re not what you think), and we even have a special guest to talk about the atomic movement of batteries!

We're digging deep into the physics and chemistry, design and possible future of these ubiquitous pieces of modern technology. It’s going to be shocking. Get it?

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Find it wherever you get your podcasts or click here to listen now! https://link.thatsabsurdshow.com/from-seekerplus

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Sources:

Unlocking the Potential of Cation-Disordered Oxides for Rechargeable Lithium Batteries

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/343/6170/519

The Configurational Space of Rocksalt‐Type Oxides for High‐Capacity Lithium Battery Electrodes

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/aenm.201400478

Solid electrolytes open doors to solid-state batteries

https://phys.org/news/2016-03-solid-electrolytes-doors-solid-state-batteries.html

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Follow Trace on the socials:

Instagram: https://instagram.com/tracedominguez

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X (formerly, Twitter): https://twitter.com/tracedominguez

And subscribe on YouTube too:

http://youtube.com/@trace-elements for more podcasting

http://youtube.com/@tracedominguez for explainers, explorations and excitement

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Is Mars Our Only Hope? Apr 12, 2018

Show notes

The red planet has captured our imaginations since it was first spotted in the sky, but is it really the only hope for human survival? Make sure you gear up, because today, we're diving into everything Mars!

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Find it wherever you get your podcasts or click here to listen now! https://link.thatsabsurdshow.com/from-seekerplus

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Sources:

Mars Could Have Supported Life, NASA Says

https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/13/science/space/mars-could-have-supported-life-nasa-says.html?_r=0

Why Thousands Of People Are Willing To Die On Mars

https://www.popsci.com/article/science/why-thousands-people-are-willing-die-mars

India's Mission To Mars Could Cost Less Than the Movie 'Gravity'

https://www.vox.com/2014/9/24/6838079/india-mars-mangalyaan

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Follow Trace on the socials:

Instagram: https://instagram.com/tracedominguez

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X (formerly, Twitter): https://twitter.com/tracedominguez

And subscribe on YouTube too:

http://youtube.com/@trace-elements for more podcasting

http://youtube.com/@tracedominguez for explainers, explorations and excitement

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Can Science Help Us Understand Humor? Apr 05, 2018

Show notes

Today, we find our funny bone. Not literally. Instead, we're going to breakdown the science of humor. We'll cover what happens in our brains when we find something funny, how a sense of humor evolved, what makes something not funny at all, and even if we can teach robots and A.I. to be funny!

Originally broadcast in 2015.

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Find it wherever you get your podcasts or click here to listen now! https://link.thatsabsurdshow.com/from-seekerplus

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Sources:

The Biology Of Humor: In Search Of The Cerebral Funny Bone

http://discovermagazine.com/2002/may/featbiology

Is there a scientific formula for funny?

https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/human-brain/formula-for-funny2.htm

Scientists Discovered What Makes Something Funny

http://www.businessinsider.com/bob-mankoff-science-of-funny-humor-new-yorker-cartoon-2014-12

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Follow Trace on the socials:

Instagram: https://instagram.com/tracedominguez

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BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/tracedominguez.com

X (formerly, Twitter): https://twitter.com/tracedominguez

And subscribe on YouTube too:

http://youtube.com/@trace-elements for more podcasting

http://youtube.com/@tracedominguez for explainers, explorations and excitement

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Space: We're Bad At It, Yet We Keep Trying Mar 29, 2018

Show notes

Today, we’re going to break down the science of humans going to space. We'll cover how we get to space, how astronauts train for it, the dangers of space shuttles, and, of course, the future of space travel!

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Find it wherever you get your podcasts or click here to listen now! https://link.thatsabsurdshow.com/from-seekerplus

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Sources:

A Brief History of Space Exploration

http://www.aerospace.org/education/stem-outreach/space-primer/a-brief-history-of-space-exploration/

NASA: Astronaut Selection and Training

https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/606877main_FS-2011-11-057-JSC-astro_trng.pdf

Nuclear fusion could power NASA spacecraft

https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn3294-nuclear-fusion-could-power-nasa-spacecraft/#.VZsNORNVhHw

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