It's April in 1940. The Nazis are occupying Copenhagen. As they march through the streets, a stark realisation hits the physicist Niels Bohr. He has hours - maybe less - to make two Nobel Prize medals disappear completely. What might a substance named Aqua Regia and a humble beaker do conceal two huge lumps of gold? And bring it back again...a decade later. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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8:46
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8:46
How far can bull frogs jump? (And why it matters!)
The story of a frog who broke records and confounded science. Professor Tom Roberts from Brown University spent his whole career studying the biomechanics of frog jumping to understand how muscles work. He and other scientists had determined the average bullfrog's jump to be just over 1 meter. Very impressive, until, that is, they met 'Rosie the Ribeter'. This bull frog had achieved a 2.2 meter jump at a local competition. But how? Professor Roberts was perplexed when he could repeatedly failed to replicate these results in the lab. Why was Rosie able to break records in a contest but not in the research room? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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11:46
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11:46
Are friars electric?
In 1746, Antoine Nolie conducted an experiment with 200 monks to determine the speed of an electric current - by making the monks stand in a circle holding brass poles and connecting them to a large battery. What could possibly go wrong? And what would this experiment reveal about the way electrons flow? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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8:53
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8:53
Islands of Ice and Straw
In this episode of Making Science, Tom Whipple delves into the intriguing science of latent heat and the thermodynamic properties of water - and how this science played a pivotal role in one of the strangest Allied schemes during World War II - a plan to create an 'iceberg aircraft carrier' known as Project Habakkuk. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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9:04
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9:04
War, stones and metals!
When the Stone Age met the Bronze Age? It's time for Tom to explore the profound impact of alloys on a clash of Stone and Bronze Age technologies in battle. Who would have thought blending copper and tin would have such an impact on human history! How are alloys created? What properties made them useful? And what transformative role did they play in ancient toolmaking and modern engineering? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
What connects 200 hand-holding monks, a lump of gold hidden in a beaker, and irradiated cocktails? Welcome to Making Science with Tom Whipple, Science Editor at The Times and Sunday Times. This is the podcast where history, innovation, and the unexpected collide, as we uncover jaw-dropping stories behind the scientific discoveries we take for granted. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Listen to Making Science with Tom Whipple, After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal and many other podcasts from around the world with the radio.net app
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