Adam, Brian, Carmen, and Jeff discuss the importance of accurately estimating time and budget as a practicing engineer. Brian frequently makes estimates as part of his professional duties. Detrimental effects of our anchoring bias are noted by Jeff. We reference lecture notes from Francine Warner of Kennesaw State University in this episode. In making estimates, […]
We catch up with Sam Feller (who previously joined us in Episode 70), discussing his interests, projects, and latest entrepreneurial ventures. Having left industry to pursue an academic career, Jeff isn’t chomping at the bit to move back into the entrepreneurial world. Our guest for this episode is Sam Feller, a mechanical engineer who may […]
In an episode that was recorded in early October, Adam, Carmen, and Jeff reflect on their summer activities, and on plans for the remaining months of 2017. Carmen spent a lot of his summer traveling, both domestically and internationally. Although he spends a good deal of time dealing with marketing people, Carmen claims that he’s […]
Adam, Brian, Carmen, and Jeff consider the boundaries of one’s own competence in this episode of The Engineering Commons. Competencies seem to be driven by past failures, notes Brian. For learning about “magical potions” developed with “unicorn science” (chemical engineering), Brian recommends the NurdRage channel on YouTube. Brian takes a cruel pleasure in seeing Mehdi […]
In this episode of The Engineering Commons, the gang discusses tailoring a presentation to meet the needs and interests of your intended audience. Adam’s favorite form of communication is an old-fashioned face-to-face conversation. The data throughput of smoke signals is a bit too slow for Carmen’s needs. Jeff suggests flag semaphore as an alternative means […]
Brian Cox and Robin Ince expand their knowledge of elasticity with Olympian Bryony Page, comedian Jessica Fostekew & experts Dr Anna Ploszajski and Prof James Busfield from Queen Mary University of London. What makes stretchy things stretch? Together our panel journey through different applications of elastic materials and examine, at the molecular level, what happens […]
Brian Cox and Robin Ince investigate the science of baby making - don’t worry, all theory, no practice! They are joined by Professor Joyce Harper, Dr Ben Steventon and comedian Sara Pascoe to discuss how just two cells can turn into trillions, or in other words, how an embryo can turn into an embryologist.The embryo-building […]
Brian Cox and Robin Ince consider how different our understanding of the universe would be without the stars. They are joined by Maggie Aderin-Pocock, Roberto Trotta and comedian John Bishop who illuminate all that we have learnt from the stars and how different life would be without them.Every culture has looked up at the night […]
Brian Cox and Robin Ince emerge from the hedge row waking up their guests from hibernation to discuss the fascinating lives of Britain’s favourite mammal, the hedgehog. They are joined by hedgehog experts Hugh Warwick and Sophie Lund Rasmussen (also know as Dr Hedgehog), and by broadcaster and poet Pam Ayres. Sophie Lund Rasmussen has […]
Brian Cox and Robin Ince head to Bletchley Park with comedian Alan Davies, and cyber experts Victoria Baines and Richard Benham to decode cyberwarfare and discuss its future.As computers have shrunk from the size of rooms to fitting in our jacket pockets, our cyber sleuths explore the changing nature of cyber-attacks and defence. They decipher […]
The joint U.S.-European Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich is the next in a line of Earth-observing satellites that will collect the most accurate data yet on sea level and how it changes over time.
To prepare the Perseverance rover for its date with Mars, NASA’s Mars 2020 mission team conducted a wide array of tests to help ensure a successful entry, descent and landing at the Red Planet.
In this episode of the podcast we shake things up! Neil is on the guest side of the table with his partner Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner to discuss their upcoming project Gods and Robots. Katherine is joined on the host side by friend of the show professor Michael Littman. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Hosted on Acast. […]
On this episode we feature an interview with Madhulika Shrikumar of the Partnership on AI about their recent work Managing Risk and Responsible PublicationSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Neil and Katherine chat about ICML and the timely award winner of this years test of time award! Bayesian Learning via Stochastic Gradient Langevin DynamicsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Devin Guillory of UC Berkeley, is our guest on this episode. We talk about his love of robotics, working at the center of a new hype (learning with less labels) and his paper Combatting Anti-Blackness in the AI Community. He recently gave a talk on the subject the University of Toronto See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. […]
We're not bringing you an episode this week. We're taking some time to think about the systems we take part in and how those perpetuate anti black racism and the effects of that on the work in this field. We'd like to bring you meaningful conversations around those systems and how we can change them and ourselves. […]
How can we ensure technology evolves ethically in a rapidly advancing world? Neil deGrasse Tyson, Chuck Nice & Gary O’Reilly explore the challenges of designing a future where human values and AI coexist with The Future of Life Award’s 2024 recipients, Batya Friedman & Steve Omohundro.Thanks to our friends at Future of Life Institute for […]
Could we create warp drive someday? Neil deGrasse Tyson and co-host Chuck Nice team up with astrophysicist Charles Liu to dive into the science, technology, and legacy of one of the most influential sci-fi franchises of all time: Star Trek.NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can listen to this entire episode commercial-free here: https://startalkmedia.com/show/to-boldly-go-where-no-startalk-has-gone-before-with-charles-liu/Thanks to our Patrons Brady Harmon, […]
Could life hitchhike across planets? What color is the sky on Mars? Neil deGrasse Tyson and Bill Nye, the current CEO of The Planetary Society, team up to discuss the science and advocacy that goes into space exploration, unraveling the threads of discovery that define humanity's quest to understand the cosmos.NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can listen […]
How do food, science, and culture collide? For the first time on podcast, we’re airing Neil deGrasse Tyson’s 2018 interview with author and food expert Anthony Bourdain in its entirety. We reflect back on our differences in taste, what food is like in Antarctica, and the importance and universality of food in our lives.NOTE: StarTalk+ […]
Could you travel back in time through a wormhole? Neil deGrasse Tyson sits down with theoretical physicist and Nobel Laureate Kip Thorne to reflect on discovering gravitational waves with LIGO, the science in the movie Interstellar, black holes, and many more mysteries still yet to be answered.NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can listen to this entire episode […]
Back in 2012, when we were putting together our live show In the Dark, Jad and Robert called up Dave Wolf to ask him if he had any stories about darkness. And boy, did he. Dave told us two stories that became the finale of our show.Back in late 1997, Dave Wolf was on his […]
In August of 1973, Jan-Erik Olsson walked into the lobby of a bank in central Stockholm. He fired his submachine gun at the ceiling and yelled “The party starts now!” Then he started taking hostages. For the next six days, Swedish police and international media would tie themselves in knots trying to understand what seemed […]
In today’s story, which originally aired in 2014, we meet a very special cylinder. It's the gold standard (or, in this case, the platinum-iridium standard) for measuring mass. For decades it's been coddled and cared for and treated like a tiny king. But, as we learn from writer Andrew Marantz, things change—even things that were […]
When he rounded them up, he had a 100.A few months ago, Wendy Zukerman invited our own Latif Nasser to come on her show, and, of course, he jumped at the chance. Laughter ensued, as they set off to find the "The Funniest Joke in the World." When you just Google something like that, the internet […]
It's hard to start a conversation with a stranger—especially when that stranger is, well, different. He doesn't share your customs, celebrate your holidays, watch your TV shows, or even speak your language. Plus he has a blowhole.In this episode, which originally aired in the summer of 2014, we try to make contact with some of […]
The effect, known as the Hubble Tension, has been confirmed by James Webb Space Telescope observations. Also, despite near daily warnings of food recalls, 2024 hasn’t been that different from previous years.The Universe Is Expanding Faster Than ExpectedThere’s still a lot to be learned about the physics of our universe—and one of the most perplexing […]
The microbiome, the network of tens of trillions of microbes that live in and on our bodies, helps us digest food and protects us from diseases. And depending on what species of bacteria you have, your microbiome could impact your stress response, decision-making, and how likely you are to develop arthritis and depression.Scientists have known […]
When you consider someone’s legacy in science, you might think about their biggest discovery, their list of publications, or their titles, awards, and prizes. But another kind of scientific legacy involves the students and colleagues that passed through a scientist’s orbit over the course of a career.A new book, The Elements of Marie Curie: How […]
There are a lot of holiday gatherings at this time of year, and families getting together can mean that kids are in places that don’t normally have a lot of kid visitors. And, as we know, curious kids can get into trouble.Dr. Sing-Yi Feng, a pediatric emergency physician and medical toxicologist with the North Texas […]
It’s that time of the year when you’re making your list, checking it twice, for gifts that spark a love of science for the kids in your life. Ira talks with Mahnaz Dar, young readers’ editor at Kirkus Reviews and Carrie Wolfson, collection development librarian at the Boulder Public Library to round up some of the […]
Engineering Commons
