Episode 18: The Next Chapter

Imagine a concept so simple you learnt about it in primary school, but so complex that you can earn a $1 million prize for solving a problem related to it. It’s puzzled the greatest mathematical brains for thousands of years, and there are computers solely dedicated to it. I’m talking about prime numbers. But why are they such a big deal - after all it's just a name for a certain type of number, so why are we so obsessed with them over other numbers? Well it’s actually so complex that this is going to be a two parter episode to finish this season of Schrödinger's Chat, so buckle up and, let’s begin!

Imagine a concept so simple you learnt about it in primary school, but so complex that you can earn a $1 million prize for solving a problem related to it. It’s puzzled the greatest mathematical brains for thousands of years, and there are computers solely dedicated to it. I’m talking about prime numbers. But why are they such a big deal - after all it's just a name for a certain type of number, so why are we so obsessed with them over other numbers? Well it’s actually so complex that this is going to be a two parter episode to finish this season of Schrödinger's Chat, so buckle up and, let’s begin!

Hello! Just a little update about Schrödinger's Chat! I have some exciting news, and plans for the future...

Hello! Welcome back! This episode, we are doing a bit of a thought experiment about the Moon. The Earth and the Moon are so closely related, both directly in their physical effects on each other, but also indirectly. Through the effect they have on evolution, culture, seasons, and how we measure time. We all know the Moon is there and many people know the odd thing about the Moon affecting the tides on Earth, but I thought the best way to understand how much of an impact the Moon has on earth would be to consider what would the Earth be like without the Moon? 

Hello, welcome back! This episode is part of one of the mini series I have in this podcast - Bookworm(hole), where, in simplest terms, I discuss science books I’ve read, my thoughts on them, and what I’d recommend to you. So far there has only been one previous episode in this series, that was all the way back in episode 5. In that, I actually discussed three non fiction science books. So more than 10 episodes later, I think it is high time for another bookish episode. Today, however, I am only going to talk about one book, and instead of a non-fiction science book, it’s a sci-fi book. it is one of my favourite books ever, not just in the sci-fi genre, but out of all books. And it is Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir.

I wonder what comes to your mind when I mention something that emits light. Perhaps a lightbulb, flames, or the sun. Maybe phone screens, the moon, or light reflecting off a shiny surface. In fact I think we often mainly associate light with astronomical objects like stars, fire, or man made electrical things like lightbulbs. However, there is another category of light emitting things that is more obscure but amazing. I’m talking about bioluminescence. In Episode 11, The Dark Side of Light, we looked at all the negative effects of light pollution on the natural world, so this episode, let’s look at the light that does belong: nature’s extraordinary way of producing its own light.

Today, we are looking at the invisible geniuses: three scientists who have fallen into relative obscurity, or whose work was overshadowed by others at the time. But it’s time they get the recognition they deserve, so our three legends today are: Rosalind Franklin, Alfred Russel Wallace, and Jocelyn Bell Burnell. Hopefully, this episode will enlighten you about some of these amazing scientists who you may not have heard of, and maybe highlight just how many unseen amazing people were really behind famous groundbreaking discoveries.

Welcome to episode 13! Some would call it unlucky, dangerous even, and to others, it’s just another number.  But why 13? What did the number 13 ever do wrong, and why do we feel things are unlucky? In this episode, I want to explore why humans turn randomness into story and superstition; and is luck a real thing at all, or is maths and probability actually behind everything? There will be history, maths, and a bit of psychology, all to ask: what does ‘unlucky’ even mean?

Rare, beautiful, and almost magical. A rainbow is one of the few natural phenomena that doesn’t need any explanation to make you go ‘wow’. But understanding why it happens makes it even cooler. In this episode, we are taking a deep dive into a piece of physics magic: rainbows. How and why do they form? Why are they that shape? And could you ever find the end of a rainbow?

Light is great. It’s beautiful, a symbol of hope, positivity, knowledge, and imagination, and of course we need light here on Earth to survive. However, you can have too much of a good thing, especially when that thing is created by humans. This episode, we are looking at the impacts of artificial light on the environment, and on our ability to observe the cosmos, and how that affects us on Earth. This is the dark side of light.