The WOW! Signal
On August 15, 1977, for a period of 72 seconds, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence had its greatest moment. A signal was received like none other before or since. However, in the over 45 y...
6 Aug 202313min
Questions & Answers: Volume 9
As I do every month, I went to the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus to meet with the Augurs. I met an old priest, and I asked him, “Quo die est felicissimum?” He looked at a flock of birds that appeared ...
5 Aug 202311min
Ancient Colors (Encore)
When people from prehistory created the first works of art on the walls of caves, they used the colors that they found around them. Almost all of the early cave art is drawn in black or dark red. As ...
4 Aug 202310min
Singapore
Located at the narrowest point in the Strait of Malacca, one of the most strategically important points on Earth is the nation of Singapore. Singapore is unlike most other countries in the world for a...
3 Aug 202313min
Permutations and Combinations
Whenever there is a lottery, the odds of winning are given. If you go to a pizzeria, they might tell you the number of possible pizzas that can be made, given their toppings. If you have a combinati...
2 Aug 202315min
Space Elevators
You’ve probably seen footage of a rocket launch. There is a bunch of smoke and fire as the rocket lifts off to begin its flight to achieve an altitude and velocity which will get it into orbit. It wo...
1 Aug 202314min
Alma Schindler Mahler Gropius Werfel
In the movie Forrest Gump, one man finds himself at the center of historical events, encountering famous people over the course of decades. While Forrest Gump was fictitious, there have been people wh...
31 Jul 202316min
Betamax vs. VHS
Back in the late 1970s and early 1980s, a war erupted in the world of video technology. Two competing video tape formats fought to gain supremacy in the market. In the end, one format crushed the othe...
30 Jul 202313min
