In this episode Cameron interviews Dr. Sarah Truebe, the cave resource manager at Kartchner Caverns State Park in Arizona. This episode was recorded underground at the end of a day we spent cleaning graffiti out of this popular wild cave. We discuss how Dr. Truebe got started caving, how some cave research is performed, and […]

LASER: Materials Science Podcast

Episode 21 – Underground with Dr. Sarah Truebe

We’re back! You may have heard about some controversy surrounding a recent pre-print published on the arxiv about room temperature superconductivity.  This would be an extremely exciting result if it weren’t for some issues.  The authors won’t share their samples and have not yet fully described how to make it–they say that will come in […]

Episode 20 – Room Temperature Superconductivity Controversy

Welcome to 2015! This year’s perihelion edition was recorded on the day which the earth is closest to the sun.  We cover a diverse list of important scientific and engineering happenings from 2014, and even talk about a little biology and genomics research! (but don’t worry, its mostly cool physics, space, and engineering stuff.)   […]

Episode 19 – 2015 Perihelion Edition

We’re finally back from our long hiatus!  Sorry about the wait, both Cameron and Emily were busy getting their masters degrees, and right after he submitted his thesis, Cameron’s laptop got fried! This week we discuss Space X and Boeing contracts to transport NASA astronauts to the International Space Station by 2018, and some new […]

Episode 18 – Space Space Space

Most coffee-particular people already know that the quality of the water you use is important for good coffee, but a recent paper describes how affecting the specific hard mineral content can have important changes in the relative extraction of specific flavor and strength affecting chemicals in your brew. We discuss the basics of coffee preparation, […]

PULSE! #4 – Better Coffee Through Chemistry

This week on LASER we discuss a realistic computer simulation of a universe, a proposed mechanism for why tin whiskers are destroying our most sensitive computers, and GaInSn liquid metal used to reconnect severed nerves in frogs. 5:00 Our first story is about the story “Astronomers create first realistic virtual universe”   from the Illustris Project. 15:40  […]

Episode 17 – Life, The Universe, and Frogs

For our first episode of the summer on LASER: Let’s Agree Science & Engineering are Rad, we discuss our own Chris’ recently-accepted paper about inorganic ZnS window layers on organic solar cells.  These increase the efficiency, and help protect the cell from environmental damage.   We then talk about the NRL Press release describing long-chain hydrocarbon […]

Episode 16 – Sun & Surf

This week’s LASER Pulse! is about the Heartbleed computer vulnerability.   We cover the basics of the heartbleed bug, why its important, and mention that you really need to CHANGE YOUR PASSWORDS.  Because this is a Pulse episode, there are little to no edits (just the intro and outro really), and the whole show is only […]

LASER Pulse! #3 – The Heartbleed

The cast of the Technically Speaking Podcast join us to talk with  about the future of super rad airships for scientific use similar to satellites! We also talk about a company planning a new method for extracting Lithium from geothermal vents, to meet the needs of the Tesla Giga-Factory.   3:00 Our guests today are […]

Episode 15 – Airships for the Future

On Episode 14 of LASER we discuss using tree branches as water filters, a new type of super-thin room temperature infrared light detector that uses graphene, and the $1 Origami Microscope. 4:05 The article in Popular Mechanics titled “A simple tree branch can become a backyard water filter”  and the FREE paper in PLOS One […]

Episode 14 – Filters and Photodetectors

This week is all about Microgravity! Chase and Cameron interview some members of the ASU Dust Devils Experiment about their plans to take dust into microgravity and learn more about how planets are formed! Then we talk about ISS experiments for fighting fires in space and on the ISS, and finally cooling atoms down to […]

Episode 13 – Microgravity

On this week’s show– Laserbones–Chris and Cameron discuss laser-3-D-Printed materials based on bones (lasers & bones), the use of cremated remains for synthetic diamonds (bones), and potential space mirror technologies made out of laser-trapped polystyrene beads (lasers)! We also have our first iTunes review! 3:23  Article from The conversation.com titled “Scientists create bone-like material that […]

Episode 12 – Laserbones

This week on LASER we have a plant materials themed episode where we discuss cellulose nanocrystals for use in composites, using plants as wires for computing, and using green tea to synthesize gold nano-stars for cancer treatments, drug delivery, and photonics. 2:00 Introductions and Emily explains the shiny new lab she is working for! 4:30 […]

Episode 11 – Plant Materials

This week on LASER we discuss Perovskite solar cells with organic charge transport layers, the horrible health effects of illegal backyard gold ore refining in Indonesia, and a new free open source metal 3-d printer from Michigan Tech. This show is also the first one we ever recorded entirely over the internet.   1:30 introductions […]

Episode 10 – Perovskites, Gold, and 3-D Metal Printing

Just a quick update about our plans for the future, and some begging for ratings and reviews, topic suggestions, and interviews. Now that we’re 10 episodes deep, and finally getting the hang of this podcasting thing, its time to start trying to expand our listener base, and make a couple changes to the show. We’re […]

Short Update & Help LASER!

Discussing recent publications and news in materials science, physics, and engineering fields.

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LASER: Materials Science Podcast

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