What happens when you give a scientist, obsessed with biblical death, near unlimited control over a utopian city of mice? Well...a lot of death, it turns out. In the 1960's and 70's, Dr. John Calhoun created what should have been a perfect mouse city - unlimited food, shelter, and water with no predators or inclement weather. Then he let nature run its course. Within a few years, the city was in ruins. Listen in as we dive into the research paper detailing exactly what happened to the mice in Universe 25, from meteoric rise to tragic demise.Check out the paper, news articles, and more at www.paperboyspodcast.com.Like the show? Want more every month? Fan of universal constants? Check out www.patreon.com/paperboyspod

Paper Boys

What happened to the mice of Universe 25? (BONUS EPISODE)

As urban environments grow and natural vegetation gets replaced with concrete and asphalt, “Urban Heat Islands” develop, where urbanized areas retain much more heat than surrounding rural areas. The increased heat in densely populated areas can pose significant problems to both comfort and, more importantly, people’s health. The City of Los Angeles is investigating new measures to reduce the heat island effect by making their asphalt more reflective--but how effective is this measure in reducing air temps? Join us this week as we dive into new research evaluating the success of this bright new technology.Check out the paper, news articles, and more at www.paperboyspodcast.com.Like the show? Want more every month? Fan of universal constants? Check out www.patreon.com/paperboyspod

Is solar reflective pavement the cure for hot cities?

Returning rock samples from planets and asteroids can provide new insights into how the solar system, the universe, and life formed. But how much can we learn from meteorite samples that fell to the ground here on Earth? It turns out, quite a bit! Join us this week as we explore a new paper about a 4 billion-year-old rock from Mars that landed in Antarctica.Check out the paper, news articles, and more at www.paperboyspodcast.com.Like the show? Want more every month? Fan of universal constants? Check out www.patreon.com/paperboyspod

What’s inside a Martian meteorite?

Check out the paper, news articles, and more at www.paperboyspodcast.com.Like the show? Want more every month? Fan of universal constants? Check out www.patreon.com/paperboyspod

Is eating sugar a gut instinct?

This week is a bit different - instead of a fresh episode, we are sharing one of our bonus episodes covering the Stanford Prison Experiment. Tune in to hear how this seemingly innocent psychology experiment from the early 1970s went terribly wrong. If you like this episode you can find more like it at www.patreon.com/paperboyspod.

What happened in the Stanford Prison Experiment? (Bonus episode)

Oumuamua is an interstellar object that passed through our solar system in late 2017. It originally made the news thanks to several scientists suggesting its odd shape might be explained if it were a spaceship. New research on Oumuamua presents a much more tractable--and still extremely fascinating--explanation though. Join us this week as we dive into this new paper the search for Oumuamua’s origin. Check out the paper, news articles, and more at www.paperboyspodcast.com. Like the show? Want more every month? Fan of universal constants? Check out www.patreon.com/paperboyspod

Did Oumuamua come from a destroyed planet?

Check out the paper, news articles, and more at www.paperboyspodcast.com. Like the show? Want more every month? Fan of universal constants? Check out www.patreon.com/paperboyspod

Does traffic spread like a virus?

Why is Uranus losing its atmosphere?

Any kid can intuitively understand how much you need to fill a water balloon to effectively drench someone. But it turns out that predicting this quantitatively with physics is much more challenging! Join us James and Charlie this week for a look into an experimental physics paper that analyzed precisely when a water balloon (or any liquid-filled) balloon might pop. Check out the paper, news articles, and more at www.paperboyspodcast.com. Like the show? Want more every month? Fan of universal constants? Check out www.patreon.com/paperboyspod

Why do water balloons pop?

The coronavirus, COVID-19, has been spreading around the world since it was first detected in December 2019. Since then, drastic measures have been taken in communities around the world to limit its spread. Recent research from Imperial College London looked at how different suppression techniques such as social distancing and isolation could affect the spread, and, critically, the number available of hospital beds. Join us this week as Charlie and James dive into the different epidemiological models and their predictions. Check out the paper, news articles, and more at www.paperboyspodcast.com. Like the show? Want more every month? Fan of universal constants? Check out www.patreon.com/paperboyspod

How can we suppress COVID-19?

Gray whales have some of the longest migrations on the planet--between 10,000-12,000 miles long each year! Sadly, they often get stranded on beaches. As weird as it may sound, scientists have found that the whales are more likely to get stranded during solar storms. What is the connection between whales becoming stranded and storms on our sun 92 million miles away? Join us this week as James and Charlie dive into new research that seeks to understand how these whales lose their way. Check out the paper, news articles, and more at www.paperboyspodcast.com. Like the show? Want more every month? Fan of universal constants? Check out www.patreon.com/paperboyspod

Why do gray whales strand during solar storms?

Over a year ago we covered the challenges that NASA’s InSight lander overcame to land on Mars and begin performing the first detailed seismographic measurements of Mars. The InSight science team has just published the initial findings from InSight’s measurements, detailing unexpected results about Mars’ seismic activity, magnetism, and more. Join us this week as Charlie and James explore InSight’s exciting new findings. Check out the paper, news articles, and more at www.paperboyspodcast.com. Like the show? Want more every month? Fan of universal constants? Check out www.patreon.com/paperboyspod

What has InSight discovered on Mars?

Can you stimulate consciousness?

Fast radio bursts are millisecond-long signals we detect coming from distant galaxies. They were only recently discovered in 2007 and we still have no clue what’s causing them. These radio bursts appear in short durations on earth at very low powers. At their origin, we have calculated their energies to be enormous--more than our entire sun gives off in 80 years! Join us this week as we dive into new discoveries about these mysterious astronomical phenomena. Check out the paper, news articles, and more at www.paperboyspodcast.com. Like the show? Want more every month? Fan of universal constants? Check out www.patreon.com/paperboyspod

Why do extragalactic “fast radio bursts” repeat?

It’s clear that birds can communicate. All you have to do is listen to their songs. But when they communicate, do their songs conform to the same linguistic laws as human speech? Join James and Charlie this week as they dive into a paper that analyzes the songs of African "jackass" penguins in search of deeper linguistic structures. Check out the paper, news articles, and more at www.paperboyspodcast.com. Like the show? Want more every month? Fan of universal constants? Check out www.patreon.com/paperboyspod

Do penguins speak like humans?

Each week, two PhD students read the research papers behind headline science news and give you the details you can't get in the stories.

hubhopper

Paper Boys

hubhopper