Tag: forever

• Block the Sun and a Battery of Waste

  The crisis of global climate change is causing some researchers to consider drastic measures, including the idea of sending nanoparticles into the atmosphere to reflect the sun's rays away from Earth. But the government of Sweden isn't having it. Anthony and Jeff debate the science of blotting out the sun. Then, what if you could have a battery that lasts 28,000 years? A new startup aims to have a working prototype available in 2 years. The catch? It's made out of nuclear waste. Jeff and Anthony have some concerns. [more]

  April 16, 2021Episodes

• Zeptoseconds and Mummy Twinkies

  Scientists have measured the shortest unit of time ever: the time it takes a light particle to cross a hydrogen molecule: 247 zeptoseconds. A zeptosecond is a trillionth of a billionth of a second, or a decimal point followed by 20 zeroes and a 1. Anthony and Jeff sort through all of the smallest units of time and how they were named. Then, Colin Purrington thought that Twinkies could never go bad, so he bit into one he had been holding onto for 8 years. What he found led him to send it to some fungi scientists. Jeff and Anthony discuss what happened to these horrifying treats, perfect for Spook-tober! [more]

  November 2, 2020Episodes

• Lethal Collection

  "What if we told you we could back up your mind?" That's the business pitch of Nectome, a preserve-your-brain-and-upload-it company. The catch? They have to kill you first. Its chemical solution can keep a body intact for hundreds of years, maybe thousands, as a statue of frozen glass. The idea is that someday in the future scientists will scan your bricked brain and turn it into a computer simulation. That way, someone a lot like you, though not exactly you, will smell the flowers again in a data server somewhere. Jeff and Anthony accuse each other of already having undergone the procedure. [more]

  March 26, 2018Episodes