Strange Attractor

Episode 53: Intermission

What are orbits and eclipses? What is an orbit? (NASA) (https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/5-8/features/nasa-knows/what-is-orbit-58.html) What causes an orbit to happen? (Qualitative Reasoning Group) (http://www.qrg.northwestern.edu/projects/vss/docs/space-environment/1-what-causes-an-orbit.html) What is orbital mechanics? (Rocket & Space Technology) (http://www.braeunig.us/space/orbmech.htm) Orbital mechanics I (The Physics Hypertextbook) (https://physics.info/orbital-mechanics-1/) Heliocentrism from the Greeks to Copernicus & after (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolaus_Copernicus#Copernican_system) Copernicus (Biography) (https://www.biography.com/people/nicolaus-copernicus-9256984) Galileo & the controversy that moons orbited Jupiter (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_Galilei#Jupiter.27s_moons) Modern flat Earth societies (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_flat_Earth_societies) The middle ages (History) (http://www.history.com/topics/middle-ages) What is the heliocentric model of the universe? (Universe Today) (https://www.universetoday.com/33113/heliocentric-model/) From geocentrism to heliocentrism (Futurism) (https://futurism.com/from-geocentrism-to-heliocentrism/) Live tracking: Where is Halley's comet now? (The Sky Live) (http://theskylive.com/3dsolarsystem?obj=halley) Comet trajectories: Where is Halley's comet (The Planets Today) (http://www.theplanetstoday.com/comet_trajectories.html#) Halley's comet completes an elliptical orbit around the sun every ~76 years (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halley%27s_Comet#Orbit_and_origin) Planets & stars orbit around their common centre of mass, the 'barycentre' (NASA) (https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/barycenter/en/) Lagrange points: Parking places in space (Space) (https://www.space.com/30302-lagrange-points.html) Kepler's laws (One-Minute Astronomer) (http://oneminuteastronomer.com/8626/keplers-laws/) Planetary motion: The history of an idea that launched the scientific revolution (NASA) (https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/OrbitsHistory/) Does our galaxy orbit anything? (Astroquizzical) (https://astroquizzical.com/astroquizzical/the-moon-orbits-the-earth-the-earth-orbits-the) How do gravitational slingshots work? (Universe Today) (https://www.universetoday.com/113488/how-do-gravitational-slingshots-work/) Gravitational slingshot (Math Pages) (http://www.mathpages.com/home/kmath114/kmath114.htm) Voyager 1 & 2 spacecraft flight paths (Vimeo) (https://vimeo.com/69465942) Voyager 1 slingshot & other probes (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_assist#Voyager_1_.E2.80.93_farthest_human-made_object) Do unmanned spacecraft like Voyager travel in straight lines? (Ask An Astronomer) (http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/about-us/156-people-in-astronomy/space-exploration-and-astronauts/satellites-robotic-space-craft/968-do-unmanned-spacecraft-like-voyager-travel-in-straight-lines-intermediate) What is a gravity well? (Qualitative Reasoning Group) (http://www.qrg.northwestern.edu/projects/vss/docs/space-environment/3-whats-a-gravity-well.html) Gravity wells scaled to Earth surface gravity (xkcd) (https://xkcd.com/681_large/) Voyagers 1 & 2 do have thrusters (NASA) (https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/voyager/voyager20111114.html) The Farthest: The documentary about the Voyagers we mentioned (IMDb) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6223974/) Energy relationships for satellites (The Physics Classroom) (http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/circles/Lesson-4/Energy-Relationships-for-Satellites) Why doesn't the Moon fall upon Earth? (Physics Stack Exchange) (https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/9049/why-doesnt-the-moon-fall-upon-earth) Why the Moon is getting further away from Earth (BBC) (http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-12311119) Is the Moon moving away from Earth? (Ask An Astronomer) (http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/about-us/37-our-solar-system/the-moon/the-moon-and-the-earth/111-is-the-moon-moving-away-from-the-earth-when-was-this-discovered-intermediate) Outer space is not a perfect vaccuum (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacuum#Outer_space) How are satellites launched into orbit? (Astronomy WA) (http://www.astronomywa.net.au/how-are-satellites-launched-into-orbit.html) The different types of orbits of satellites (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite#Orbit_types) One of many satellite finder apps (iTunes) (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/satfinder-3d-augmented-reality/id1054455714?mt=8) Does zero gravity exist in space? (Yale Scientific) (http://www.yalescientific.org/2010/10/mythbusters-does-zero-gravity-exist-in-space/) NASA's vomit comet trains astronauts in the ways of weightlessness (Gizmodo) (https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2014/04/nasas-vomit-comet-trains-astronauts-in-the-ways-of-weightlessness/) Feeling weightless in an elevator if the cable breaks (Hyperphysics) (http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/elev.html) What is the difference between weight & mass? (Thought Co.) (https://www.thoughtco.com/mass-and-weight-differences-606116) What is an eclipse? (NASA) (https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/5-8/features/nasa-knows/what-is-an-eclipse-58) Eclipse (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eclipse) Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse_of_August_21,_2017) What science can learn from a total solar eclipse (Cosmos) (https://cosmosmagazine.com/space/what-science-can-learn-from-a-total-solar-eclipse) Here's what scientists have learned from total solar eclipses (Space) (https://www.space.com/36785-solar-eclipse-science-throughout-history.html) How are total solar eclipses used by scientists? (NASA) (https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/how-are-total-solar-eclipses-used-scientists) Why a total solar eclipse is such a big deal (YouTube) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNH3akWXaV8&feature=share) Two minutes of darkness with 20,000 strangers (FiveThirtyEight) (https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/eclipse-towns-planning/) 2 July, 2019 is the next total solar eclipse (Time And Date) (https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/solar/2019-july-2) The Moon's orbit & rotation (Windows 2 Universe) (https://www.windows2universe.org/the_universe/uts/moon1.html) Diagram showing the Earth-Moon system (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbit_of_the_Moon#/media/File:Earth-Moon.PNG) Why future Earthlings won't see total eclipses (NPR) (http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/08/14/542700588/why-future-earthlings-wont-see-total-solar-eclipses) Perihelion & aphelion (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perihelion_and_aphelion) Types of solar eclipse: Partial, annular, total & hybrid (National University of Singapore) (http://www.math.nus.edu.sg/aslaksen/gem-projects/hm/0304-1-08-eclipse/Types%20of%20Solar%20Eclipse.htm) The diamond ring effect during a toal solar eclipse (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baily%27s_beads) Solar eclipse of January 24, 1925 in New York City (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse_of_January_24,_1925) What is the umbra? (Time And Date) (https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/umbra-shadow.html) Scientists to take flight for longer views of the eclipse (The New York Times) (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/14/science/eclipse-planes-flights-ionosphere.html?mcubz=1) Chasing the total solar eclipse from NASA’s WB-57F jets (NASA) (https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/chasing-the-total-solar-eclipse-from-nasa-s-wb-57f-jets) When astronomers chased a total eclipse in a Concorde (Motherboard) (https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/8q8qwk/the-concorde-and-the-longest-solar-eclipse) NASA's best photos of the total solar eclipse of 2017 (Space) (https://www.space.com/37874-best-solar-eclipse-2017-photos-by-nasa.html) The Sun's diameter is ~1.392 million km (Space) (https://www.space.com/17001-how-big-is-the-sun-size-of-the-sun.html) The Sun's corona extends millions of kilometres into space (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corona) How do computers predict eclipses? (NASA) (https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/how-do-computers-predict-eclipses) What do Flat-Earthers think is going on during a solar eclipse? (IFL Science) (http://www.iflscience.com/space/what-do-flat-earthers-think-is-going-on-during-a-solar-eclipse/) Where are you from? Send us a postcard! Strange Attractor, c/ PO Box 9, Fitzroy, VIC 3065, Australia Corrections Gravity assist owes both Kepler & Newton (The Science Classroom) (https://thescienceclassroom.wikispaces.com/Gravitational+Assist) Check out our new Fireside home Find aaaaall the great episodes, show notes, Patreon link & handy instructions should you feel like leaving us a cheeky iTunes review ? (http://strangeattractor.random.productions) Image credit: NASA

Episode 52: Small human in big universe

What happens inside computers? The cream yellow Volvo 850 T5-R wagon (Pinterest) (https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/1b/a3/e4/1ba3e49abd91ca711ee341c8190ca2c3.jpg) What is a computer? (Computer Hope) (https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/c/computer.htm) When women stopped coding (Planet Money, NPR) (http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2014/10/21/357629765/when-women-stopped-coding) Women computers in World War II (Engineering & Technology History) (http://ethw.org/Women_Computers_in_World_War_II) Human computers: The women of NASA (History) (http://www.history.com/news/human-computers-women-at-nasa) How do computers work? (Explain That Stuff!) (http://www.explainthatstuff.com/howcomputerswork.html) How does a computer work? (Computer Hope) (https://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch001263.htm) What does the inside of a computer look like? (Computer Hope) (https://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000997.htm) What is computer hardware? (How Stuff Works, Tech) (http://computer.howstuffworks.com/what-is-computer-hardware.htm/printable) Turing machine (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turing_machine) Turing machines explained (YouTube) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNRDvLACg5Q) Central processing unit (Computer Hope) (https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/c/cpu.htm) Transistors (Explain That Stuff!) (http://www.explainthatstuff.com/howtransistorswork.html) How transistors work (How Stuff Works, Electronics) (http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/transistor.htm/printable) CSIRAC: The only intact first-generation computer surviving anywhere in the world (Museums Victoria) (https://museumvictoria.com.au/csirac/) Transistors used to be vacuum tubes: The transistor in a century of electronics (The Nobel Prize) (https://www.nobelprize.org/educational/physics/transistor/history/) Logic gate (Computer Hope) (https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/l/logicgat.htm) Binary (Computer Hope) (https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/b/binary.htm) What is silicon & why are computer chips made from it? (Extreme Tech) (https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/208501-what-is-silicon-and-why-are-computer-chips-made-from-it) Facts about silicon (livescience) (https://www.livescience.com/28893-silicon.html) Why silicon computers rule (Cosmos) (https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/why-silicon-computers-rule) Moore's law: The number of transistors in a dense integrated circuit doubles approximately every 2 years (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore%27s_law) The 'doubling of grains of rice on a chess board' fable (The Math Forum) (http://mathforum.org/sanders/geometry/GP11Fable.html) The tunnelling transistor (IEEE) (http://spectrum.ieee.org/semiconductors/devices/the-tunneling-transistor) Deterministic algorithm (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deterministic_algorithm) Motherboard (Computer Hope) (https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/m/mothboar.htm) Universal serial bus, or USB (Computer Hope) (https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/u/usb.htm) How USB ports work (How Stuff Works, Tech) (http://computer.howstuffworks.com/usb.htm/printable) Human ingenuity has created a world that the mind cannot master: Have we finally reached our limits?(aeon) (https://aeon.co/essays/is-technology-making-the-world-indecipherable) Raspberry Pi (https://www.raspberrypi.org) Arduino (https://www.arduino.cc) Random access memory, or RAM (Computer Hope) (https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/r/ram.htm) Read only memory, or ROM (Computer Hope) (https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/r/rom.htm) Pull yourself up by your bootstraps (The Phrase Finder) (http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps.html) Boot (Computer Hope) (https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/b/boot.htm) What happens when you switch a computer on? (The Linux Documentation Project) (http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Unix-and-Internet-Fundamentals-HOWTO/bootup.html) How PCs work (How Stuff Works, Tech) (http://computer.howstuffworks.com/pc.htm/printable) Power-on self-test, or POST (Computer Hope) (https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/p/post.htm) Boot sector (Computer Hope) (https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/b/bootsect.htm) Kernel (Computer Hope) (https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/k/kernel.htm) Kernel (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kernel_(operating_system)) What is shut down? (Computer Hope) (https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/s/shutdown.htm) What is actually happening when a Windows computer is shutting down? (How-To Geek) (https://www.howtogeek.com/235771/what-is-actually-happening-when-a-windows-computer-is-shutting-down/) How to shut down a computer (Computer Hope) (https://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch001672.htm) Energy efficiency guide for iOS apps & 'batching transactions' (Apple) (https://developer.apple.com/library/content/documentation/Performance/Conceptual/EnergyGuide-iOS/DeferNetworking.html) CPU power dissipation (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPU_power_dissipation) Power efficiency in OS X (Apple) (https://www.apple.com/media/us/osx/2013/docs/OSX_Power_Efficiency_Technology_Overview.pdf) Public service announcement: You should not force quit apps on iOS (Daring Fireball, John Gruber) (https://daringfireball.net/2017/07/you_should_not_force_quit_apps) Where are you from? Send us a postcard! Strange Attractor, c/ PO Box 9, Fitzroy, VIC 3065, Australia Check out our new Fireside home Find aaaaall the great episodes, show notes, Patreon link & handy instructions should you feel like leaving us a cheeky iTunes review ? (http://strangeattractor.random.productions) Image credit: happytrees.org

Episode 51: Things starting things starting things

What is the Sun? Powers of Ten™: The famous video from 1977 that explains the scale of the universe (YouTube) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fKBhvDjuy0) The Sun (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun) Formation of the Sun (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun#Formation) The Sun is about 4.6 billion years old: Facts about the Sun’s age, size & history (Space.com) (https://www.space.com/58-the-sun-formation-facts-and-characteristics.html) How is a star born? (Scientific American) (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-is-a-star-born/) How does a star ignite? (Physics Stack Exchange) (https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/61108/how-does-a-star-ignite) Cosmic dust (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_dust) All you need is cold gas: The legacy of K. E. Edgeworth (NED) (https://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/level5/Sept14/Elmegreen/Elmegreen6.html) Stars form out in the cold & fuel the growth of supermassive black holes (SMH) (http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/stars-form-out-in-the-cold-and-fuel-the-growth-of-supermassive-black-holes-20170213-guc8b6.html) Newton's laws (Hyperphysics) (http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Newt.html) Animation of Jupiter seen in the infrared (NASA/JPL Caltech) (https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/archive/PIA19640.gif) What is fusion (livescience) (https://www.livescience.com/23394-fusion.html) Nuclear fusion (Hyperphysics) (http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/NucEne/fusion.html) Nuclear fusion in stars (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_fusion#Nuclear_fusion_in_stars) After 60 years, is nuclear fusion finally poised to deliver? (The Guardian) (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/dec/02/after-60-years-is-nuclear-fusion-finally-poised-to-deliver) Chain reaction (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chain_reaction) Diana Ross: Chain Reaction (YouTube) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaYHRx9-v2M) The Sun's structure & energy production (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun#Structure_and_energy_production) National Ignition Facility recreates the interior of heavy stars (ars Technica) (https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/08/researchers-use-giant-laser-to-study-interiors-of-stars/) Naming conventions for our Sun or 'Sol' (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun#Name_and_etymology) Parker Solar Probe: Humanity’s first visit to a star (NASA) (https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/parker-solar-probe-humanity-s-first-visit-to-a-star) Sunshine (IMDb) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0448134/) It sounds like stars do all seem to start with hydrogen: Star formation (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star#Formation_and_evolution) Stars (NASA) (https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/how-do-stars-form-and-evolve) Main sequence stars (CSIRO) (http://www.atnf.csiro.au/outreach/education/senior/astrophysics/stellarevolution_mainsequence.html) Post-main sequence stars (CSIRO) (http://www.atnf.csiro.au/outreach/education/senior/astrophysics/stellarevolution_postmain.html) There is a minimum mass for stars: ~8% of the mass of the Sun, lower than that & the internal pressure from gravity is too low to trigger the necessary nuclear reactions (NASA) (https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/review/podcasts/transcripts/070205_star_sizes.html) The Sun consumes about 600 million tonnes of hydrogen per second (NASA) (https://helios.gsfc.nasa.gov/qa_sun.html#consume) The future of the Sun: After core hydrogen exhaustion (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun#After_core_hydrogen_exhaustion) Helium 'burning' & the helium flash: In post-main sequence stars, helium nuclei fuse to eventually form carbon-12 (CSIRO) (http://www.atnf.csiro.au/outreach/education/senior/astrophysics/stellarevolution_postmain.html#postmainheflash) Modelling a star on a computer (Western Michigan University) (http://homepages.wmich.edu/~korista/starmodls.html) The CNO cycle (Cosmos) (http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/C/CNO+cycle) Will the sun go supernova in six years & destroy Earth? (Ask an Astronomer) (http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/physics/39-our-solar-system/the-earth/other-catastrophes/59-will-the-sun-go-supernova-in-six-years-and-destroy-earth-as-seen-on-yahoo-intermediate) Iron & nickel are the heaviest elements that can be made in stars like our Sun that don't undergo supernova explosions (NASA) (https://helios.gsfc.nasa.gov/nucleo.html) Red giant stars (Cosmos) (http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/R/Red+giant+stars) Cold dead star may be a giant diamond (Space.com) (https://www.space.com/26335-coldest-white-dwarf-star-diamond.html) Measuring a white dwarf star (NASA) (https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_468.html) The electromagnetic spectrum (NASA) (https://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/toolbox/emspectrum1.html) What is Earth's magnetic field? (Universe Today) (https://www.universetoday.com/27005/earths-magnetic-field/) The 11-year cycle of solar minimums & maximums (NASA) (https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/solarmin-max.html) The sun is so hot it's mostly made of plasma (NASA) (https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/themis/auroras/sun_earth_connect.html) Convection zone (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convection_zone) Structure of stars showing convection zones (ESO) (http://www.eso.org/public/images/eso0729a/) Understanding the magnetic sun (NASA) (https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/understanding-the-magnetic-sun) The singing sun: Listen to the sound the sun makes! (Stanford Solar Center) (http://solar-center.stanford.edu/singing/singing.html) The corona of the Sun, it's outer atmosphere (NASA) (https://solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov/corona.shtml) Why is the Sun's corona the hottest layer when it's farther from the core than other layers? (Scientific American) (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-is-the-suns-corona-th/) What are sun spots? (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunspot) Coronal mass ejection (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronal_mass_ejection) What is solar wind? (QRG, Northwestern University) (http://www.qrg.northwestern.edu/projects/vss/docs/space-environment/3-what-is-solar-wind.html) No more solar wind for Voyager 1 spacecraft (Phys.org) (https://phys.org/news/2010-12-solar-voyager-spacecraft.html) The Voyagers have reached an anniversary worth celebrating (ars Technica) (https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/08/the-voyagers-have-reached-an-anniversary-worth-celebrating/) What is an aurora? (NASA) (https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/aurora/en/) Solar storm & space weather FAQ (NASA) (https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/spaceweather/index.html) Can solar flares hurt astronauts? (Universe Today) (https://www.universetoday.com/92897/can-solar-flares-hurt-astronauts/) Fast & slow solar wind (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_wind#Fast_and_slow_solar_wind) The Carrington Event of 1859 (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronal_mass_ejection#History) How are the astronauts in the ISS protected from solar flares? (Space Exploration, Stack Exchange) (https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/1034/how-are-the-astronauts-in-the-iss-protected-from-solar-flares) Who's afraid of a solar flare? (NASA) (https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2005/07oct_afraid) What if the biggest solar storm on record happened today? (National Geographic) (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/03/110302-solar-flares-sun-storms-earth-danger-carrington-event-science/) Did a massive solar proton event fry the Earth? (Space Daily) (http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Did_A_Massive_Solar_Proton_Event_Fry_The_Earth_999.html) 1 in 8 chance of catastrophic solar megastorm by 2020 (Wired) (https://www.wired.com/2012/02/massive-solar-flare/) Corrections The sun will eventually become a red giant (not a red dwarf) & then a white dwarf (Space.com) (https://www.space.com/58-the-sun-formation-facts-and-characteristics.html) It sounds like Saturn, not Jupiter, emits infrared radiation from frictional heating - Jupiter's 'glow' is thought to be from cooling left over from its formation (LibreTexts Physics) (https://phys.libretexts.org/TextMaps/Astronomy_and_Cosmology_Textmaps/Map%3A_Astronomy_(Impey)/7%3A_The_Giant_Planets_and_their_Moons/7.5__Thermal_Radiation_from_Gas_Giant_Planets) Apparently the sun is only half way through its main sequence lifecycle (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun#Main_sequence) The sun won’t die for 5 billion years (The Conversation) (http://theconversation.com/the-sun-wont-die-for-5-billion-years-so-why-do-humans-have-only-1-billion-years-left-on-earth-37379) Estimates vary, but it's agreed it takes a LONG time for a photon to escape the sun (Futurism) (https://futurism.com/how-the-sun-works/) Why does it take thousands of years for light to escape the Sun? (Ask a Mathematician/Physicist) (http://www.askamathematician.com/2013/08/q-why-does-it-take-thousands-of-years-for-light-to-escape-the-sun/) Check out our new Fireside home Find aaaaall the great episodes, show notes, Patreon link & handy instructions should you feel like leaving us a cheeky iTunes review ? (http://strangeattractor.random.productions) Image credit: NASA

Episode 50: The fresh fields of hydrogen

What is email? Our Patreon site ? (https://www.patreon.com/strangeattractor) The history of email (Net History) (http://www.nethistory.info/History%20of%20the%20Internet/email.html) Email (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Email) The man who invented email (Time) (http://techland.time.com/2011/11/15/the-man-who-invented-email/) How does email work? (How-To Geek) (https://www.howtogeek.com/56002/htg-explains-how-does-email-work/) How email works (How Stuff Works, Tech) (http://computer.howstuffworks.com/e-mail-messaging/email.htm/printable) How does an email server work? (MUO) (http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/technology-explained-how-does-an-email-server-work/) Handshake (Computer Hope) (https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/h/handshak.htm) File Transfer Protocol, or FTP (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_Transfer_Protocol) What is the internet? (Computer Hope) (https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/i/internet.htm) A timeline of the history of the internet (Computer Hope) (https://www.computerhope.com/history/internet.htm) What is a hyperlink? (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperlink) Tim Burners-Lee & the Hypertext Transfer Protocol, or HTTP (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypertext_Transfer_Protocol) Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, or SMTP (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_Mail_Transfer_Protocol) What is an email client? (Lifewire) (https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-an-email-client-1171116) This is how a raw email with an attachment is formatted behind the scenes - your email program makes it look like an email (http://strangeattractor.random.productions/49/angrycat) A history of the @ symbol (atsymbol) (http://www.atsymbol.com/history.htm) Meet the man who put the @ in your email (Wired) (https://www.wired.com/2012/07/ray-tomlinson-email/) What is an IP address & why do all computers need one? (Lifewire) (https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-an-ip-address-2625920) Who is the Mailer-Daemon? (Mental Floss) (http://mentalfloss.com/article/63647/who-mailer-daemon) What is Post Office Protocol, or POP? (Lifewire) (https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-pop-post-office-protocol-1171121) Attachment size limits for Outlook, Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, Facebook & WhatsApp (The Windows Club) (http://www.thewindowsclub.com/attachment-size-limits-outlook-gmail-yahoo) What is data deduplication? (Tech Target) (http://searchstorage.techtarget.com/definition/data-deduplication?vgnextfmt=print) The problem with email: A position paper from 2001 noting how it's insecure & delivery is not guaranteed (REBOL) (http://www.rebol.com/ios/email-problem.html) Check digits (University of Alberta) (http://www.augustana.ab.ca/~mohrj/algorithms/checkdigit.html) Why you can’t undo sending an email (& when you can) (How-To Geek) (https://www.howtogeek.com/161762/why-you-cant-undo-sending-an-email-and-when-you-can/) Gmail has a feature where you can unsend an email (Google) (https://support.google.com/mail/answer/2819488?co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop&hl=en) Is your boss reading your email? (Slate) (http://www.slate.com/articles/business/the_ladder/2016/02/is_your_boss_reading_your_email_and_monitoring_your_internet_use.html) Australian employers free to spy on workers’ email, online chats, & smartphones without warning (news.com.au) (http://www.news.com.au/finance/work/australian-employers-free-to-spy-on-workers-email-online-chats-and-smartphones-without-warning/news-story/2ee83656c1a6db0384dae0049460ee3f) Here's why your email is insecure & likely to stay that way (Digital Trends) (https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/can-email-ever-be-secure/) Email encryption (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Email_encryption) How to email, text or snail mail credit card information safely (Nerd Wallet) (https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/credit-cards/sending-credit-card-information/) Mail for Mac: Sign or encrypt messages for increased security (Apple) (https://support.apple.com/kb/PH22288?locale=en_AU) Yes, the FBI & CIA can read your email. Here's how (ZD Net) (http://www.zdnet.com/article/yes-the-fbi-and-cia-can-read-your-email-heres-how/) The Government’s phone, text, & email spying, explained (abc News) (http://abcnews.go.com/ABC_Univision/governments-phone-text-email-spying-explained/story?id=19347440) The triumph of email: Why does one of the world's most reviled technologies keep winning? (The Atlantic) (https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/01/what-comes-after-email/422625/) Why email will be obsolete by 2020 (Inc.com) (https://www.inc.com/john-brandon/why-email-will-be-obsolete-by-2020.html) Is there a replacement for email? (The Guardian) (https://www.theguardian.com/technology/askjack/2017/feb/16/is-there-a-replacement-for-email) 'Don't damage encryption' rights coalition tells global governments (Wired) (http://www.wired.co.uk/article/stop-attacking-encryption) UK government can force encryption removal, but fears losing, experts say (The Guardian) (https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/mar/29/uk-government-encryption-whatsapp-investigatory-powers-act) What's the carbon footprint of an email? (Phys.org) (https://phys.org/news/2015-11-carbon-footprint-email.html) Spare us the email yada-yada: Why footers are legally worthless (The Economist) (http://www.economist.com/node/18529895) What happens to your email when you die? (news.com.au) (http://www.news.com.au/technology/what-happens-to-your-email-when-you-die/news-story/be06dc0d0bf2fe461830ba28cd7edb8b) Johnny uses a paid email service called Fast Mail (FastMail) (https://www.fastmail.com) Check out our new Fireside home Find aaaaall the great episodes, show notes, Patreon link & handy instructions should you feel like leaving us a cheeky iTunes review ? (http://strangeattractor.random.productions) Image credit: The Mary Sue/Grumpy Cat

Episode 49: You've invented a method to send angry cats

What is science fiction? Science fiction (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_fiction) Hard versus soft science fiction (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_fiction#Hard_science_fiction) Why is science fiction so hard to define? (BBC) (http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20140729-what-is-and-isnt-sci-fi) How America's leading science fiction authors are shaping your future (Smithsonian) (http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/how-americas-leading-science-fiction-authors-are-shaping-your-future-180951169/) What is science fiction good for? (Huffington Post) (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ed-finn/what-is-science-fiction-good-for_b_1569279.html) The underrated universal appeal of science fiction (The Atlantic) (https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/04/the-underrated-universal-appeal-of-science-fiction/360627/) Philip K. Dick (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_K._Dick) An article that notes how Philip K. Dick almost starved to death as a premature infant (The Independent) (http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/on-another-planet-a7095781.html) Black Mirror (IMDb) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2085059/) Johnny's recommended episodes of Black Mirror to start with: The Entire History of You, S01E03; White Bear, S02E02; San Junipero, S03E04 (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Black_Mirror_episodes) Star Trek (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek) James T. Kirk (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_T._Kirk) Jean-Luc Picard (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Luc_Picard) The economic lessons of Star Trek's money-free society (Wired) (https://www.wired.com/2016/05/geeks-guide-star-trek-economics/) List of science fiction universes (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_science_fiction_universes) Dr Futurity by Philip K. Dick: The story Lucy was talking about where civilisation isn't fussed about death anymore (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Futurity) The Star Trek Prime Directive (Memory Alpha) (http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Prime_Directive) 6 ways reading & watching science fiction makes you a more ethical person (Bustle) (https://www.bustle.com/articles/70708-6-ways-reading-and-watching-science-fiction-makes-you-a-more-ethical-person) Driverless trucks: Economic tsunami may swallow one of most common US jobs (The Guardian) (https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/feb/16/self-driving-trucks-automation-jobs-trucking-industry) A plan in case robots take the jobs: Give everyone a pay check (The New York Times) (https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/03/technology/plan-to-fight-robot-invasion-at-work-give-everyone-a-paycheck.html) Ten inventions inspired by science fiction (Smithsonian) (http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/ten-inventions-inspired-by-science-fiction-128080674/) Sci-Fi inspires engineers to build our future (NPR) (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129333703) Why today's inventors need to read more science fiction (The Atlantic) (https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/09/why-todays-inventors-need-to-read-more-science-fiction/279793/) Isaac Asimov (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Asimov) The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hitchhiker%27s_Guide_to_the_Galaxy) 5 books that predicted the internet (Barnes & Noble) (https://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/5-books-that-predicted-the-internet/) The telescreen from 1984 by George Orwell (YouTube) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCfW6HFP5cI) Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brave_New_World) Flawed forecasting – when science fiction gets it wrong (The Guardian) (https://www.theguardian.com/science/occams-corner/2013/jan/24/science-fiction-sciencefictionandfantasy) Robert A. Heinlein (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_A._Heinlein) Hyperion by Dan Simmons (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperion_Cantos) VALIS by Philip K. Dick (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VALIS) The Turning Wheel by Philip K. Dick: The story Lucy mentioned where he takes a jab at L. Ron Hubbard's dianetics book, the foundation of Scientology (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Turning_Wheel) L. Ron Hubbard (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L._Ron_Hubbard) When L. Ron Hubbard briefly let down his guard & admitted Scientology was all a con (The Underground Bunker) (http://tonyortega.org/2016/09/30/when-l-ron-hubbard-briefly-let-down-his-guard-and-admitted-scientology-was-all-a-con/) "You don't get rich writing science fiction. If you want to get rich, you start a religion", L. Ron Hubbard (WikiQuote) (https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/L._Ron_Hubbard) The Star Trek 'PADD': Personal Access Display Device (Memory Alpha) (http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/PADD) Amazon unveils the $230 Echo Show, with a screen for calls, shipping June 28 (TechCrunch) (https://techcrunch.com/2017/05/09/amazon-unveils-the-230-echo-show-with-a-screen-for-calls-shipping-june-28/) Tiger Tiger Chardonnay (Collector Wines) (https://www.collectorwines.com.au/products/tiger-tiger-chardonnay-2015) Our DNA is 99.9% the same as the person sitting next to us & we're surprisingly similar to a bunch of other living things (Business Insider) (http://www.businessinsider.com/comparing-genetic-similarity-between-humans-and-other-things-2016-5/#and-while-the-egg-laying-and-feathered-body-are-pretty-different-from-a-humans-about-60-of-chicken-genes-have-a-human-gene-counterpart-7) Plasma aliens could live inside “Black Clouds”: Extraterrestrial life can be stranger than we even dare to imagine (Message To Eagle) (http://www.messagetoeagle.com/plasma-aliens-could-live-inside-black-clouds-extraterrestrial-life-can-be-stranger-than-we-even-dare-to-imagine/) Iain M. Banks (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iain_Banks) The Culture series by Iain M. Banks (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_series) Elon Musk names SpaceX drone ships in honour of Sci-Fi legend (Space.com) (https://www.space.com/28445-spacex-elon-musk-drone-ships-names.html) Data, the android from Star Trek (Memory Alpha) (http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Data) Snowcrash by Neil Stevenson (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Crash) Second Life (http://secondlife.com) The Matrix (IMDb) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0133093/) The Holodeck in Star Trek (Memory Alpha) (http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Holodeck) Euro Truck Simulator 2 (YouTube) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6fkK0XS52I) Road Work podcast: Dan Benjamin & John Roderick (5by5) (http://5by5.tv/roadwork) Roderick on the Line podcast: Merlin Mann & John Roderick (MerlinMann.com) (http://www.merlinmann.com/roderick/) Where are you from? Send us a postcard! Strange Attractor, c/ PO Box 9, Fitzroy, VIC 3065, Australia Corrections Isaac Asimov coined the term 'robotics' & wrote the Laws of Robotics, but apparently the term 'robot' was first used by Czech playwright Karel Capek in the 1920s (Carnegie Mellon University) (https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~chuck/robotpg/robofaq/1.html) Check out our new Fireside home Find aaaaall the great episodes, show notes, Patreon link & handy instructions should you feel like leaving us a cheeky iTunes review ? (http://strangeattractor.random.productions) Image credit: BFI/YouTube

Episode 48: Tea, Earl Grey, hot

What is hacking? Before listening to this podcast We recommend changing your email, banking & Apple ID passwords if you use them for anything else. Use a password generator to make unique, random new ones for each login. These accounts are central to unlocking your online life. Ideally never use duplicate passwords. Nothing is perfect, but let's make it as hard as possible for hackers & bots ?? We also recommend subscribing to a password manager like 1Password: It remembers all your passwords, generates new ones & automates all your logins...have a read (1Password) (https://1password.com) And now to the show notes WannaCry ransomware: What is it & how to protect yourself (Wired) (http://www.wired.co.uk/article/wannacry-ransomware-virus-patch) WannaCry ransomware attack (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WannaCry_ransomware_attack) Global ransomware attack makes less than $US60,000 as only 209 victims choose to pay (ABC Australia) (http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-16/ransomware-attack-makes-hackers-less-than-60000/8529122) The hardest part of decrypting your ransomwared files might be figuring out Bitcoin - so hackers are offering 'customer support' (Mashable) (http://mashable.com/2017/05/17/ransomware-bitcoin-wannacry/#aZH4x4E4VPq1) How does Bitcoin work? (bitcoin) (https://bitcoin.org/en/how-it-works) What is hacking? (The Conversation) (http://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-hacking-13039) Why do people hack computers? (Computer Hope) (https://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch001530.htm) Hacker holds Netflix to ransom over new season of Orange Is The New Black (The Guardian) (https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/apr/29/hacker-holds-netflix-to-ransom-over-new-season-of-orange-is-the-new-black) That Orange Is The New Black leak was never going to pay off (Wired) (https://www.wired.com/2017/05/orange-is-the-new-black-leak/) Learn how Richard Feynman cracked the safes with atomic secrets at Los Alamos (Open Culture) (http://www.openculture.com/2013/04/learn_how_richard_feynman_cracked_the_safes_with_atomic_secrets_at_los_alamos.html) Why hackers learn to pick locks (itnews) (https://www.itnews.com.au/news/why-hackers-learn-to-pick-locks-464049) What is social engineering? (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_engineering_(security)) Password cracking (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Password_cracking) How hackers really crack your passwords (YouTube) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtUvMJFP_IE) The 5 most common tactics used to hack passwords (MUO) (http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-common-tactics-hack-passwords/) Die Hard: The safe cracking scene (YouTube) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUOXn9b8dkg) What is a dictionary attack? (Hacksplaining) (https://www.hacksplaining.com/glossary/dictionary-attacks) This site is selling a password cracking dictionary, anyone can download it (CrackStation) (https://crackstation.net/buy-crackstation-wordlist-password-cracking-dictionary.htm) The 'Anonymous' hacker group (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anonymous_(group)) Anonymous (http://anonofficial.com) PlayStation Network hackers access data of 77 million users (The Guardian) (https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/apr/26/playstation-network-hackers-data) Here's exactly how much your stolen credit card info is worth to hackers (Business Insider Australia) (https://www.businessinsider.com.au/how-much-stolen-credit-card-info-is-worth-to-hackers-2015-11?r=US&IR=T) Here’s how much your identity could be worth on the dark web (MUO) (http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/heres-much-identity-worth-dark-web/) Check if you have an account that has been compromised in a data breach (have i been pwned) (https://haveibeenpwned.com) Hackers don't have to be human anymore, this bot battle proves it (Wired) (https://www.wired.com/2016/08/security-bots-show-hacking-isnt-just-humans/) Ever re-use your passwords? You're a hacker's dream (ABC Australia) (http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-06-01/reuse-your-password-youre-a-hackers-dream/8575888) How Apple & Amazon security flaws led to my epic hacking (Wired) (https://www.wired.com/2012/08/apple-amazon-mat-honan-hacking/) Security questions are just passwords (Big Nerd Ranch) (https://www.bignerdranch.com/blog/security-questions-are-just-passwords/) Time to kill security questions - or answer them with lies (Wired) (https://www.wired.com/2016/09/time-kill-security-questions-answer-lies/) Ferris Bueller's Day Off (IMDb) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091042/) War Games (IMDb) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086567/) The Hacker News (http://thehackernews.com) You can now do a 'Master of Cybersecurity' (La Trobe University) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=una347DGVaE&feature=youtu.be) Phishing (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phishing) Phishing.org (http://www.phishing.org/what-is-phishing) Where are you from? Send us a postcard! Strange Attractor, c/ PO Box 9, Fitzroy, VIC 3065, Australia Check out our new Fireside home Find aaaaall the great episodes, show notes, Patreon link & handy instructions should you feel like leaving us a cheeky iTunes review ? (http://strangeattractor.random.productions) Image credit: EL|CRONISTA

Episode 47: myfavouritedog25

Why doesn't my computer work? What is a server in computer networking? (lifewire) (https://www.lifewire.com/servers-in-computer-networking-817380) What does a server technician do? (wiseGEEK) (http://www.wisegeek.com/what-does-a-server-technician-do.htm) Server (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Server_(computing)) A rack of servers (wiseGEEK) (http://images.wisegeek.com/racks-of-servers.jpg) A movie starring Johnny and a rack of servers (Vimeo) (https://vimeo.com/29903703) Inside the internet: Google allows first ever look at the eight vast data centres that power the online world (Daily Mail) (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2219188/Inside-Google-pictures-gives-look-8-vast-data-centres.html) What is server redundancy? (Techopedia) (https://www.techopedia.com/definition/14718/server-redundancy) What is a hot swap? (TechTarget) (http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/hot-swap) Hot swapping (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_swapping) What is a firewall? (CISCO) (http://www.cisco.com/c/en_au/products/security/firewalls/what-is-a-firewall.html) Firewall (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firewall_(computing)) Bladerunner: I've seen things you people wouldn't believe (YouTube) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARPCjp0ppEE) Super-secret Google builds servers in the dark (Wired) (https://www.wired.com/2012/03/google-miner-helmet/) Google uncloaks once-secret server (C|NET) (https://www.cnet.com/news/google-uncloaks-once-secret-server-10209580/) Following Google's lead, Facebook starts building its own networking gear (Wired) (https://www.wired.com/2014/06/facebook-networking/) Like Google & Facebook, Twitter designs its own servers (Wired) (https://www.wired.com/2015/07/like-google-facebook-twitter-designs-computer-servers/) What is a service-level agreement? (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service-level_agreement) Server room (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Server_room) Why keeping the data centre cool is important (BizTech) (https://biztechmagazine.com/article/2012/07/why-keeping-data-center-cool-important) Microsoft puts cloud in the ocean to help with cooling (Microsoft) (https://news.microsoft.com/features/microsoft-research-project-puts-cloud-in-ocean-for-the-first-time/#gclDF3jvw3ZdmryV.97) Some people listen to server room noise to relax (YouTube) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2iriX0YJek) What is change control? (TechTarget) (http://searchdisasterrecovery.techtarget.com/definition/change-control) War Games: Turn your key, sir! (You Tube) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLMCjuge6oE) Incident priority (IT Process Maps) (https://wiki.en.it-processmaps.com/index.php/Checklist_Incident_Priority) Incidents versus problems (Concept Solutions Corporation) (http://www.conceptsolutionsbc.com/it-service-management-mainmenu-60/30-it-service-management/182-incident-and-problems-what-is-the-difference) Microsoft Minesweeper (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Minesweeper) Australian census meltdown to cost $30 million (The Australian) (http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/ibm-shifts-blame-to-contractors-for-the-census-night-crash/news-story/c606dfb9f08432020b05ec741dadb426) Revealed: IBM error caused NAB outage (IT News) (https://www.itnews.com.au/news/revealed-ibm-error-caused-nab-outage-438970) The Borg Hive Mind (Borg Collective) (http://borgcollective.wikia.com/wiki/Hive_Mind) The basics of server monitoring (spiceworks) (https://community.spiceworks.com/how_to/2875-the-basics-of-server-monitoring) Where are you from? Send us a postcard! Strange Attractor, c/ PO Box 9, Fitzroy, VIC 3065, Australia Check out our new Fireside home Find aaaaall the great episodes & show notes & handy instructions should you feel like leaving us a cheeky iTunes review ? (http://strangeattractor.random.productions) Image credit: The Daily Conversation

Episode 46: Behind the nerd curtain

What is critical thinking? *NB: There's a few cuss words in this episode. We made a movie! You should really watch this. Because we made it. ? - 'Healthy Thinking' by Strange Attractor (Vimeo, Grovefest) (https://vimeo.com/220101614) - 'Healthy Thinking' by Strange Attractor (YouTube) (https://youtu.be/tSRzsp4vAeo) Show notes The Skeptics' guide to the Universe podcast (SGU) (http://www.theskepticsguide.org) What is critical thinking? (Foundation for Critical Thinking) (http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/our-concept-and-definition-of-critical-thinking/411) Critical thinking guide (UNSW) (https://student.unsw.edu.au/critical-thinking) Health News Review (https://www.healthnewsreview.org) What is confirmation bias? (The Skeptic's Dictionary) (http://skepdic.com/confirmbias.html) Confirmation bias in science: How to avoid it (arstechnica) (https://arstechnica.com/science/2010/07/confirmation-bias-how-to-avoid-it/) What is the difference between 'facts' & 'opinions'? (Big Think) (http://bigthink.com/the-proverbial-skeptic/what-is-the-difference-between-facts-and-opinions) Is iTunes’ shuffle mode truly random? (lifewire) (https://www.lifewire.com/is-itunes-shuffle-random-1999249) Vaccines & autism (Science-based Medicine) (https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/reference/vaccines-and-autism/) Climate change: How do we know? (NASA, Global Climate Change) (https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/) Feeling stuck in your social media bubble? Here’s the latest in a growing class of apps designed to help (The Washington Post) (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/inspired-life/wp/2017/04/18/feeling-stuck-in-your-social-media-bubble-heres-the-newest-of-in-a-growing-class-of-apps-designed-to-help/?utm_term=.401f1d661e17) How to escape your political bubble for a clearer view (The New York Times) (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/03/arts/the-battle-over-your-political-bubble.html) The Flat Earth Society (https://theflatearthsociety.org/home/) Overview of homeopathy (Science-based Medicine) (https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/reference/homeopathy/) Understanding science (University of California, Berkeley) (http://undsci.berkeley.edu/index.php) What is science? (University of California, Berkeley) (http://undsci.berkeley.edu/article/article/0_0_0/whatisscience_01) What is the scientific method? (University of California, Berkeley) (http://undsci.berkeley.edu/article/0_0_0/howscienceworks_01) How do you know if a research study is any good? (Elsevier) (https://www.elsevier.com/connect/how-do-you-know-if-a-research-study-is-any-good) Convince me: How strong is the evidence? (University of California, Berkeley) (http://undsci.berkeley.edu/article/%3C?%20echo%20$baseURL;%20?%3E/sciencetoolkit_08) Scientific evidence: What is it & how can we trust it? (The Conversation) (http://theconversation.com/scientific-evidence-what-is-it-and-how-can-we-trust-it-14716) Clever Hans: The horse that people thought could do maths (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clever_Hans) Why looking at the sun can make you sneeze (PBS News Hour) (http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/does-the-sun-make-you-sneeze/) Storm: An animation of Tim Minchin's beat poem about science & reason (YouTube) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhGuXCuDb1U) Cherry picking science (Huff Post) (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dana-ellis-hunnes/cherry-picking-science_b_11729146.html) Vaccine study's author held related patent, medical journal reports (CNN) (http://edition.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/01/11/autism.vaccines/) The crash & burn of an autism guru (The New York Times Magazine) (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/24/magazine/mag-24Autism-t.html) How the case against the MMR vaccine was fixed (The BMJ) (http://www.bmj.com/content/342/bmj.c5347) Exposed: Andrew Wakefield & the MMR-autism fraud (Brian Deer) (http://briandeer.com/mmr/lancet-summary.htm) Malaria kills around 3,000 children per day (UNICEF) (https://www.unicef.org/health/files/health_africamalaria.pdf) From a tree: A 'miracle' called aspirin (CNN) (http://edition.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/12/22/aspirin.history/) Is it chemical free? (John Noble) (http://isitchemicalfree.com) Traditional Chinese medicine isn't so ancient (Curiosity) (https://curiosity.com/topics/traditional-chinese-medicine-isnt-so-ancient-curiosity/) Deepak Chopra (https://www.deepakchopra.com/?sso_code=eyJpdiI6IklEMzJSTlErTmpneUwwenBxN3pHY0E9PSIsInZhbHVlIjoicFZsMjhPR0owQU1TNFcwZitDajdLZWpmYlpsa0tCZXplZlV6XC84aCtwTVV2T0ErXC9WRnR2TUxnSEdLMVQ0YVlYTnEyaXpHUUl1bmhnZG8rTjNIRllEOUhOdnpVMWlUeHNrWGtJcktEYXdkcz0iLCJtYWMiOiIzNmVkYTdiOWQxZjNmYWQ0YzMxYWMyODdkODBkOWNjYTA4YzE0MDZlZWZkZTM3ZjliNTJhOTEyNTFhYmE3YWM2In0%3D) Pete Evans (https://peteevans.com) Pete Evans (Facebook) (https://www.facebook.com/paleochefpeteevans/) Blocked By Pete Evans (Facebook) (https://www.facebook.com/blockedbypete/) The 5 rules of success for highly effective lifestyle gurus (Vox) (https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/5/27/15698268/amanda-chantal-bacon-moon-juice) Where are you from? Send us a postcard! Strange Attractor, c/ PO Box 9, Fitzroy, VIC 3065, Australia Links from the movie's credits Dr Karl Kruszelnicki & Professor Clare Collins on the paleo diet (YouTube) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ed9Hn4VMWik) TED talk by Christina Warinner, Archaeological Scientist & expert on ancient diets, outlining the current evidence for what paleolithic people actually ate (YouTube) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMOjVYgYaG8) Dietitian's Association Australia open letter to Channel 7 regarding their ‘Paleo Challenge’ episode (Yahoo) (https://au.news.yahoo.com/sunday-night/features/a/29319010/paleo-read-the-letter-to-sunday-night-from-the-daa/#page1) Dr Ian Musgrave, Senior Lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide, on fluoride (Australia's Science Channel) (https://www.australiascience.tv/science-update-fluoride/) NSW Health water fluoridation Q&A report (NSW Health) (http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/environment/water/Documents/fluoridation-questions-and-answers-nsw.pdf) Osteoporosis Australia respond to Pete Evans on calcium & dairy (OA) (http://www.osteoporosis.org.au/experts-respond-pete-evans-calcium-and-dairy) Cancer Council Australia on nanoparticles in sunscreen (CCA) (http://www.cancer.org.au/preventing-cancer/sun-protection/nanoparticles-and-sunscreen.html) Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre, La Trobe University, information about autism spectrum disorders (OTARC) (http://www.latrobe.edu.au/otarc/families-individuals) Check out our new Fireside home Find aaaaall the great episodes & show notes & handy instructions should you feel like leaving us a cheeky iTunes review ? (http://strangeattractor.random.productions) Image credit: Wallpaper Cave

Episode 45: It's not about being right

What is nanotechnology? An invitation to enter a new field of physics: A lecture on nanotechnology that Richard Feynman gave in 1959 (Zyvex) (http://www.zyvex.com/nanotech/feynman.html) Definition of 'nano' (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nano-) Nanotechnology (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanotechnology) The National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) (http://www.nano.gov) @NNInanonews: Twitter feed of NNI (https://twitter.com/NNInanonews) Center for Responsible Nanotechnology (CRN) (http://crnano.org/whatis.htm) The billion year technology gap (The Daily Galaxy) (http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2009/11/the-billionyear-technology-gap-could-one-exist-the-weekend-feature.html) The Fermi death sentence (Nanotechnology Now) (http://www.nanotech-now.com/columns/?article=149) Explaining nanotechnology to a 5th grader (YouTube) (https://youtu.be/DAOFpgocfrg) Your fingernail grows a nanometre every second (NNCI) (http://www.nnci.net/what-nano) Bottom-up versus top-down approaches (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanotechnology#Bottom-up_approaches) Meet the nanomachines that could drive a medical revolution (Phys.org) (https://phys.org/news/2016-04-nanomachines-medical-revolution.html) Nanoparticles (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanoparticle) Scanning electron microscope (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scanning_electron_microscope) How to move an atom (IBM Research) (https://www.ibm.com/blogs/research/2013/05/how-to-move-an-atom/) 20 years of moving atoms one by one: Including how they made the IBM logo out of 35 xenon atoms (Wired) (https://www.wired.com/2009/09/gallery-atomic-science/) Scientists measure how light affects individual atoms for the first time (nanowerk) (http://www.nanowerk.com/nanotechnology-news/newsid=33617.php) Current applications of nanotechnology (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanotechnology#Applications) How nanotechnology is changing the future of medicine (MUO) (http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/nanotechnology-changing-future-medicine/) Applications of nanotechnology in medicine (Australian Science) (http://www.australianscience.com.au/biology/applications-of-nanotechnology-in-medicine/) Convergence Science Network (http://www.convergencesciencenetwork.org.au) Stentrode (ABC, Catalyst) (http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/4519966.htm) The world's first international race for molecular cars, the Nanocar Race (Phys.org) (https://phys.org/news/2017-03-world-international-molecular-cars-nanocar.html) Nanoparticles & sunscreen (Cancer Council Australia) (http://www.cancer.org.au/preventing-cancer/sun-protection/nanoparticles-and-sunscreen.html) Titanium dioxide (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanium_dioxide) Nanoparticles are all around us: Naturally-occurring vs man-made (sustainable nano) (http://sustainable-nano.com/2013/03/25/nanoparticles-are-all-around-us/) Nanoparticles in nature: Toxic or harmless? (EarthSky) (http://earthsky.org/human-world/nanoparticles-in-nature-toxic-or-harmless) Gold nanoparticles can be red or blue/purple (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colloidal_gold) "Properties such as melting point, fluorescence, electrical conductivity, magnetic permeability, & chemical reactivity change as a function of the size of the particle" (NNI) (https://www.nano.gov/nanotech-101/special) Buckminsterfullerene, or buckyballs (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckminsterfullerene) Have buckminsterfullerenes (buckyballs) been put to any practical uses? (Scientific American) (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/have-buckminsterfullerene/) It doesn't seem that any real use has been found for buckyballs yet (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckminsterfullerene#Applications) Carbon fibre (Wikpedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_fibers) Carbon nanofibre (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_nanofiber) Did Bucky Fuller really design a soccer ball? (treehugger) (https://www.treehugger.com/sustainable-product-design/did-bucky-fuller-really-design-soccer-ball.html) How can graphite & diamond be so different if they are both composed of pure carbon? (Scientific American) (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-can-graphite-and-diam/) Spiders sprayed with carbon nanotubes spin superstrong webs (Phys.org) (https://phys.org/news/2015-05-spiders-carbon-nanotubes-superstrong-webs.html) Spiders ingest nanotubes, then weave silk reinforced with carbon (MIT Technology Review) (https://www.technologyreview.com/s/537301/spiders-ingest-nanotubes-then-weave-silk-reinforced-with-carbon/) Space elevator (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_elevator) Sorry Johnny, carbon nanotubes may be too weak to get a space elevator off the ground ? (New Scientist) (https://www.newscientist.com/article/2093356-carbon-nanotubes-too-weak-to-get-a-space-elevator-off-the-ground/) LiquiGlide™: MIT's non-stick coatings leave zero waste behind (YouTube) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxyCLoYfexo) What is soap? (World of Molecules) (http://www.worldofmolecules.com/3D/soap.htm) Hydrophobic & hydrophilic: "Better understanding of how surfaces attract or repel water could improve everything from power plants to ketchup bottles" (MIT News) (http://news.mit.edu/2013/hydrophobic-and-hydrophilic-explained-0716) Origin of 'philately' (Online Etymology Dictionary) (http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=Philately) Origin of 'haemophilia' (Online Etymology Dictionary) (http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=hemophilia) Nanotechnology haemostatic gauze stops nosebleeds (nano werk) (http://www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=6829.php) Wrapping sponges in graphene nanoribbons allows for Joule heating to help clean up oil spills (Phys.org) (https://phys.org/news/2017-04-sponges-graphene-nanoribbons-joule-oil.html) Molecular nanotechnology: The next industrial revolution (Foresight Institute) (https://www.foresight.org/nano/IEEEComputer.html) Researchers use novel materials to build smallest transistor with 1-nanometer carbon nanotube gate (Phys.org) (https://phys.org/news/2016-10-materials-smallest-transistor-nanometer-carbon.html) Combating climate change (Nature Nanotechnology) (http://www.nature.com/nnano/journal/v2/n6/full/nnano.2007.168.html) 7 ways nanotechnology could provide the solutions to combat climate change (The World Nano Foundation) (http://www.worldnanofoundation.com/blog/paris-climate-summit-2016-nanotechnology-solutions-7) Where are you from? Send us a postcard! Strange Attractor, c/ PO Box 9, Fitzroy, VIC 3065, Australia Check out our new Fireside home Find aaaaall the great episodes & show notes & handy instructions should you feel like leaving us a cheeky iTunes review ? (http://strangeattractor.random.productions) Image credit: Nature/Karl-Heinz Ernst

Episode 44: A space elevator held up by a carbon spider web

What is the atmosphere? Atmosphere of Earth (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere_of_Earth) Evolution of Earth's atmosphere (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere_of_Earth#Evolution_of_Earth.27s_atmosphere) Earth's early atmosphere (Universe Today) (https://www.universetoday.com/26659/earths-early-atmosphere/) A lecture on Earth's atmosphere (The Ohio State University) (http://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~pogge/Ast141/Unit3/Lect10_Atmos.pdf) Gaseous composition of dry air (Columbia University) (http://eesc.columbia.edu/courses/ees/slides/climate/table_1.html) Not definitive, but a discussion around 'How is the equilibrium of 21% oxygen in Earth's atmosphere established?' (Earth Science Stack Exchange) (https://earthscience.stackexchange.com/questions/4574/how-is-the-equilibrium-of-21-oxygen-in-earths-atmosphere-established) The first cells were anaerobic, i.e. they didn't use oxygen (Windows 2 Universe) (http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/Life/first_life.html) The great oxygenation event: The event that transformed Earth (BBC) (http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150701-the-origin-of-the-air-we-breathe) Geological history of oxygen (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geological_history_of_oxygen) Greenhouse gases kept early Earth warm (ABC, Australia) (http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2013/07/22/3805154.htm?site=starhunt&topic=space) Stromatolites (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stromatolite) Stromatolites: The oldest fossils (Fossil Museum) (http://www.fossilmuseum.net/Tree_of_Life/Stromatolites.htm) Photosynthesis (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photosynthesis) What is the atmosphere like on other planets? (Universe Today) (https://www.universetoday.com/35796/atmosphere-of-the-planets/) Planetary atmospheres (Penn State University) (http://www2.astro.psu.edu/users/rbc/a1/lec29n.html) Did Mars' magnetic field die with a whimper or a bang? (Science, AAAS) (http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2009/04/did-marss-magnetic-field-die-whimper-or-bang) Mars’ magnetic field (Technical University of Denmark) (http://www.space.dtu.dk/english/Research/Universe_and_Solar_System/magnetic_field) What keeps Earth’s atmosphere bound to Earth? (EarthSky) (http://earthsky.org/earth/what-keeps-earths-atmosphere-on-earth) Earth’s magnetic field provides vital protection (ESA) (http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Cluster/Earth_s_magnetic_field_provides_vital_protection) A magnetic surprise from Venus (Astrobiology Magazine) (http://www.astrobio.net/also-in-news/a-magnetic-surprise-from-venus/) Core of Venus (Universe Today) (https://www.universetoday.com/36161/core-of-venus/) Venera 13: First colour pictures from Venus (Space.com) (http://www.space.com/18551-venera-13.html) Olympus Mons: The largest volcano in the solar system (BBC) (http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/solarsystem/solar_system_highlights/olympus_mons) Atmosphere of Jupiter (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere_of_Jupiter) Atmosphere of Saturn (Universe Today) (https://www.universetoday.com/24029/atmosphere-of-saturn/) Atmospheric pressure: Definition & facts (LiveScience) (http://www.livescience.com/39315-atmospheric-pressure.html) Mean sea level pressure (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric_pressure#Mean_sea_level_pressure) How does pressure change with ocean depth? (National Ocean Service) (http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/pressure.html) Total Recall: The scene where he imagines his eyes pop out when his space helmet breaks (not from The Running Man) (YouTube) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpUVPvsIF5w) How long can a human survive in outer space? (How Stuff Works, Science) (http://science.howstuffworks.com/question540.htm) Why your blood would boil in space (BBC) (http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20160617-why-your-blood-would-boil-in-space) What is boiling? (Libretext Chemistry) (https://chem.libretexts.org/Core/Physical_and_Theoretical_Chemistry/Physical_Properties_of_Matter/States_of_Matter/Phase_Transitions/Boiling) Steam (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam) It's hard to get a good cup of tea on Mount Everest as water boils at a lower temperature (Dynamic Science) (http://www.dynamicscience.com.au/tester/solutions1/space%20science/Demonstration%20of%20boiling%20point.htm) How your lungs work (How Stuff Works, Health) (http://health.howstuffworks.com/human-body/systems/respiratory/lung.htm/printable) Positive airway pressure (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_airway_pressure) Melting & boiling points of water (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celsius#Melting_and_boiling_points_of_water) Earth's atmospheric layers (NASA) (https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/science/atmosphere-layers2.html) Kármán line: 100 km above sea level & commonly represents the boundary between our atmosphere & outer space, also where aeronautics becomes astronautics (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kármán_line) The Right Stuff (IMDb) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086197/) The troposphere & tropopause (Encyclopedia.com) (http://www.encyclopedia.com/science/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/troposphere-and-tropopause) The heliosphere & heliopause (Encyclopaedia Britannica) (https://www.britannica.com/topic/heliopause) What is an aurora? (NASA) (https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/aurora/en/) The Earth's ionosphere (Stanford University) (http://solar-center.stanford.edu/SID/activities/ionosphere.html) Why do radio signals travel farther at night than in the day? (Gizmodo) (https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2015/01/why-do-radio-signals-travel-farther-at-night-than-in-the-day/) Ozone basics (NOAA) (http://www.ozonelayer.noaa.gov/science/basics.htm) Ozone depletion (Ozone Hole) (http://www.ozone-hole.org.uk/05.php) Formation of the ozone layer: "Ozone played a significant role in the evolution of life on Earth, & allows life as we presently know it to exist" (NASA, GES DISC) (https://disc.gsfc.nasa.gov/ozone/additional/science-focus/about-ozone/ozone_formation.shtml) "One chlorine atom can destroy over 100,000 ozone molecules before it is removed from the stratosphere" (EPA) (https://www.epa.gov/ozone-layer-protection/basic-ozone-layer-science) How to protect astronauts from space radiation on Mars (NASA) (https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/real-martians-how-to-protect-astronauts-from-space-radiation-on-mars) How do we protect the astronauts from space radiation? (NASA) (https://srag.jsc.nasa.gov/spaceradiation/how/how.cfm) 'Seeing' cosmic rays in space (Universe Today) (https://www.universetoday.com/94714/seeing-cosmic-rays-in-space/) Where are you from? Send us a postcard! Strange Attractor, c/ PO Box 9, Fitzroy, VIC 3065, Australia Corrections "The solar storm of August 1972 is legendary at NASA because it occurred in between two Apollo missions: the crew of Apollo 16 had returned to Earth in April & the crew of Apollo 17 was preparing for a moon landing in December" (NASA) (https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/stereo/news/stereo_astronauts.html) This is what Johnny figured out in a Spanish toilet How to measure the circumference of the Earth (Khan Academy) (https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-content/nasa/measuringuniverse/measure-the-solarsystem/v/eratosthenes_measures_earth) Check out our new Fireside home Find aaaaall the great episodes & show notes & handy instructions should you feel like leaving us a cheeky iTunes review...go on...we know you want to! (http://strangeattractor.random.productions) Image credit: Garðar Ólafsson photography

Episode 43: A cold, yet boiling, cup of tea

What is the Moon? The Moon installation touring the UK that inspired this episode (Museum of the Moon) (https://my-moon.org) Awesome simulated view of the Moon over 1 month (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libration#/media/File:Lunar_libration_with_phase_Oct_2007_450px.gif) Why do people say the Moon is made of cheese? (Mental Floss) (http://mentalfloss.com/article/53107/why-do-people-say-moon-made-cheese) Five myths about the Moon (EarthSky) (http://earthsky.org/space/five-myths-about-the-moon) Man in the Moon (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_in_the_Moon) Ancient Greek astronomy (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greek_astronomy) Eratosthenes measurement of the Earth's circumference (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eratosthenes#Measurement_of_the_Earth.27s_circumference) Aristarchus's 3rd-century BCE calculations on the relative sizes of the Sun, Earth & Moon (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greek_astronomy#/media/File:Aristarchus_working.jpg) The lunar calendar (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_calendar) The Celtic year (Living Myths) (http://www.livingmyths.com/Celticyear.htm) The death & life of the 13-month calendar (City Lab) (http://www.citylab.com/work/2014/12/the-world-almost-had-a-13-month-calendar/383610/) What causes the seasons? The Earth's tilt, which is theorised to be caused by a cosmic crash that created the Moon (NASA) (https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/seasons/en/) La Luna, Belinda Carlisle (YouTube) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RergWOAFoc) "A moon is an object that orbits a planet or something else that is not a star. Besides planets, moons can circle dwarf planets, large asteroids, & other bodies" (National Geographic) (http://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/moon/) The Moon (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon) Earth's moon (NASA) (https://moon.nasa.gov/about.cfm) Origins of 'luna' (Online Etymology Dictionary) (http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=luna) List of natural satellites, i.e. all the moons in our solar system (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_natural_satellites) Our solar system: Moons (NASA) (https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/solarsystem/moons) Origin of the Moon (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_of_the_Moon) Lunar rocks & soils from Apollo missions (NASA) (https://curator.jsc.nasa.gov/lunar/) What the Moon tells us about Earth (EarthSky) (http://earthsky.org/space/what-the-moon-can-tell-us-about-earth) The Moon does have some tectonic activity & 'moonquakes', but it's much less than on Earth (NASA) (https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/180577main_ETM.Moon.Anomalies.pdf) Moonquakes (NASA) (https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2006/15mar_moonquakes) "The tides in the oceans occur primarily because of the gravitational force of the Moon & secondarily the Sun's tidal force. Tidal forces stretch the Earth in the direction of the tide-producing body" (HyperPhysics) (http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Astro/tidfrict.html) Io & tidal heating: This young lady just won a science scholarship from Cards Against Humanity for this great video (YouTube) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OG1WRh-LvvE) They've found ice in permanently shadowed polar craters on the Moon, but not liquid water (SETI) (https://www.seti.org/faq#csc22) Why is the Moon so scarred with craters? (NASA) (https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/craters/en/) "The South Pole-Aitken basin is a huge impact crater on the far side of the Moon. Roughly 2,500 km in diameter & 13 km deep" (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Pole–Aitken_basin) Thank you Moon: GIF of the path of an asteroid's orbit that came in close contact with Earth in 2003 & will return in 2032 (9gag) (https://9gag.com/gag/a1AK5E6/gif-of-the-path-of-orbit-of-an-asteroid-that-came-in-close-contact-with-earth-in-2003-and-will-return-in-2032) The Manicouagan crater: One of the oldest known impact craters & the largest 'visible' impact crater on Earth (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manicouagan_crater) A view of the Manicouagan crater from the space station (Twitter, Chris Hadfield) (https://twitter.com/Cmdr_Hadfield/status/844596180302643200) Is there an atmosphere on the Moon? (NASA) (https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LADEE/news/lunar-atmosphere.html) Regolith (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regolith) Lunar soil (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_soil) Gravitation of the Moon (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitation_of_the_Moon) "The gravitational field of the Moon has been measured through tracking the Doppler shift of radio signals emitted by orbiting spacecraft" (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon#Gravitational_field) Does the Moon orbit the Sun or the Earth? (Wired) (https://www.wired.com/2012/12/does-the-moon-orbit-the-sun-or-the-earth/) Barycentre: "The center of mass of two or more bodies that are orbiting each other, or the point around which they both orbit" (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barycenter) Lagrange points: Parking places in space (Space.com) (http://www.space.com/30302-lagrange-points.html) Sizing up the moons of the solar system (University of Michigan, Jason Maguran) (https://www.umich.edu/~lowbrows/reflections/2008/jmaguran.1.html) Team solves the origin of the Moon's 'mascons' mystery (Phys.org) (https://phys.org/news/2013-05-team-moon-mascons-mystery.html) What colour is the Moon? (Universe Today) (https://www.universetoday.com/19626/color-of-the-moon/) Astronomical albedo (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albedo#Astronomical_albedo) Lunar & solar eclipses (NASA) (https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/eclipses/en/) Why is the Moon exactly the same apparent size from Earth as the Sun? (Astronomy Magazine) (http://www.astronomy.com/magazine/ask-astro/2000/10/why-is-the-moon-exactly-the-same-apparent-size-from-earth-as-the-sun-surely-this-cannot-be-just-coincidence-the-odds-against-such-a-perfect-match-are-enormous) Footage of the diamond ring effect from a total solar eclipse (Business Insider, Australia) (https://www.businessinsider.com.au/video-of-fridays-solar-eclipse-2015-2015-3) The Sun's corona is its outer atmosphere (NASA) (https://solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov/corona.shtml) The next solar & lunar eclipses (TimeAndDate) (https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/list.html) Manned missions to the Moon: Will NASA or others return to the surface? (ABC, Australia) (http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-05/manned-moon-mission-nasa-esa-china-looking-to-return/8397068) Does a full moon really trigger strange behaviour? (Scientific American) (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/lunacy-and-the-full-moon/) It's just a phase: The supermoon won't drive you mad (LiveScience) (http://www.livescience.com/7899-moon-myths-truth-lunar-effects.html) Extraterrestrial real estate (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraterrestrial_real_estate) "Earth's oldest, most recognised celestial real estate agency" (Lunar Land) (https://www.lunarland.com) Origins of 'lunatic' (Online Etymology Dictionary) (http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=lunatic) The United Nations Outer Space Treaty (UN Office for Outer Space Affairs) (http://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/spacelaw/treaties/introouterspacetreaty.html) Notable claims by people who think they own the Moon & other exraterrestrial real estate (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraterrestrial_real_estate#Notable_claims) Geosynchronous orbits & the Bogotá Declaration of 1976 (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraterrestrial_real_estate#Geosynchronous_orbits) Strange Attractor went to the Moon in 2016 for a backyard film festival ? (YouTube) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTkbxEihJCw) Where are you from? Send us a postcard! Strange Attractor, c/ PO Box 9, Fitzroy, VIC 3065, Australia Corrections Do photons interact with the nucleus? Probably not unless they're from a gamma ray, they mostly interact with electrons it seems (Quora) (https://www.quora.com/Do-photons-interact-with-the-nucleus) How does light reflect in terms of a photon hitting an atom? (Quora) (https://www.quora.com/How-does-light-reflect-in-terms-of-a-photon-hitting-an-atom) Why does light get reflected? Did the photon hit the nucleus? (Quora) (https://www.quora.com/Why-does-light-get-reflected-Did-the-photon-hit-the-nucleus) Check out our new Fireside home Find aaaaall the great episodes & show notes & handy instructions should you feel like leaving us a cheeky iTunes review...go on...we know you want to! (http://strangeattractor.random.productions) Image credit: NASA

Episode 42: That's a long time in a Spanish toilet

Are we alone in the universe? "Two possibilities exist: Either we are alone in the universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying" (Arthur C. Clarke, Wikiquote) (https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alien_life) "Our sun is one of 100 billion stars in our galaxy. Our galaxy is one of billions of galaxies populating the universe. It would be the height of presumption to think that we are the only living things in that enormous immensity" (Wernher von Braun, Wikiquote) (https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alien_life) The Fermi Paradox: Where are all the aliens? (Kurzgesagt, YouTube) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNhhvQGsMEc) The Fermi Paradox II: Solutions & ideas - Where are all the aliens? (Kurzgesagt, YouTube) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fQkVqno-uI) The Fermi Paradox (Wait But Why) (http://waitbutwhy.com/2014/05/fermi-paradox.html) The difference between UK & US billions & trillions (Oxford Living Dictionaries) (https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/explore/how-many-is-a-billion) What does 'life as we know it' mean? (SETI) (https://www.seti.org/faq#csc24) World's oldest fossils found in Canada, say scientists (The Guardian) (https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/mar/01/worlds-oldest-fossils-found-canada-say-scientists-quebec-haematite-377bn-428bn-years) We’ve been wrong about the origins of life for 90 years (The Conversation) (http://theconversation.com/weve-been-wrong-about-the-origins-of-life-for-90-years-63744) Life's working definition: Does it work? (NASA) (https://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/starsgalaxies/life%27s_working_definition.html) Life (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life) Extraterrestrial life (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life#Extraterrestrial) NASA finds evidence of a vast ancient ocean on Mars (The Guardian) (https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/mar/05/nasa-finds-evidence-of-a-vast-ancient-ocean-on-mars) What did Mars looks like when it had water? (IFL Science) (http://www.iflscience.com/space/what-did-mars-look-when-it-had-water/) The secret of how life on Earth began (BBC) (http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20161026-the-secret-of-how-life-on-earth-began) How did life arise on Earth? (LiveScience) (http://www.livescience.com/1804-greatest-mysteries-life-arise-earth.html) Where did life originate? There's new thinking that hydrothermal vents were important (University of California) (http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/0_0_0/origsoflife_03) Has life only started once on Earth? (The Naked Scientists) (https://www.thenakedscientists.com/articles/questions/has-life-only-started-once-earth) "The Moon is thought to have formed about 4.51 billion years ago, not long after Earth" (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon) Where did the moon come from? (NASA) (https://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/questions/question38.html) Origin of the moon (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_of_the_Moon) Religion for the non-religious: An article about consciousness, among other things; kinda related to thinking about aliens operating on a much higher level than us (Wait But Why) (http://waitbutwhy.com/2014/10/religion-for-the-nonreligious.html) Plasma aliens could live inside “Black Clouds”: Extraterrestrial life can be stranger than we even dare to imagine (Message To Eagle) (http://www.messagetoeagle.com/plasma-aliens-could-live-inside-black-clouds-extraterrestrial-life-can-be-stranger-than-we-even-dare-to-imagine/) Your lifetime by the numbers (Big Think) (http://bigthink.com/paul-ratner/how-many-days-of-your-life-do-you-have-sex-your-lifetime-by-the-numbers) 100 blocks a day: An article that gets you thinking about how many times you have left to do certain things (Wait But Why) (http://waitbutwhy.com/2016/10/100-blocks-day.html) Q (Star Trek) (http://www.startrek.com/database_article/q) NASA confirms evidence that liquid water flows on today’s Mars (NASA) (https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-confirms-evidence-that-liquid-water-flows-on-today-s-mars) What kind of life would we find on Titan? (Phys.org) (https://phys.org/news/2015-10-kind-life-titan.html) Stephen Hawking on non-carbon-based alien life (The Daily Galaxy) (http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2011/05/stephen-hawking-on-non-carbon-based-alien-life.html) Neil deGrasse Tyson discusses how the laws of physics hold across the universe (Neil deGrasse Tyson) (http://www.haydenplanetarium.org/tyson/read/2000/11/01/on-earth-as-in-the-heavens) Is Stephen Hawking right about aliens? (The Guardian) (https://www.theguardian.com/science/2010/apr/30/stephen-hawking-right-aliens) Humanity only has around 1,000 years left on Earth, Stephen Hawking predicts (Science Alert) (http://www.sciencealert.com/humanity-only-has-around-1-000-years-left-on-earth-stephen-hawking-predicts) Prof. Stephen Hawking says alien life is real, warns humans not to make contact (Anonymous) (http://anonhq.com/professor-stephen-hawking-says-alien-life-real-warns-humans-not-make-contact/) Elon Musk announces his plan to colonise Mars & save humanity (Wired) (https://www.wired.com/2016/09/elon-musk-colonize-mars/) The billion-year technology gap: Could one exist? (The Daily Galaxy) (http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2009/11/the-billionyear-technology-gap-could-one-exist-the-weekend-feature.html) Dark energy, dark matter (NASA) (https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/what-is-dark-energy) Dark matter & dark energy (National Geographic) (http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/space/dark-matter/) Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI Institute) (http://www.seti.org) SETI@home: The project where SETI uses your computer when you're not (SETI) (https://setiathome.berkeley.edu) Folding@home: The project where the protein folding people use your computer when you're not (Stanford University) (https://folding.stanford.edu) SKA telescope to generate more data than entire internet in 2020 (Computer World) (http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/392735/ska_telescope_generate_more_data_than_entire_internet_2020/) Broadcasting messages into space (SETI) (https://www.seti.org/seti-institute/project/details/broadcasting-message) Why do you think an extraterrestrial civilisation will broadcast in the microwave part of the radio spectrum? (SETI) (https://www.seti.org/faq#obs8) SETI has tried to see if any radio signals are coming from TRAPPIST-1 (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRAPPIST-1#Radio_signal_search) Where is the search for extraterrestrial life up to? (ABC, Australia) (http://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2016-10-10/extraterrestrial-life-where-is-the-search-up-to/7885364) Advanced alien civilisations rare or absent in the local universe (Phys.org) (https://phys.org/news/2015-09-advanced-alien-civilizations-rare-absent.html) How far has the first radio signal/data transmission to space travelled? (Quora) (https://www.quora.com/How-far-has-the-first-radio-signal-data-transmission-to-space-traveled-to-date) This date in science: First intentional radio message to space (EarthSky) (http://earthsky.org/space/this-date-in-science-first-radio-signal-beamed-to-space) What are gravitational waves? (LIGO) (https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/page/what-are-gw) What is a Dyson sphere? (EarthSky) (http://earthsky.org/space/what-is-a-dyson-sphere) 7 types of advanced cosmic civilisations (Big Think) (http://bigthink.com/paul-ratner/this-mind-bending-scale-predicts-the-power-of-advanced-civilizations) Arrival: The Movie (IMDb) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2543164/) If we ever came across aliens, would we be able to understand them? (Phys.org) (https://phys.org/news/2016-07-aliens.html) If aliens contact us, we won't understand (Astronomy) (http://www.astronomy.com/bonus/alien-contact) V: The TV show (IMDb) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086822/) Philosophical concepts in Star Trek: Using Star Trek as a curriculum guide introducing fans to the subject of philosophy (James Gunn's Ad Astra) (http://www.adastrasf.com/philosophical-concepts-in-star-trek/) The economic lessons of Star Trek’s money-free society (Wired) (https://www.wired.com/2016/05/geeks-guide-star-trek-economics/) The 'no dickheads' policy (Golden Plains) (http://aunty.goldenplains.com.au/what-goes-on/dickhead-policy/) Where are Voyagers 1 & 2 right now? (NASA, JPL) (http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/where/) Enceladus, moon of Saturn (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enceladus) Tidal friction: How the moon stretches Earth & causes tides (HyperPhysics) (http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Astro/tidfrict.html) Where are you from? Send us a postcard! Strange Attractor, c/ PO Box 9, Fitzroy, VIC 3065, Australia Corrections We were kind of vague about how cells might have evolved...here's a little more detail (University of California) (http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/_0/endosymbiosis_03) How life made the leap from single cells to multicellular animals (Wired) (https://www.wired.com/2014/08/where-animals-come-from/) Endosymbiotic theory of evolution of eukaryotic cells (University of Sydney) (http://bugs.bio.usyd.edu.au/learning/resources/CAL/Microconcepts/Evolution/theory.html) Check out our new Fireside home Find aaaaall the great episodes & show notes & handy instructions should you feel like leaving us a cheeky iTunes review...go on...we know you want to! (http://strangeattractor.random.productions) Image credit: NASA

Episode 41: Holy Jesus look at that civilisation over there!

How do we see things in space? TRAPPIST-1: "Presenting humanity with many opportunities to study terrestrial worlds beyond our solar system" (TRAPPIST-1) (http://www.trappist.one) TRAPPIST-1 (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRAPPIST-1) What is astronomy? (Space.com) (http://www.space.com/16014-astronomy.html) How do (visual) telescopes work? (How Stuff Works, Science) (http://science.howstuffworks.com/telescope.htm/printable) Galileo Galilei (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_Galilei) Four of Jupiter's 67 moons, Io, Europa, Ganymede & Callisto, are known as the 'Galilean' moons (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_Galilei#Jupiter.27s_moons) Galilieo got in big trouble from the church for saying that the Earth was not the centre of everything (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_Galilei#Controversy_over_heliocentrism) Galileo gives an eternal bird to the church: His middle finger is displayed in a jar in Florence (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_Galilei#/media/File:Dito_della_mano_destra_di_galileo,_in_teca_del_1737.JPG) The Galilean moons have regular orbits, but most of Jupiter's moons have orbits that are a bit random (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moons_of_Jupiter#Regular_satellites) The electromagnetic spectrum (Cosmos) (http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/E/Electromagnetic+Spectrum) The electromagnetic spectrum & telescopes (NASA) (https://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/toolbox/emspectrum1.html) It takes more than one kind of telescope to see the light (NASA) (https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/1999/features/ast20apr99_1) Observatories across the electromagnetic spectrum (NASA) (https://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/toolbox/emspectrum_observatories1.html) A list of all the space telescopes (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_space_telescopes) A list of the oldest observatories on Earth (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Observatory#Oldest_astronomical_observatories) How do telescopes let us see so far into space? (BBC, Science) (http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/0/20937803) How scientists get data from the universe, process it, archive it & analyse it (NASA) (https://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/data/data.html) Hubble Space Telescope: Detects near infrared, visible & ultraviolet light (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubble_Space_Telescope) Hubble Site (NASA) (http://hubblesite.org) A fresh take on the Horsehead Nebula (Hubble Space Telescope, ESA) (https://www.spacetelescope.org/news/heic1307/) Making images out of different kinds of raw data from space (NASA) (https://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/toolbox/images1.html) The Hertzsprung-Russell diagram (CSIRO, Australia Telescope National Facility) (http://www.atnf.csiro.au/outreach/education/senior/astrophysics/stellarevolution_hrintro.html) The Hertzsprung-Russell diagram (Cosmos) (http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/H/Hertzsprung-Russell+Diagram) Main sequence stars (CSIRO, Australia Telescope National Facility) (http://www.atnf.csiro.au/outreach/education/senior/astrophysics/stellarevolution_mainsequence.html) Main sequence lifetime (Cosmos) (http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/M/Main+Sequence+Lifetime) Detecting other worlds: The wobble method (SETI) (http://archive.seti.org/seti/seti-science/detecting_new/wobble_method.php) How can you tell between different types of stellar wobble? (The Naked Scientists) (https://www.thenakedscientists.com/articles/questions/how-can-you-tell-between-different-types-stellar-wobble) "The Sun is a G-type main-sequence star (G2V) based on its spectral class, & is informally referred to as a yellow dwarf" (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun) Spectra & what they can tell us (NASA) (https://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/toolbox/spectra1.html) Astronomical spectroscopy (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomical_spectroscopy) What is a stellar nursery? (wiseGEEK) (http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-stellar-nursery.htm) An image of a stellar nursery (NASA) (https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_643.html) ‘Space beacons’ reveal the Milky Way’s very old core (Space Answers) (https://www.spaceanswers.com/news/space-beacons-reveal-the-milky-ways-ancient-core1/) A timeline of the TRAPPIST-1 discoveries & the telescopes involved (TRAPPIST-1) (http://www.trappist.one/#timeline) The James Webb telescope (NASA) (https://jwst.nasa.gov) Kepler Space Telescope: Exoplanet hunter (Space.com) (http://www.space.com/24903-kepler-space-telescope.html) Belgian astronomers celebrated the discovery of the TRAPPIST-1 exoplanet system with Trappist beer (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRAPPIST-1#Discovery_and_nomenclature) 5 ways to find a planet (NASA) (https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/interactable/11/) The planets orbiting TRAPPIST-1 were discovered using the 'transit method' of detection (TRAPPIST-1) (http://www.trappist.one/#timeline) The planets orbiting TRAPPIST-1 are quite close to the star & three are in the habitable zone (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRAPPIST-1#Planetary_system) What is the Goldilocks Zone & why does it matter in the search for ET? (ABC, Australia) (http://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2016-02-22/goldilocks-zones-habitable-zone-astrobiology-exoplanets/6907836) Search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI Institute) (http://www.seti.org) SETI has tried to see if any radio signals are coming from TRAPPIST-1 (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRAPPIST-1#Radio_signal_search) Where is the search for extraterrestrial life up to? (ABC, Australia) (http://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2016-10-10/extraterrestrial-life-where-is-the-search-up-to/7885364) The billion-year technology gap: Could one exist? (The Daily Galaxy) (http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2009/11/the-billionyear-technology-gap-could-one-exist-the-weekend-feature.html) Advanced alien civilizations rare or absent in the local universe (Phys.org) (https://phys.org/news/2015-09-advanced-alien-civilizations-rare-absent.html) The hydrogen 21 cm line (HyperPhysics) (http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/quantum/h21.html) A proper paper about 21cm intensity mapping: "Using the 21 cm line, observed all‐sky & across the redshift range from 0 to 5, the large scale structure of the universe can be mapped in three dimensions" (Cornell University Library, Peterson JB et al.) (https://arxiv.org/pdf/0902.3091.pdf) The Very Large Telescope (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Very_Large_Telescope) The Extremely Large Telescope (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extremely_large_telescope) The Overwhelmingly Large Telescope (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overwhelmingly_Large_Telescope) The Deep Space Network (NASA, JPL) (https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/deepspace/) Canberra has several telescopes that are part of the Deep Space Network (NASA) (http://www.cdscc.nasa.gov) The Square Kilometre Array Telescope (SKA, Australia) (http://www.ska.gov.au/Pages/default.aspx) SKA telescope to generate more data than entire internet in 2020 (Computer World) (http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/392735/ska_telescope_generate_more_data_than_entire_internet_2020/) SKA amazing facts (SKA) (https://skatelescope.org/amazingfacts/) "Astrology is the mass cultural delusion that the apparent position of the sun & planets relative to arbitrarily defined "star signs" at the time of your birth somehow affects your personality & future" (Rational Wiki) (http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Astrology) Astrology is still bullshit & the universe doesn't care about you (Gizmodo) (http://gizmodo.com/5733709/astrology-is-still-bullshit-and-the-universe-doesnt-care-about-you) Flecks of extraterrestrial dust, all over the roof: An amazing article about a Norwegian Jazz musician who collects space dust (The New York Times) (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/10/science/space-dust-on-earth.html?em_pos=large&emc=edit_sc_20170314&nl=science-times&nlid=74390037&ref=headline&te=1&mtrref=undefined) Where are you from? Send us a postcard! Strange Attractor, c/ PO Box 9, Fitzroy, VIC 3065, Australia Corrections TRAPPIST-1 is thought to be an ultra-cool dwarf, not a brown dwarf (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRAPPIST-1#Stellar_characteristics) The James Webb telescope will detect infrared energy, not radio (NASA) (https://jwst.nasa.gov/about.html) Johnny meant 'wavelength' when talking about the hydrogen 21 cm line, not 'frequency' (HyperPhysics) (http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/quantum/h21.html) Check out our new Fireside home Find aaaaall the great episodes & show notes & handy instructions should you feel like leaving us a cheeky iTunes review...go on...we know you want to! (http://strangeattractor.random.productions) Image credit: Iván Éder

Episode 40: We saw your wobble

How does computer storage work? Timeline of computer memory & storage with cool pictures (Computer History) (http://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/memory-storage/) Computer memory (Explain That Stuff!) (http://www.explainthatstuff.com/how-computer-memory-works.html) Random-access memory, or RAM (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Random-access_memory) How RAM works (How Stuff Works, Tech) (http://computer.howstuffworks.com/ram.htm) Read-only memory, or ROM (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Read-only_memory) How ROM works (How Stuff Works, Tech) (http://computer.howstuffworks.com/rom.htm) How does a hard drive work? (Explain That Stuff!) (http://www.explainthatstuff.com/harddrive.html) Non-volatile memory (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-volatile_memory) What is the difference between volatile & non-volatile memory? (Reference) (https://www.reference.com/technology/difference-between-volatile-nonvolatile-memory-b77f02418af85655) Computer data storage (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_data_storage) Punched cards (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punched_card) What is a Turing machine? (University of Cambridge) (https://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/projects/raspberrypi/tutorials/turing-machine/one.html) IBM’s role in the holocaust: What the new documents reveal (The Huffington Post) (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/edwin-black/ibm-holocaust_b_1301691.html) Magnetic tape (Computer History) (http://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/memory-storage/8/258) Magnetic tape for data storage: An enduring technology (IEEE) (http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/ieee_pilot/articles/96jproc11/jproc-RDee-2004311/article.html) Loading retrogames on tape on C64 (YouTube) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnHW-f5ayhs) Johnny's first computer: The Sinclair Spectrum ZX (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZX_Spectrum) A Sinclair ZX Spectrum loading a game (YouTube) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0EfycbDhiw) How floppy disc drives work (How Stuff Works, Tech) (http://computer.howstuffworks.com/floppy-disk-drive.htm) Optical disc (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_disc) CDs & DVDs (Explain That Stuff!) (http://www.explainthatstuff.com/cdplayers.html) More data storage? Here’s how to fit 1,000 terabytes on a DVD (The Conversation) (http://theconversation.com/more-data-storage-heres-how-to-fit-1-000-terabytes-on-a-dvd-15306) The difference between hard & soft copy (Difference Between) (http://www.differencebetween.info/difference-between-hard-copy-and-soft-copy) Hard disc drive failure (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_disk_drive_failure) Photo of a hard drive 'head crash' (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_disk_drive_failure#/media/File:Hard_disk_failure.jpeg) How long do hard drives actually live for? (Extreme Tech) (https://www.extremetech.com/computing/170748-how-long-do-hard-drives-actually-live-for) 'Flying height': "The distance between the disc read/write head on a hard disc drive & the platter" (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_height) What does it mean when a hard disc has a head crash? (How Stuff Works, Tech) (http://computer.howstuffworks.com/question60.htm) A hard drive head crashing (YouTube) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3TZ4uf1JEI) A hard disc drive head parking (YouTube) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtAJTb0WFUI) When should you properly 'eject' your thumb drive? (How-To Geek) (https://www.howtogeek.com/69869/when-should-you-properly-eject-your-thumb-drive/) 'Active hard-drive protection': Features that help if you drop your laptop (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_hard-drive_protection) What is fragmentation & defragmentation? (lifewire) (https://www.lifewire.com/free-defrag-software-tools-2619172) What is 'defragging' & do I need to do it to my computer? (LifeHacker) (http://lifehacker.com/5976424/what-is-defragging-and-do-i-need-to-do-it-to-my-computer) How is RAM made & why does the price fluctuate? (Make Use Of) (http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-is-ram-made-and-why-does-the-price-fluctuate/) How does a central processing unit (CPU) work? (How Stuff Works, Tech) (http://computer.howstuffworks.com/microprocessor.htm) Paging (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paging) What is memory paging? (TechTarget) (http://searchservervirtualization.techtarget.com/definition/memory-paging) Physical computer memory & virtual memory (Science Encyclopedia) (http://science.jrank.org/pages/1698/Computer-Memory-Physical-Virtual-Memory.html) How does flash memory work? (Explain That Stuff!) (http://www.explainthatstuff.com/flashmemory.html) USB flash drive (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_flash_drive) Photo of RAM chips (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Random-access_memory#/media/File:Memory_module_DDRAM_20-03-2006.jpg) Hard disc drive versus solid state drive: What’s the diff? (BackBlaze) (https://www.backblaze.com/blog/hdd-versus-ssd-whats-the-diff/) Solid-state drive, or SSD (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive) Are RAM drives faster than SSDs? 5 things you must know (Make Use Of) (http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/ram-drives-faster-ssds-5-things-must-know/) Why deleted files can be recovered & how you can prevent it (How-To Geek) (https://www.howtogeek.com/125521/htg-explains-why-deleted-files-can-be-recovered-and-how-you-can-prevent-it/) How to wipe a hard drive (lifewire) (https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-wipe-a-hard-drive-2624527) Where are you from? Send us a postcard! Strange Attractor, c/ PO Box 9, Fitzroy, VIC 3065, Australia Corrections iPhone hard drives are encrypted, but always wipe it before selling (Darth Null) (https://www.darthnull.org/2014/10/06/ios-encryption) Check out our new Fireside home Find aaaaall the great episodes & show notes & handy instructions should you feel like leaving us a cheeky iTunes review...go on...we know you want to! (http://strangeattractor.random.productions)

Episode 39: All my crimes are still on the computer

An unscripted conversation between Johnny Noble and Lucy Butcher about sciencey stuff over a wine/s/s/s. And the occasional wasabi pea. At least one of us stumbles home having learned something new and interesting. After listening to this podcast, we hope you stumble off with something new too.

hubhopper

Strange Attractor

hubhopper