What The If?

Latest Episodes:

68 - Are We Entertaining The MARTIANS? Nov 14, 2018

Show notes

IF we were Martians, looking at the Earth with our telescopes… would we know there’s LIFE there? If so, how would we know? Could we have watched humanity evolve? Would we see the humans coming to US? Run for the mons! It’s another fast & fascinating episode of What The IF?!!!

67 - KEPLER'S Planets & EGOMANIACAL Mathematicians! Nov 07, 2018

Show notes

This week, the ground-breaking, sky-breaking, star-breaking, NASA telescope, Kepler, got arthritis and, creeeeaaaaaakkkk.... slipped into a well earned and well deserved retirement, now free to lounge about forever doing the backstroke and sipping martinis among the galaxies. But if you think THAT sounds like a PARTY (!) wait until you hear all the classes clinking and whips cracking and bottles popping that went on in the REAL HISTORY of KEPLER's namesake... and his crowd of rowdy astronomers. A very, very, VERY colorful cast of characters in this time traveling episode through the mists of SCIENCE history!

66 - Danger, SLOW BRAIN Ahead! TIME DILATION From Head To Toe Oct 31, 2018

Show notes

When scientists discovered that our brain communicates with our body through electrical signals, they had a scientific and philosophical freak-out: if it took a not insignificant amount of TIME for our brain to process the world around us... then that information -- OUR SENSES -- were always TOO SLOW! What did this mean for our SENSE OF REALITY? And when we began exploring the solar system, our communication with our far flung human and robot astronauts was even more DELAYED. What The IF is going on??? An encore presentation of... the totally bizarre time when our BRAIN SIGNALS slowed down so much that they couldn't keep up with our dancin' feet!

65 - Can You Trust Your Family ROBOT? Oct 26, 2018

Show notes

Attack of the FRIENDLY Robots! Will Robots really CARE for us? Or will they be faking it? Do all our screens WANT to be TOUCHED? This wildly imaginative episode, one of our original fan favorites, will change the way you think about that screen you’re looking at RIGHT NOW. Click and enjoy!

64 - Physicist CLIFFORD JOHNSON Peers Deep Into A BLACK HOLE And Finds...? Oct 18, 2018

Show notes

Superstar Theoretical Physicist CLIFFORD JOHNSON, author of the incredible graphic novel, “THE DIALOGUES: Conversations About The Nature Of The Universe” joins us for a very special show. He asks us to imagine… WTiF our entire solar system drifted TOO CLOSE (!!!) to a BLACK HOLE? What would it be like to be on Earth when it crosses the EVENT HORIZON? Would half the planet disappear? Would time stop? Would we find ourselves in a place where NOTHING IS AS WE KNOW IT? Better bring a flashlight on this one, it’s spooky, it’s dark, it’s amazing.

63 - Astronomy SMELLS - The Art & Science Of Data Visualization Oct 08, 2018

Show notes

On Feb 22, 2017, astronomers announced four additional exoplanets around TRAPPIST-1, bringing it's total number of EXOPLANETS to seven. SIX of those (!) could possibly reside in the HABITABLE ZONE of that mysterious star.... so naturally we'd really like to SEE these planets! In this remastered broadcast of one of our most popular episodes -- Philip & Matt explore the magic and maybe-ness of NASA's "artistic impressions" and imagine what we'd REALLY see through the WINDOW of our space ships. And, inspired by the incredible BLIND ASTRONOMER, Kent Cullers, we ask... WTiF we could SMELL THE STARS?

62 - GHOSTS! Oct 03, 2018

Show notes

What the IF... We could get scientific evidence of GHOSTS? Trick or Treat, once again we dive into the crazy realm of the PARANORMAL... as we learn REAL science!

61 - FLAT EARTH YouTube LIVE Special! - Joining Forces With The NonSequitur Show Sep 23, 2018

Show notes

Philip & Matt were honored to be invited onto the hilarious and super smart NonSequitur Show. The hosts of this popular YouTube channel invited us to play What This IF with one of their favorite topics, the wacked and weird ideas behind a FLAT EARTH. We say “YES, AND…” to this insane idea and grab it by the corners and take it for a spin, learning the REAL SCIENCE that flummoxes the crackpots. We bust up the Flat Earth club, and have a hoot doin’ it!

60 - See The RADIO WAVES All Around YOU! The Science & Wonder Of Electromagnetic Fields Sep 17, 2018

Show notes

60 - See The RADIO WAVES All Around YOU! The Science & Wonder Of Electromagnetic Fields by Philip Shane, Matt Stanley, Gabrielle Paniccia

59 - DEEPER Into THE SUN We Go - Flying And Frying... For Science! Sep 09, 2018

Show notes

Our journey continues... to the CENTER of the SUN!