We are into the first chapter about solar myths, There is a good overview with many dimensions. Some have multiple Gods in the same sun. The angle of Jung is interesting. MP4 recording     MP3 recording -- -- Your browser does not support the audio element.

This is a truly well written chapter about seeing the sun rise at solstice from Mt Fuji. What I really like is the digressions that follow a logical and natural flow and pan naturally back to the main story. Concepts like Victor the out of shape accountant provide contrast and narrative lines that are pulled in a let out as you read. You can hear how idle mention of minerals in one context are drawn up to be foundation of a brief observation in others like "mineral diggings". I like the conceptual depth of talking about research being like chasing the sun. Eyjafjallajokull was a cryptic clanger put in there, I had to research later. It a volcano is Iceland that erupted in 2010 five years after 2005 assent written in the book, but obviously require decoding for being read in 2019. MP4 recording     MP3 recording -- -- Your browser does not support the audio element.

This is a really good fact filled 581 page tome by Richard Cohen. Richard is not a scientist but he has a background in really studying a topic deeply and expansively and drawing it all together. I love the bits of information like the fact the hot days lift the fox's scent into the air offering it protection from the hounds. I found the reference to the 2009 scout game rather deflating to read. I have gone through my own trials having the circuitry on my dicta phone give up the ghost. I feel empathetic with it as I rebuild my circuitry. You can hopefully hear me improve as I read. I find it so hard. It is useful as it pulls out memories and forces me to calculations in my head like E=mc2. Okay, the memory banks have some information that has not been flushed out, but I have no way of figuring out how I remember it. Absolute magnitude is the brightness at a standardized distance of 10 parsecs or roughly 32 light-years or 308 Pm (sounds like peter meters) Now my memory did fail me in the absolute brightness is shoe horned into the ancient Greek system of 5 units of magnitude is 100 times brighter. Rigel at -6 to our +4 means that it is 10 000 time brighter than our sun. MP4 recording     MP3 recording -- -- Your browser does not support the audio element.

The Einstein pendulum now is going to sit suspended on a spring while the scale model galaxy is being ground through the furnace of video on YouTube and the fusion of video and podcasting mantras. MP4 recording     MP3 recording -- -- Your browser does not support the audio element.

When I read about the wacky history of death rays I see how my chance discovery was doomed. This is a random podcast while driving, and as a laser physicist who has brought many lasers to life, I wound up talking about laser physics. I realize I have a long way to go to get the ideas across but the field is woeful any how in terms of explanations that you could possibly get. I so love lasers, a place in the universe with negative temperature and time that goes backward. If you don't listen to the off beat explanations you will be left standing still in the dance party of Science. I am definitely rocking to those awesome equations. My apologies I will discuss the quantum mechanics of Arc lasers down the track. MP4 recording     MP3 recording -- -- Your browser does not support the audio element.

This starts diagnosing a dictaphone problem, then a refresher of the Periodic Table 108 then a trial in reverse. Hard for me, but probably not much to listen to. MP4 recording     MP3 recording -- -- Your browser does not support the audio element.

We start of with a discussion on how I had mis identified harmless fishing spiders as the cunning Funnel Webs. The former have the ability to walk on water, and in this case not walk on water and sink to bottom of my pool. The latter have also survived lurking at the bottom of my pool but are a tad more dangerous. The big fangs are a give away and my horror just went up a notch when I found out that they bite and remain attached and have to be picked off. Now the dreadful reality for me is that my rehab had plateaued with me struggling with odd word or turn of sentence. High level I am still okay being able to predict where the articles are going and dissect dodgy science. I have to admit that I am largely disappointed with the lack of sophistication of what I read. Pointing out that Cave bears have a brain to brawn ration of 0.6 compared to humans at 6.28 was rather uninspiring. What does this mean with males at 1000 kg and females at 250 kg? Then the nitrogen 15 isotope debate seems incomprehensible. Surely you would nail this one by samples from herbivore pandas. I am obviously missing something. N 15 tracing is a really involved science. I think the greater issue with toys are really valuable for cognitive literacy is the need to wean ourselves of cheap junk toys which have high impact by low resilience and adaptability. I think the process of experimenting with ancient toys is just good science in that you have to be really cautious with any results. The gratitude study by placing cameras in the homes of eight different cultures really is an exercise in bogus statistics and people's ability to over reach any form of sound science. Science spats is possibly one of the most disappointing articles I have read in a fair while. Science snobbery and mean spiritness is just so pervasive and really kills women's and normal people's interest in science. It is the soap opera and human weakness that has a intrigue and stupidity that draws people in so they don't have to wrestle with the burden of the responsibility that come with being able to work out the consequence of your actions. MP4 recording     MP3 recording -- -- Your browser does not support the audio element.

Apparently the ability to model animal and plant behaviour along the lines of supply and demand is something marvelous. I think there is more math lurking in there, like random variation in behaviour to explore system response. The trade between fungus and plants for phosphorous and carbon is absolutely fascinating. Unfortunately I found the snow article superficial as I had seen a lot of the information before. The historical wonder at sun dogs rings a bell. Also the myth that no two snowflakes are alike and our cultural lens for the ideal Christmas snowflake would have been an interesting angle on it all. The death ray article had good structure under the surface. H.G. Wells war of the worlds leading to a number of goffie frauds is interesting reading. I learnt a little more about Tesla, with his 57 m tower being pulled down by investors for scrap rather than to defend against U boats is an interesting angle. The idea it was a death ray rather than a new idea to transmit energy across the country was also a new angle for me. I think receiving $25 000 from the Soviet Union for a death ray, as investigated by Trumps uncle seems just too wild to contain in my head. What sort of police state was the US running not to pick up on this. My conspiracy theory was that the Government must have known but just let this wild exercise run its course so to pick up information about how other states operate. I will have to do a podcast on the "death ray" of sorts I worked on. MP4 recording     MP3 recording -- -- Your browser does not support the audio element.

When you have to keep checks on just what you might be missing the resulting research shows up areas that the culture as a whole is missing. I found out that the much loved song about horses in Australia, has in fact, very little to do with horses but the spirituality of death. An so the stories unfold as you press ahead with the very lonely quest to rehabilitate. MP4 recording     MP3 recording -- -- Your browser does not support the audio element.

Revisiting these super important molecules after a break has been a good thing. I am now aligned with the structural numbering of the hex-a-penta double ring. I can more easily visualize the 6 + 5 - 2 = 9 double ring and the 4N + 5C = 9 ring atoms. It is so much easier to use numbering to get around the backbone and to look at the "Will I bond?" or "Will I have stay at home electrons?" nature of these molecules. I like being able to visualize the structural rigidity of these molecules and the nature of the hydrogen bonding. Enjoy. MP4 recording     MP3 recording -- -- Your browser does not support the audio element.