Does traffic spread like a virus?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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