Real Science Questions

We look back over season 2, giving some updates, answering follow up questions, and reminiscing. Highlights include revisiting the cheese moon simulations - can we get it to melt this time? and Alec walks you through his highly requested pizza dough recipe. Yes this is a science podcast.

Timestamps! 0:01:30 - Should I Suncream? - Rhubarb and Marijuana 0:09:08 - Who the Moon? - Much improved molten calculations 0:42:11 - Christmas Bonus 2022 - Christmas Pudding updates 0:47:15 - Where the Gulf Stream? Why was it flagged as explicit. 0:48:26 - What's that Smell? Makes scents 0:49:57 - How'd that get there? "The most depressing episode yet" 0:51:06 - What the Bread? Pizza dough recipe and more baking and Loewenmensch updates 1:19:08 - Nobel Prizes 2023 - Dolly Parton love 1:21:23 - Christmas Bonus 2023 - More tree discussions

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!