logo
episode-header-image
Apr 2020
1h 6m

The Cataclysm Sentence

Wnyc Studios
About this episode
One day in 1961, the famous physicist Richard Feynman stepped in front of a Caltech lecture hall and posed this question to a group of undergraduate students: “If, in some cataclysm, all of scientific knowledge were to be destroyed, and only one sentence was passed on to the next generation of creatures, what statement would contain the most information in t ... Show More
Up next
Jan 9
Brain Balls
When neuroscientist Madeline Lancaster was a brand new postdoc, she accidentally used an expired protein gel in a lab experiment and noticed something weird. The stem cells she was trying to grow in a dish were self-assembling. The result? Madeline was the first person ever to gr ... Show More
41m 29s
Jan 2
Moon Trees
In 1971, a red-headed, tree-loving astronaut named Stu ‘Smokey’ Roosa was asked to take something to the moon with him. Of all things, he chose to take a canister of 500 tree seeds. After orbiting the moon 34 times, the seeds made it back to Earth. NASA decided to plant the seeds ... Show More
35m 6s
Dec 26
Fertility Cliff
As she -- and her friends — approached the age of 35, senior correspondent Molly Webster kept hearing a phrase over and over: “fertility cliff.” It was a short-hand term to describe what she was told would happen to her fertility after she turned 35 — that is, it would drop off. ... Show More
26m 28s
Recommended Episodes
Feb 2019
Love, Hate, and Sex from the History of Science
<p>This Valentine's Day we could have just brought you some sappy love stories from science's past. But instead we offer you three tales of lust, loneliness, betrayal, pettiness, and not one, but two beheadings.</p> <h2>Credits</h2> <p>Hosts: <a href="file:///profile/alexis-j-ped ... Show More
38m 34s
Feb 2024
The Vanishing Mr. Feynman
<p>In his final years, Richard Feynman's curiosity took him to some surprising places. We hear from his companions on the trips he took — and one he wasn’t able to. (Part three of <a href="https://freakonomics.com/podcast-tag/richard-feynman/">a three-part series</a>.)</p><p> </p ... Show More
1h 1m
Feb 2024
The Brilliant Mr. Feynman
<p>What happens when an existentially depressed and recently widowed young physicist from Queens gets a fresh start in California? We follow Richard Feynman out west, to explore his long and extremely fruitful second act. (Part two of <a href="https://freakonomics.com/podcast-tag ... Show More
52m 41s
Feb 2024
The Curious Mr. Feynman
<p>From the Manhattan Project to the Challenger investigation, the physicist Richard Feynman loved to shoot down what he called “lousy ideas.” Today, the world is awash in lousy ideas — so maybe it’s time to get some more Feynman in our lives? (Part one of a three-part series.)</ ... Show More
1h 2m
Sep 2020
Astrology: Are Geminis the Worst?
For centuries, people have been looking to the stars to tell us all kinds of things — what our future holds, who we should date. So what does the science say about astrology? It turns out, there’s some surprising stuff here. We speak to astronomer Prof. Caty Pilachowski, Prof. Da ... Show More
25m 40s
Dec 2021
CrowdScience Christmas bonanza
<p>Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens – CrowdScience has covered a lot this year. And what better way to see out 2021 than to look back at a few of our (and your!) favourite things? Great questions are right at the top of the team’s list – especially with the way that for ... Show More
31m 43s
Jul 2020
What If Your Teacher Were A.I.? - Guests: Dr. Joanna Bryson and Dr. Jutta Treviranus
Sign up for the Great Courses today to receive the first month for free: https://bit.ly/great-courses-what-if Is A.I. the future of education? Could human teachers one day be replaced by robots? How can A.I. enhance the educational experience? What are the pros and cons of A.I ... Show More
47m 27s
Jun 2022
The Joy of Science, with Jim Al-Khalili
Professor Jim Al-Khalili is the physicist who makes science look easy. He’s the author of several books, the latest of which is The Joy of Science, which offers eight core scientific principles that can be applied to everyday life. As a broadcaster Jim is perhaps best known as th ... Show More
41m 55s
Feb 2024
Extra: Mr. Feynman Takes a Trip — But Doesn’t Fall
tail spinning
47m 31s