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Life in the Solar System
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The idea that the universe is made of tiny vibrating strings was once the science theory du jour. String theory promised to unite the disparate theories describing particles and gravity, and many people, not just scientists, were optimistic that a theory of everything might be within our grasp. But here we are, many years later, and string theory doesn’t seem to have delivered on its initial promise. What happened? We consider the science around string theory in this episode of Skeptic Check.
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The Early Bird Gets the Wormhole
Guests: Tom Frey – Da Vinci Institute Doug Hecox – Federal Highway Administration Carrie Keach – MIT Student Max Tegmark – MIT Christian Ternus – MIT Student Listen ⇢
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The End of Food
Do you find eating tiresome? Is taking time to chew taking too big a bite out of your productivity? Well, you can soon say goodbye to the burden of beefy burgers and chlorophyll-ridden lettuce – you’ll be able to pop a pill for all your nutritional needs! As much as… Listen ⇢
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Driving Evolution
We’ve all descended from a common ancestor, but, as Homo sapiens, we no longer brachiate through trees and have long abandoned our stone tools for iPods. Evolution has shaped us into the big-brained, bipedal, text-messaging specimens we are today. But it didn’t happened without a lot of pressure. We’ll look… Listen ⇢
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You Talkin’ to Me?
Blah, blah, blah. Yadda, yadda, yadda. Yap, yap, yap. There’s a lot of blather out there in the verbalsphere – you know what I’m saying? So you need to be crafty in order to be heard. We’ll wax eloquent about those who succeed at getting their messages across… from a… Listen ⇢
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Skeptical Sunday: Fortune Cooking
“As I look into the crystal ball, I see… I see… I see James Randi, magician and skeptic extraordinaire. It’s the self-same Randi who once exposed Uri Geller’s trick for bending spoons. What does he say now that Geller has apparently admitted he is a magician, and not a silverware… Listen ⇢
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May the Forces Be With You
Think you have it together? Then, you’ll want to thank the four fundamental forces of nature. They hold the universe together, govern everything that happens, and generally make it what it is today. Discover their universal properties and how they’re in action all around us. From the gravitational pull that… Listen ⇢
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Science Detectives
Some detectives don’t look for fingerprints or interrogate suspects to unravel mysteries. Instead, they’re dressed in white coats, and armed with DNA probes and star maps. These are the science detectives: researchers who have found innovative ways to use science to solve puzzles that no one else can. Find out… Listen ⇢
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Sputnik: 50 Years, One Month, Two Weeks Later
It looked like no more than an oversized grapefruit with whiskers. So you wonder what all the fuss was about. But the small silver ball kicked into orbit by the Soviets in 1957 set off a decades-long space race between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. That race resulted in major… Listen ⇢
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Pole to Pole
The north and south poles are hot news right now, but for disturbing reasons. As the Earth’s atmosphere warms, ice at high latitudes is melting at alarming rates. You’re undoubtedly aware of this massive melt and even feeling anxiety about it. But, due to global-warming-news-fatigue, in which the relentless onslaught… Listen ⇢
