Technorama

Episode 760: Jingle Bells and Gigawatts

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  • You’re building a themed escape room based on a scientific concept. What’s the concept and what’s the most challenging puzzle?
    • On This Day in History for December 18, 2024

    This is the 353rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 13 days remaining in 2024.

    • It was on this date in 1833, that the national anthem of the Russian Empire, “God Save the Tsar!” was first performed.
    • December 18, 1865, US Secretary of State William Seward proclaimed the adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment, prohibiting slavery throughout the United States.
    • Also today in 1892, was the premiere performance of The Nutcracker by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
    • On December 18, 1898, Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat set the first officially recognized land speed record of 63.159 km/h (39.245 mph) in a Jeantaud electric car.
    • That same date in 1958, Project SCORE, the world’s first communications satellite was launched.
    • On December 18, 1966, Saturn’s moon Epimetheus was discovered by astronomer Richard Walker.
    • Soviet Soyuz Programme: Soyuz 13, crewed by cosmonauts Valentin Lebedev and Pyotr Klimuk, was launched from Baikonur in the Soviet Union on this date in 1973.
    • Also on December 18, 1981, was the first flight of the Russian heavy strategic bomber Tu-160. It’s the world’s largest combat aircraft, largest supersonic aircraft and largest variable-sweep wing aircraft built.
    • December 18, 1999, NASA launched into orbit the Terra platform carrying five Earth Observation instruments, including ASTER, CERES, MISR, MODIS and MOPITT.
    • It was on this date in 2018, a meteor exploded over the Bering Sea with a force over 10 times greater than the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima in 1945.

      • Happy birthday goes out on this date to:

      • German explorer, Philipp von Hutten, born on this date in 1505.
      • Christopher Polhem, the Swedish physicist and inventor was born 363 years ago today.
      • English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate, J. J. Thomson, born on this date in 1856.
      • Joseph Stalin, Georgian-Russian marshal and politician,General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was born on that same date in 1878.
      • American engineer, invented FM radio, Edwin Howard Armstrong was born 134 years ago today.
      • Esther Lederberg, American microbiologist was born on that same date in 1922.
      • Also turning 90 today is Russian colonel, engineer, and cosmonaut Boris Volynov.
      • American mathematician and academic, Lenore Blum, born on this date in 1942.
      • English musician Keith Richards is 81 today.
      • Also turning 78 today is American director, producer, and screenwriter, co-founded DreamWorks Steven Spielberg.
      • American actor and producer, Brad Pitt is 61 today.
      • Also born on that same date in 1975,  Australian singer-songwriter, Sia.
      • American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress, Christina Aguilera, born on this date in 1980.
      • American singer, Billie Eilish is 23 today.

        • Listener Birthdays

        • 20 – Phil Burchill the 9 year old I started listening to Technorama with turned 21 this year (2017)!
        • 21 – Johnne Robison Kochheiser
        • 21 – James Ballard KarakSindru
        • 22 – Bo Pace
        • 22 – Luke “Chuck’s Stalker” Smith (2000)
        • 22 – Jason Pelloni, Tampa, FL
        • 23 – Richard Green
        • 24 – MaDBooM

          • And that’s the way it was, on this day in history for December 18, 2024

          • If you want to get on the Technorama Birthday Calendar, visit our website and look for the Birthday Calendar link.
            • News
            • Jupiter’s ‘Tortured Moon’: Astronomers Uncover Surprising Source of Io’s Intense Volcanic Fury
              • Hacks & Strange Stories
              • Dogs really are communicating via button boards, new research suggests | Popular Science
                • Shout out to the chat room

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                Remember When
                • Are adults forgetting how to read?
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                  Media Corner
                  • Unboxing an Unopened Philco Predicta Television
                  • Bill Gates Recommends Four Books That ‘Make Sense of the World’ – Slashdot
                    • Pass me the remote
                    • Chuck
                      • Star Wars: A New Hope (D+)
                      • Wyatt Earp And The Cowboy War (Netflix)
                      • Kreg
                        • Red One (Amazon Prime)
                        • Carry-On (Netflix)
                        • Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story (Max)
                          • Geek Library
                          • Yes, Flights ARE Bumpier Now (And They’re Getting Worse)
                          • How Scientists Solved the Mystery of a 300-Year-Old Megaquake
                          • How Earth’s First, Unkillable Animals Saved the World
                          • Which Essential Oils Actually Work?
                          • Exploring a Pennsylvania Town Submerged for Decades
                          • The Johnstown Flood – What it Looks Like 131 Years Later
                          • A Ghost Town on America’s Most Dangerous Road? – Lausanne, Pennsylvania
                          • Pompeii Explained 4K
                          • Herculaneum: A Fate Worse Than Pompeii | Vesuvius Uncovered | Real History
                          • Why is Phoenix so FLAT?
                          • What’s inside the Raspberry Pi 500?
                          • How Jets Killed the Ocean Liner
                          • An Archaeologist and I Test North America’s Biggest Ancient Discovery
                            • Question of the week
                            • How has technology influenced or changed Christmas traditions?
                              • Patreon Topic this week
                              • Chuck
                                • More Notion/Make exploration
                                • Android Notifications
                                • Android Popups
                                  • End of Show Stuff

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                                            TechnoramaBy Chuck Tomasi and Kreg Steppe
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