Shows – Technorama

Episode 797: Technorama: It’s Why Your Molecules Are Probably Insulted

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  • QOTW: If a digital archaeologist from the year 2126 dug up your primary ‘junk drawer’ (physical or a digital folder), what would they conclude was the most important—yet completely useless—relic of our time?
  • Question-of-the-week | Technorama Podcast
    • On This Day In History for February 11, 2026

    This is the 42nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 323 days remaining in 2026.

    • It was on this date in 1584, that a naval expedition led by Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa founded Nombre de Jesús, the first of two short-lived Spanish settlements in the Strait of Magellan.
    • Jesse Fell burned anthracite on an open grate as an experiment in heating homes with coal. on this date in 1808.
    • Also today in 1826, University College London was founded as University of London.
    • BBC Television produced the world’s first ever science fiction television programme, an adaptation of a section of the Karel Čapek play R.U.R., that coined the term “robot” on this date in 1938.
    • Also on February 11, 1963, The Beatles recorded their first album Please Please Me.
    • That same date in 1997, Space Shuttle Discovery was launched on a mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope.
    • It was on this date in 1999, that Pluto crossed Neptune’s orbit, ending a nearly 20 -year period when it was closer to the Sun than the gas giant; Pluto is not expected to interact with Neptune’s orbit again until 2231.
    • That same date in 2000, Space Shuttle Endeavour was launched on STS-99 to conduct the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission.
    • It was on this date in 2001, that a Dutch programmer launched the Anna Kournikova virus infecting millions of emails via a trick photo of the tennis star.
    • Also today in 2020, The World Health Organization officially names the coronavirus outbreak as COVID-19, with the virus being designated SARS-CoV-2.

      • Happy birthday goes out on this date to:

      • Native American-French Canadian explorer, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, born on this date in 1805.
      • American physicist Josiah Willard Gibbs was born 187 years ago today.
      • Thomas Edison, the American engineer and businessman, developed the light bulb and phonograph was born 179 years ago today.
      • Born February 11, 1864, French chemist Louis Bouveault.
      • Hungarian-American physicist and academic, Leo Szilard was born 128 years ago today.
      • Born February 11, 1917, American author and screenwriter Sidney Sheldon.
      • American actor and director, Burt Reynolds, born on this date in 1936.
      • The first CEO of Apple Inc., Michael Scott is 81 today.
      • American engineer and astronaut, Richard Mastracchio, born on this date in 1960.

        • Listener Birthdays

        • 14 – Douglas E. Welch of Career Opportunities Podcast
        • 14 – Andrew
        • 15 – Philip
        • 17 – Bob Trate of MegaPodTastic and Action Figure Junkies

          • And that’s the way it was, on this day in history for February 11, 2026

          • If you want to get on the Technorama Birthday Calendar, visit our website and look for the Birthday Calendar link.
            • News
            • Can apes play pretend? Scientists use an imaginary tea party to find out | PBS News
            • ‘Invisible scaffolding of the universe’ revealed in ambitious new James Webb telescope images | Live Science
              • Hacks & Strange Stories
              • Prankster Launches Super Bowl Party For AI Agents – Slashdot
              • This tiny molecular trick makes spider silk almost unbreakable | ScienceDaily
              • A superfluid freezes and breaks the rules of physics | ScienceDaily
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                                    Shows – TechnoramaBy Chuck Tomasi and Kreg Steppe