The Lab With Brad

From one tongue to another

There are thousands of different languages in the world. Today we talk about the art of translation.

Check out our latest attempt at Episode One:

Wishing for luck and encrypted babies

Babbling about baby babble

A newborn human can learn many languages at once, and without any coaching or teaching. We ask the babies how.

Here are a few articles on language acquisition in human babies.

FAQ: Language Acquisition

Out of the mouth of babes

Babies prefer baby talk, whether they’re learning one language or two

Here are a few videos on how babies learn language.

Language Acquisition

The linguistic genius of babies

How Babies Learn Language

Here’s an article about Clever Hans.

The “Clever Hans Phenomenon” revisited

And here are a couple of videos on Clever Hans.

Clever Hans | The Smart Horse Behind Unconscious Cues

How This Horse Learned to do Math

The spacecraft crashed, just like we planned

Join us as we hang out with NASA while they deliberately crash into an asteroid.

Check out take 107 of Episode One.

Beer in space!

Here’s the episode when we started talking about robotics and automation in space and space travel.

Ep 323: Robots orbiting the Earth

And this is the episode when we started looking at space and space travel.

Ep 288: From stones to strings to space

To tell a secret, and keep it too

Part of communicating is trying to tell someone something without the wrong someone hearing it. We take a look at the history and practice of secret messages.

And here’s our latest attempt at Episode One.

Take 106 of Episode One: Don't know where to begin

Here’s a timeline of cryptography.

History of encryption (cryptography timeline)

Here’s a video on the basics of public and private key encryption.

Encryption and public keys

And here’s a site on the history of encryption.

History of encryption

By flame, drum and song

How did people communicate over distance in the ancient world? We answer this question by examining signal fires, talking drums, and languages composed entirely of whistling.

Here’s an article about whistle languages.

More Than 80 Cultures Still Speak in Whistles

Here are a couple of videos about whistle languages.

Sylbo, The Last Speakers of the Lost Whistling Language

THE WHISTLE LANGUAGE

Here’s an article about the history of long distance communication.

A Brief History of Long Distance Communication

Here’s a bit about the hydraulic telegraph.

The Hydraulic Telegraph of Aeneas

Here’s an article about ancient communication and the use of drums.

Primeval Communication and the Beat of the Drum

And here’s a video demonstrating some African drums.

Master talking drummer - drum talks

Ancient mail, and the oldest known library

Once again, the title says it all. We look at mail in the ancient world, and take a look at the oldest known library.

Here’s an article about the Persian pony express.

The surprising origins of the postal service

Here’s a bit on ancient mail systems in general.

Letters & Post in the Ancient World

Here’s a page about the unofficial United States Postal Service motto.

What is the History Behind the Unofficial USPS Motto?

And here are a couple of articles on the oldest known library.

The World's Oldest Library: The Books of Ancient Ebla

The Royal Archives of Ebla: Reference and Processing Archivists 4,000 Years Ago

Numbers and letters

We pick it up from last time and finish the story of our alphabet, along with a look at where our numbers came from.

Check out our latest attempt at Phil’s show.

Part 2 of take 102 of Episode One

Two of our previous episodes spend much more time on the story of our numbers.

Ep 271: which numbers count?

Ep 272: The fall of Rome and the rise of zero

Here’s an article on the history of our numbers.

A Brief History of Numbers: How 0-9 Were Invented

And here’s an article on the origins of the alphabet.

Who Invented the Alphabet?

How we learned to write right

This time we start from the very beginnings of writing, and move on to just before the invention of alphabets.

Here’s part one of our latest attempted at Episode One.

Positive thoughts, and shaven porcupines

Here’s an article about early map making.

Before Google Maps

Here’s one map found in a cave in Spain.

The Oldest Map is Discovered in Abauntz Cave, Navarre, Spain

Here’s a site about cave paintings in Indonesia that predate those found in Europe.

A Journey to the Oldest Cave Paintings in the World

And here’s a site about the origins and evolution of writing.

The Evolution of Writing

Who said what when, and how?

The evidence is patchy and your hosts are daffy, but we try to figure out when language began.

Here’s an article on an experiment to see how much language helps when teaching others how to make stone tools.

Human language may have evolved to help our ancestors make tools

Here’s an article about the human fossils found in Morocco that have changed the entire story.

Scientists Have Found the Oldest Known Human Fossils

And here’s a talk on how language could possibly have begun with gestures.

The Origins and Evolution of Language

Monkey talk!

We look at how nonhuman primates use language, compare it to human language use, and guess how one turned into the other.

Meanwhile, over on brothersbarton.net, we have: take 100 of episode 1.

Here are a couple of videos on the coral snake.

North America's most VENOMOUS SNAKE - The Coral Snake!

Coral Snake VS Milk Snake! (How to tell the Difference)

Here’s an article about micro expressions.

Microexpressions Are Not the Best Way to Catch a Liar

Here’s an article about pupils changing with emotion.

Why Do Pupils Dilate in Response to Emotional States?

Here’s one of the few things I could find on swearing and profanity and the brain.

Your Cursing Cortex

Here’s a bit about brain systems used by monkeys to communicate.

Systems Underlying Human and Old World Monkey Communication

And here are a couple of articles about Broca’s area.

Broca’s Area Function and Location

Brain’s language center has multiple roles