Mitochondrial Eve
On January 1, 1987, a paper was published in the journal Nature which rocked the world of anthropology. Researchers Allan Wilson, Mark Stoneking, and Rebecca Cann used the then-new science of genetic ...
21 Feb 202110min
The Elevator
Some of the things we use every day were invented in the distant past. Other things were invented quite recently. However, there is a category of inventions that have been known forever, but no one ev...
20 Feb 202110min
Space Junk
In 1957, Sputnik was launched into orbit as the world’s first artificial satellite. Today, 64 years later, there are more than 1,000,000 objects larger than 1 centimeter floating around the Earth. Alm...
19 Feb 202110min
Who Was the Richest Person in History? (Encore)
Jeff Bezos, the founder, and CEO of Amazon was recently named the richest person in the world. This is primarily a function of the stock he owns in the company and the company’s valuation in the stock...
18 Feb 202112min
Why are French Fries called French Fries? (Encore)
Everyone loves french fries. It is one of the few things which most people can agree on in the world today. The average American consumes over 16 pounds of them every year, and they have become a stap...
17 Feb 20219min
Why Doesn't the US Use the Metric System? (Encore)
Of the 193 countries in the United Nations, exactly three haven’t adopted the widespread use of the metric system: Myanmar, Liberia, and the United States of America. Of those three, the US is the cou...
16 Feb 202112min
Decimation
You are probably familiar with the term decimation. The word is usually used in English to mean “to cause great destruction or harm”. However, to ancient Rome, the word had a very different and very s...
15 Feb 20218min
The Theremin
You are probably familiar with the four basic types of musical instruments: strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion. However, is it possible to have an instrument that doesn’t fit into one of these ...
14 Feb 20219min
