Real Science Questions

I don't want a lot from science, 
there is just one thing I need,
I really care about the needles, growing on my Christmas tree,
I just want an episode, with a maximum bird roast
- we'll make your wish come true, all we need, dear listener, is you.

The usual breakdown of sections by time:

0:00:37 Christmas chit chat, featuring curling and shuffleboarding.
0:10:02 Christmas trees - what are they, how do we identify the different Christmas trees, how old can they get?
0:28:49 The story of Alec's Christmas tree, identifying what kind of tree you have.
0:42:13 Explaining our terrible choice and the History of the multi-bird roast
0:51:19 Maximum-bird roast calculation details
1:13:36 Maximum-bird roast results
1:23:21 The vegan alternative that sounds much better

The annual episode where we discuss what this years most prestigious awards for medicine, physics and chemistry were awarded for, and the massive impacts the winners made in their fields to deserve the prize. mRNA vaccines, speaks for itself, but discover the fascinating science and 40 years of incredible hard work and dedication that led to it. Attosecond laser pulses, exploring the strange physics of the ultrafast world and how this could manipulate matter as we know it. And quantum dots - a field very close to Pip's heart. Learn about these fascinating nanomaterials, that utilize quantum mechanics in the most colourful way, and are creeping into our everyday lives (in a good way!).

Man's best friend: Bread. Yes that's right you're getting 2 hours of sciency chit chat about bread, full of facts, baking anecdotes, and getting to the bottom of all the Real Bread Questions we had. Plus another incredibly successful experiment - can you identify the type of bread from the sound of someone eating it? Play along!

It's another long one (lucky you!) so here's a breakdown of sections by time

1. 00:29 Eating bread (skip this if you have Misophonia)
2. 10:58 What is bread?
3. 17.53 Our History with Bread
4. 44.53 Getting to know Yeast
5. 55.31 How to bread
6. 1.19.30 The Chorleywood bread process - how to make that cheap white sliced bread.
7. 1.29.02 Longbread..?
8. 1.34.59 The Magic of Toast 
9. 1.42.10 Bread's best friend - butter
10. 1.49.39 Why do we love bread so much?

Invasive species: let's talk about human blunders that led to changing ecosystems, both accidental and intentional cases. Did the building of massive shipping canals connecting seas and oceans allow foreign fish to migrate through them and wreak havoc in their new home? Then to brighten the episode up we discuss some wild migrations that happen naturally, without human intervention. How do birds know where to go? How far will a cute artic fox travel solo? And how can we track migrations and populations to better monitor the disaster/better understand the natural world? 

The good the bad and the interesting smell.. What's actually going on when we smell something? And how entangled is this sense with everything else? What are some crazy ways smell is being used to advance science, improve lives, and are dogs really better at smelling than us? We also discuss our least favourite smells and explore why they smell so bad.

PS Sorry for Pip's crap audio quality on this one. Didn't have access to the usual equipment.

What the gulf is that stream anyway? We follow the Gulf Stream from it's source at our equator, and learn why it's there in the first place, how it warms norther Europe and brings some unusual surprises, and how it's affected by Climate change and the awful consequences we can expect. But stay slightly positive, there's a secret* bonus song at the end "Do you want Real Science Questions?" 

*Not secret because I told you about it twice now.

Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the house, Real Science Questions was playing, to puddings and mouse. Alec merrily discussed the logistics of coal, for naughty children who deserve to be scol(ded). Pip told the story of the atomic model, as a Christmas tale, chock full of twaddle. When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter, you sprang from the bed to investigate the indivisible units of matter.

Merry Christmas!

How well do you know the Moon, really? This time we get to know our only natural satellite and the wild effects it has on our lives. Sometimes even the silliest questions have surprisingly mind blowing scientific answers.

Since it's another long one, here's timestamps of the main topics:
1. Moon Formation (2:10)
2. Tides (14:18)
3. Mental Health (23:26)
4. Other moons of Earth? (29:15)
5. The Big Moon Illusion (43:08)
6. Moonquakes (51:54)
7. Taste of the Moon (56:25)
8. The Cheese Moon (1:10:14)
9. Werewolves (1:21:36)
10. Living on the Moon? (1:25:56)

Want to know about this years Nobel prize awards in Medicine/Physiology, Physics, and Chemistry? Unravelling our genetic past, untangling quantum entanglement, and uncovering click chemistry! Pip and Alec explain and discuss the work deserving the prizes. Congratulations to all the winners! 

We're back! And kicking off season 2 with an episode on suncream*! The perfect episode to introduce our new (pale and ginger) co-host: Alec. Did you ever think about what we cover ourselves in on hot sunny days? What's in it exactly that stops us getting burnt by the UV light from the sun? And where does it go after you use it? We weigh up the pros and cons of sun creaming up or getting burnt to a crispy crisp.

* or sunscreen

We're back! And kicking off season 2 with an episode on suncream*! The perfect episode to introduce our new (pale and ginger) co-host: Alec. Did you ever think about what we cover ourselves in on hot sunny days? What's in it exactly that stops us getting burnt by the UV light from the sun? And where does it go after you use it? We weigh up the pros and cons of sun creaming up or getting burnt to a crispy crisp.

* or sunscreen

Do NOT start here! Consider yourself warned. We've been two thirds of the way round the sun since we last released an episode for you, so here is the much delayed follow up of season one. We go through each episode, reminiscing our favourite parts and answer YOUR real science questions, that you had after listening to the episodes. And also some more questions that we had ourselves!

The face symmetry flip webapp Pip made you can find here:

https://symmettry-face-flip.herokuapp.com/

We've been two thirds of the way round the sun since we last released an episode for you, so here is the much delayed follow up of season one. We go through each episode, reminiscing our favourite parts and answer YOUR real science questions, that you had after listening to the episodes. And also some more questions that we had ourselves!

The face symmetry flip webapp Pip made you can find here:

https://symmettry-face-flip.herokuapp.com/

To get everyone in the festive mood we've produced a special Christmas Science themed episode, first with snow! We look into the burning snow conspiracy, how snow is formed and how all snowflakes are unique, and if there's ever a safe time to eat yellow snow. Then we have some fun discussing how reindeers could possibly fly, and how Rudolph could have a glowing red nose. Last we find out why we are obsessed with putting mistletoe in our houses over the festive season. Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays to all!

Snowmakes, the unique snowflake generator as promised - http://snowmakes.herokuapp.com/

Amazing Mushrooms! How did Fungi transform the planet millions or years ago? And how are they transforming it again right now? As well as the fascinating properties of Fungi, we look at their symbiotic relationship with plants and trees, or wood - that's right, it wasn't a typo in the title! We end up discussing if ingesting magic mushrooms is what made humans the way they are, and Pip tracks down other animals that seek out natural psychedelic experiences.

In part 2 we explore the neuoscience and physchological aspects of music, how it can be used to maniupulate us, and how it can even help with things like dimentia or brain injuries. We look into perfect pitch and the (sort of) opposite - tone deafness, why do certain countries have a lot less tone deaf people? We also discover beat deafness and Pip does a crude experiment on her friend with this condition, to see if there's a relation with tone deafness. Some how we also end up discussing K-Pop and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Many surprises!

How does science relate to music? - in part 1 we explore how sound becomes music, how it effects us, and the physics behind why instruments have such different sounds - we explore the sound waves of different instruments with a quiz! We'll upload the quiz with photos on our youtube channel so you can play along soon.

This week we're sticking with extreme life, but channelling our inner David Attenboroughs by looking at extreme animals and plants, living in hostile places, ultra cold places, incredibly deep and high pressures places, and very high, low pressure places! We look at the science behind these creatures and the adaptations that allow them to live where humans never could!

A few clips from various episodes to give you a taste of what we get up to on the Real Science Questions podcast.

This week Pip and Tara explore extremophile life - life that not just survives, but thrives in hostile environments (super hot, salty, cold, toxic). We discuss how extremophile life can benefit humanity and we explore extreme places on Earth that may or may not have life.. let's find out!