In 1844, Edgar Allen Poe wrote a short story — “The Premature Burial” — about a man who lived in constant fear of being buried alive. The man suffered from a disorder that is now referred to as catalepsy, which causes the suffered to spontaneously fall into a deep, death-like trance. His fear, also known […]
Category Archives: episode guide
Green car tech
In recent shows we’ve been talked a bit about alternative energy technologies. Most times when people discuss the future of energy, they talk about how to generate it. Of course, that’s an important subject. But most alternative generation technologies aren’t likely to be ready for the big time for decades. What are we going to […]
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Tagged Anna Armstrong, batteries, Big Science, Chrissie Giles, Ed Gerstner, electric cars, electricity, formula one, fuel cells, global warming, hybrids, hydrogen, physics, Ralph Clague, Resonance FM, science
Back to the Future
The first half of the 20th century was a truly incredible time for scientific discovery. Roman Kroitor and Colin Low’s immense 1960 documentary, Universe, is a beautifully captured snapshot of what we knew about the Solar system at that time. That we were able to glean about the Universe well before we were able to […]
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Tagged astronomy, Colin Low, Feynman Lectures, history of physics, Richard Feynman, Roman Kroitor, solar system, Sounds of Science, Universe
Alternative nuclear tech
Last episode we talked about the ongoing crisis at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan. Towards the end of this discussion, we touched on the wisdom of continuing to pursue nuclear power in the light of the events at Fukushima. The usual suspects came up. Solar power, wind power, etcetera. The main concern levelled […]
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Tagged accelerator-driven, Anna Armstrong, Big Science, Carlo Rubbia, coal, Ed Gerstner, electricity, energy amplifiers, Fukushima, gas, global warming, Hywel Owen, neutrons, nuclear power, particle accelerators, physics, plutonium, protons, Resonance FM, science, subcritical, thorium, University of Manchester, uranium
Fukushima update
On the 11th of March this year, an earthquake measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale occurred off the coast of Tohoku, Japan. It was the largest recorded earthquake to hit Japan and in the top 5 anywhere in the world since 1900. It, and the tsunami that followed, killed more than 15,000 people. And it […]
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Tagged Anna Armstrong, Big Science, China syndrome, Chrissie Giles, earthquake, Ed Gerstner, Fukushima, Geoff Brumfiel, Japan, meltdown, nuclear power, physics, Resonance FM, science, tsunami, uranium
Of Mice and Flies
How do you make a fly with the same genes you use to make a mouse? It’s complicated. But that’s what Big Science is all about.
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Tagged Anna Armstrong, Big Science, DNA, drosophila, Ed Gerstner, evolution, fruit flies, genes, genetics, life, mice, proteins, Resonance FM, science, Tanguy Chouard
What’s your poison? The science of anaesthetics
From alcohol to ether and beyond, in this episode we explore the science of anaesthesiology with clinical anaesthetist, Dr Katie Grant. What are the dangers? What kinds of chemicals are in a modern anaesthetist’s drug cabinet? How do they work? How do decide what cocktail to give? Do patients under a general anaesthetic dream? And […]
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Tagged anaesthesia, anaesthetics, Big Science, Chrissie Giles, Ed Gerstner, Katie Grant, medicine, pain-killers, Resonance FM, science, surgery
The History of Mathematics
In this episode, we take a rollercoaster ride through the history of maths. From the four Greek ‘mathematics’ — geometry, astronomy, arithmetic and music. To fierce opposition to arabic numerals from European accountants. To the distaster that was Newton. All this and much more, with mathematics troubadour, Edmund Harriss.
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Tagged abacus, al-jabr, algebra, arabic numerals, arithmetic, Big Science, calculus, Ed Gerstner, Edmund Harriss, Fibonacci, geometry, history, Leibniz, mathematics, music, Newton, Pythagorus, Resonance FM, science
Nanotechnology: What’s the Big Idea?
What so big about nanotechnology? Does it represent a brave new world? Or is it all just marketing hype? Will it eventually enable Ray Kurzweil to email his friends a pair of pants? In short, what’s in it for us? We ask nanotech guru Tim Harper.
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Tagged Big Science, chemistry, Ed Gerstner, nanobots, nanotechnology, physics, Resonance FM, science, Tim Harper
Truth, Gödel and Science Fundamentalism
Science is all about truth, right? So anything that is true can be determined by science, right? Probably not. In this week’s episode, we discuss Gödel’s incompleteness theorems with mathematician Edmund Harriss, and explore what it means for science, truth and the Infinite Monkey Cage.
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Tagged Anna Armstrong, Big Science, Ed Gerstner, Edmund Harriss, Gödel, mathematics, non-periodic tilings, Penrose tiles, Resonance FM, science, Tanguy Chouard, truth, Turing
