Sabine

3D Printed Rockets & We Might Be Getting Dumber

New Data Visualization App From Google & The U.N.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has partnered with Google to produce 2023-03-15 19:15:01 +0000 UTC View Post

Science News March 15

[This is a transcript with references.]

Welcome everyone to this week’s science news. Today we’ll talk about a potential breakthrough in room temperature superconductivity, new clues about the origin of water on Earth, the best ever model of our geological past, a recent repor...

I believe chatbots understand some of what they say. Let me explain.

[This is a transcript.]

Does an artificially intelligent chatbot understand what it’s chatting about? A year ago, I’d have answered this question with “clearly not”. It’s just a “turbocharged autocomplete” or a “stochastic parrot,” as people more eloquent than me...

Coming up on March 11

I used to think that today's "artificially intelligent" bots are actually pretty dumb, but I've recently changed my mind. On Saturday I want to argue that they partly understand what they do, if not very much of it. 

2023-03-10 07:38:20 +0000 UTC View Post

Earth's Innermost Core & is Marijuana Bad for You?

A Nanosatellite From RNA

It doesn’t fly, but researchers from Aarhus University and Berkeley Laboratory have found a way to coax RNA molecules into custom shapes, and cr...

Science News March 8

[This is a transcript with references.]

Welcome everyone to this week’s science news. Today we’ll talk about a new LHC anomaly, wakefield acceleration, nuclear fusion progress, how to look around corners in augmented reality, the largest magnetic fields we’ve ever seen, engin...

Marijuana: Legalize or not?

[This is a transcript with references.]

More than 200 million people use marijuana. It’s the most widely used drug worldwide, after alcohol, caffeine, and YouTube. In contrast to thos...

Coming up on March 4

This weekend we'll talk about marijuana. What are the risks, what are the benefits, is it a good idea to legalize it? Despite never using it, I had many friends who did. I've always been in favor of legalization and I'm glad the Germans are finally getting there.

In my student days bought ...

A One-Atom Computer & The Genetics of Mathematical Ability

Non-Dusting Surfaces

Researchers from the University of Texas have imprinted surfaces with nanometer-sized pyramids and found it to drastically increase the amount of dust...

Science News March 1

[This is a transcript with references.]

Welcome everyone to this week’s science news. Today we’ll talk about computers made of human brain cells, galaxies that are too big to exist, how the Brits prevented a global chocolate disaster, what the Milky Way’s black hole is having...

An Air Condition for the Planet: How Would it Work?

[This is a transcript with references.]

Imagine you come home on a cold winter day, take off the gloves, and turn on the heating. You heat with oil and feel a little bad about it, but we’ve got used to that worry. So here’s something new to worry about. What happens with the he...

Coming up on Feb 25

All power plants create waste heat that contributes to global warming. At the moment, the contribution is fairly small, but if mankind flourishes it is bound to increase and eventually it will become a problem. The only thing we an do about it is to build an air condition for the planet. Scientis...

Damage to the Ozone Layer & The Untapped Potential of Geothermal Energy

Scientists Concerned More Rocket Launches Might Damage Ozone Layer

The number of rocket launches per year has almost doubled in the past few decades, and many companies ar...

Science News Feb 22

[This is a transcript with references.]

Welcome everyone to this week’s science news. Today we’ll talk about whether dark energy is made of black holes, four types of solar systems, exoboots, whether banning short-haul flights makes sense, 3D printing with sound, smart contact...

The Untapped Potential of Geothermal Energy

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In 2007, the mayor of the small German town Staufen decided to do his part fo...

Coming up on Feb 18

There's a lot of energy below our feet. But how much can geothermal energy realistically help with reaching net zero? What are the risks, what are the problems, and is it carbon neutral in the first place? On Saturday, I'll sort out the numbers for you.

2023-02-17 12:09:06 +0000 UTC View Post

Moondust & The Physics Of Time

Moondust Against Global Warming?

A group of scientists from t...

Science News Feb 15

[This is a transcript with references.]

Welcome everyone to this week’s science news. Today we’ll talk about a mysterious laser beam over Hawaii, brain scans in court, a link between quantum chips, self-flying airplanes, better sensors for self-driving cars, how to weave a mes...

Sponsor Troubles

The main bulk of our expenses, as probably those of many YouTubers, is covered by our sponsors. These are the integrations for special offers that you see at the beginning or the end of the video.
2023-02-14 17:04:00 +0000 UTC View Post

What is going wrong in particle physics?

[This is a transcript of the video.]

If you follow news about particle physics, then you know that it comes in three types. It’s either that they haven’t found that thing they were looking for. Or they’ve come up with something new to look for. Which they’ll later report n...

Coming up on Feb 11

From various exchange that I have had on social media in the past months I got the unfortunate impression that particle physicists are attempting to misunderstand my criticism on their methodology. I believe it's because most of them start from the assumption that of course what I say must be wro...

Honey Bees vs. Wild Bees and How the Greenhouse Effect Really Works

Nobel Prize Winners, Write For Kids, And It’s All Open Access

"Frontiers for Young Minds” is a sc...

Science News Feb 8

[This is a transcript with references.]

Welcome everyone to this week’s science news. Today we’ll talk about how to look inside a nuclear reactor with muons, eight new signals that came up in a search for extra-terrestrial intelligence, why Germany wants to bring back direct c...

How the Greenhouse Effect Really Works

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I thought I understood how carbon dioxide emissions cause global warming. Turned out I got it completely wrong. I was about to sweep my misunderstanding under the carpet. But then I thought, what if I’m not the only one. What if we’re all...

Coming Up On Feb 4

One of the things, if not THE thing, that bothers me most about science news is that journalists seem to have entirely given up explaining climate science. It's now just "the science is settled" and "we shall not question". Of course this doesn't sit well with a lot of people who actually want ex...

Shark Populations and Genetic Screenings

Data Presentation Affects Our Expectations

A study from the City University of London has found that connecting data points with a line leads to stronger expectations abou...

Science News Feb 1

[This is a transcript with references]

Welcome everyone to this week’s science news. Today we’ll talk about changes in the Earth’s core, a quantum computer that folds a mini-protein, radioactive water that the Japanese want to dump into the ocean, NASA’s plans for a nuclear...

Genetic Screening: Risks and Benefits

[This is a transcript with references.] 

The American NBA player Shawn Bradley is 7 foot 6. A genetic analysis found that his height score is more than 4 standard deviations above the population ...

Deepfakes and Nuclear Explosions

U.S. Certifies Its First Small Modular Reactor

T...

Coming up on Jan 28

Few technology have the potential to shape society as much as choosing the genes that we pass on to our children. While gene editing is still somewhat in the future, genetic screening is already reality. On Saturday, I talk about the risks and benefits of genetic screening: what genetic tests are...