Physical Attraction

Physics lost a bright star last week when Stephen Hawking, world-renowned cosmologist, theoretical physicist, and science communicator, died at the age of 76. Although he was only given a few years to live when first diagnosed with motor-neurone disease in 1963, aged just 21 and at the beginning of his graduate studies in Cambridge, he defied medical predictions and lived for another fifty years. Somehow, it still doesn't seem like it was long enough; but few have made such good use of their time. In this episode, I pay tribute to Stephen Hawking's life and work, and try to explain some of his discoveries in cosmology. He had a profound impact on the physics community both as a scientist and a communicator without parallel. The world will miss him.

Physics lost a bright star last week when Stephen Hawking, world-renowned cosmologist, theoretical physicist, and science communicator, died at the age of 76. Although he was only given a few years to live when first diagnosed with motor-neurone disease in 1963, aged just 21 and at the beginning of his graduate studies in Cambridge, he defied medical predictions and lived for another fifty years. Somehow, it still doesn’t seem like it was long enough; but few have made such good use of their time.

In this episode, I pay tribute to Stephen Hawking's life and work, and try to explain some of his discoveries in cosmology. He had a profound impact on the physics community both as a scientist and a communicator without parallel. The world will miss him. 

Vasili Arkhipov. Stanislav Petrov. Are the names familiar? They should be: these people saved the world by refusing to use nuclear weapons under incredible circumstances of extraordinary pressure. Even if you trust every head of state in every country that has nuclear weapons - and even if you feel confident that all future heads-of-state in nuclear-armed countries can also be trusted - there's still the possibility of nuclear accidents. Over time, this possibility becomes a probability. One of the scariest things about nukes is the number of times our species has almost annihilated itself by accident. We discuss these accidents, and more, in this episode. What's life like for a species living in the shadow of the bomb? If you've enjoyed this show, you can follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/physicspod and you can visit the show with your comments, questions, concerns, or suggestions for future show topics at www.physicspodcast.com

Vasili Arkhipov. Stanislav Petrov. Are the names familiar? They should be: these people saved the world by refusing to use nuclear weapons under incredible circumstances of extraordinary pressure.

Even if you trust every head of state in every country that has nuclear weapons - and even if you feel confident that all future heads-of-state in nuclear-armed countries can also be trusted - there's still the possibility of nuclear accidents. Over time, this possibility becomes a probability. One of the scariest things about nukes is the number of times our species has almost annihilated itself by accident.

We discuss these accidents, and more, in this episode. What's life like for a species living in the shadow of the bomb?

If you've enjoyed this show, you can follow us on Twitter 
www.twitter.com/physicspod

and you can visit the show with your comments, questions, concerns, or suggestions for future show topics at www.physicspodcast.com

We have a special guest on the show today! This one was very fun to record. Martin Pfeiffer, perhaps more notorious by his Twitter handle @NuclearAnthro, is a must-follow expert and Anthropology PhD student who studies the history of nuclear weapons, and how human societies interact with them. We discuss folk beliefs about nuclear weapons, the history of the individuals who've wielded them... and just how easy it is for the President to launch a nuclear strike. We built them. We can take them apart. You can find Martin's Twitter @NuclearAnthro, and his blog is below: https://deusexatomica.wordpress.com/ If you enjoy his work (and you really should), you can find links to a Paypal and Patreon on both. You can find Physical Attraction at www.physicspodcast.com, where you'll also find ways to support our show, and a contact form for comments, praise, concerns, abuse, and questions as well as suggestions for future show topics. We read it all.

We have a special guest on the show today! This one was very fun to record. Martin Pfeiffer, perhaps more notorious by his Twitter handle @NuclearAnthro, is a must-follow expert and Anthropology PhD student who studies the history of nuclear weapons, and how human societies interact with them.

We discuss folk beliefs about nuclear weapons, the history of the individuals who've wielded them... and just how easy it is for the President to launch a nuclear strike. 

We built them. We can take them apart.

You can find Martin's Twitter @NuclearAnthro, and his blog is below:

https://deusexatomica.wordpress.com/

If you enjoy his work (and you really should), you can find links to a Paypal and Patreon on both.

You can find Physical Attraction at www.physicspodcast.com, where you'll also find ways to support our show, and a contact form for comments, praise, concerns, abuse, and questions as well as suggestions for future show topics. We read it all. 

Ten apocalypses later, we're finally here. It's easy to forget, living our comfortable lives, that there are hundreds of nuclear-armed missiles that could destroy civilisation at the drop of a hat... after just one order. Or maybe - an accident. In this episode, I'll talk about the history of nuclear weapons; some of the incidents when we came closest to annihilation; and what the world would look like after a nuclear war. You can follow us on Twitter @physicspod, and visit the website at www.physicspodcast.com There, you can donate to the show, and contact us with your comments, questions, concerns, praise, abuse, ideas for future shows, and so on.

Ten apocalypses later, we're finally here. 

It's easy to forget, living our comfortable lives, that there are hundreds of nuclear-armed missiles that could destroy civilisation at the drop of a hat... after just one order. Or maybe - an accident. 

In this episode, I'll talk about the history of nuclear weapons; some of the incidents when we came closest to annihilation; and what the world would look like after a nuclear war.

You can follow us on Twitter @physicspod, and visit the website at www.physicspodcast.com

There, you can donate to the show, and contact us with your comments, questions, concerns, praise, abuse, ideas for future shows, and so on.

We have a guest on the show today - Ben Franta. Ben is a scientist, science historian, science writer, and activist. He studied for a PhD at Harvard working on solar cells; while he was at Harvard, he became involved in the movement to persuade that University to divest from fossil fuels. After finishing his first PhD, he moved to Stanford to take up a PhD in the History of Science, where he now studies the history of climate politics, and the influence of fossil fuel companies on that politics. His recent article in the Guardian, published on New Year's Day, explained how Edward Teller knew about global warming in 1959 and warned the fossil fuel industry - thirty years before it hit the mainstream.

The second half, which you're about to hear, is mostly about climate change activism: what can we do to most effectively deal with climate change? If you enjoyed what our guest had to say, you can find his work via his LinkedIn "Benjamin Franta": https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminfranta/ and follow him on Twitter @BenFranta. The article that Ben referred to, which details the case for climate activism, was written by Geoffrey Supran and Ploy Achakulwisut; it's on Mashable, and it's called "How You Can Fight Climate Change." https://mashable.com/2017/05/06/how-you-can-fight-climate-change/

As always, you can follow us on Twitter @physicspod, and go to our website at physicspodcast.com, where you'll find a donate link that will help you support the show if you're so inclined. Until next time.

We have a guest on the show today - Ben Franta. Ben is a scientist, science historian, science writer, and activist. He studied for a PhD at Harvard working on solar cells; while he was at Harvard, he became involved in the movement to persuade that University to divest from fossil fuels. After finishing his first PhD, he moved to Stanford to take up a PhD in the History of Science, where he now studies the history of climate politics, and the influence of fossil fuel companies on that politics. His recent article in the Guardian, published on New Year's Day, explained how Edward Teller knew about global warming in 1959 and warned the fossil fuel industry - thirty years before it hit the mainstream.

The second half, which you're about to hear, is mostly about climate change activism: what can we do to most effectively deal with climate change?


If you enjoyed what our guest had to say, you can find his work via
his LinkedIn
"Benjamin Franta": https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminfranta/

and follow him on Twitter @BenFranta.

The article that Ben referred to, which details the case for climate activism, was written by Geoffrey Supran and Ploy Achakulwisut; it's on Mashable, and it's called "How You Can Fight Climate Change." 

https://mashable.com/2017/05/06/how-you-can-fight-climate-change/

As always, you can follow us on Twitter @physicspod, and go to our website at physicspodcast.com, where you'll find a donate link that will help you support the show if you're so inclined. Until next time.