Podcasts and Vodcasts by Topic
Chaos
The Guessing Game - June 25, 2010
Physicists shared their tips for making a better educated guess when it comes to mathematical estimations. For example, the common contest of guessing the number of jelly beans in a jar is not best approached by attempting to count every visible jelly bean. Instead, experts suggest counting the number of beans in one row and then multiplying that by the number of layers in the jar. A broader approach is more effective than getting tied up in the smaller details.
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Creating Science Masterpieces - May 31, 2010
Materials science and engineering students coincidentally created microscopic art out of particles of pollen they are studying.
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Phantom Traffic Jams - May 24, 2010
Mathematicians Explain How Traffic Jams Form Without Apparent Cause
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Taking Math to the Streets - May 11, 2010
Mathematicians reveal the hidden math in everyday life, finding numerical patterns in common places like your bathroom tile and backyard fence.
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Life On Mars - April 12, 2010
Atmospheric Scientists and Physicists Discover Lightning on Mars Using Unique Detector
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Inside the Wind - November 20, 2009
Aerospace Engineers Use Wind Tunnel to Study Hurricane-Strength Winds
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Smart Bridge Keeping Drivers Safe - November 06, 2009
Civil engineers installed approximately 400 sensors in a bridge to monitor how corrosion, temperature and traffic loans impact the structure.
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Making Rain - July 17, 2009
Researchers found that bacteria can initiate ice formation when super-cooled water droplets condense around the microbes and found evidence of these microbes in snow and rain samples from around the world.
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Big Quakes Trigger Small Quakes - February 06, 2009
Seismologists Find Large Earthquakes Can Trigger Smaller Ones in Unlikely Locations
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Jupiter's Little Red Spot - December 08, 2008
Planetary Scientists Detect Strong Winds in Anticyclone on Jupiter
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Evacuation Routes go Hi-Tech - November 24, 2008
Civil Engineers Design Disaster Evacuation System
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Predicting When Tornadoes Will Strike - November 10, 2008
Meteorologists Examine Relationship of El Nino and Winter Tornadoes in the U.S.
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Science of Origami - September 26, 2008
Mathematicians and Artists Use Algorithms to Make Complicated Paper Sculptures
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Man-Made Hurricanes - September 15, 2008
Civil Engineers Create High-Powered Hurricane Simulator
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NASA Saving Lives - September 12, 2008
Earth Scientists and Meteorologists Create Historically-Based, Realistic Weather Animations
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Knowing Where Tornadoes Will Strike - August 01, 2008
Meteorologists recently studied the effect of gravity waves on tornado formation. They found that when gravity waves push down on rotating thunderstorms the storm compresses and spins faster. Being able to recognize and track gravity waves before they reach thunderclouds allows meteorologists to better predict tornadoes, increasing both the accuracy of their predictions and the amount of warning time that they can provide.
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Creating 21st Century Video Games - November 01, 2007
A computer science student created an updated form of the classic video game Pong. The ball appears to move unpredictably, but is actually governed by algorithms that analyze the fluid dynamics of actual plasmas. Careful programming that considers the plasmaýs mathematical properties allows players to activate a vacuum effect or plasma jet that moves the ball in physically realistic ways as well.
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Ice, Ice, Baby! - February 01, 2007
When droplets of melted snow drip down an icicle, they release small amounts of heat as they freeze. Heated air travels upwards and helps slow down the growth of the icicle's top, while the tip is growing rapidly. Knowledge of the mathematical equations that govern icicle growth -- the same that apply to stalactites -- could help in the prevention of icicle formation on power lines.
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Rip Current Secrets Revealed - August 01, 2006
Rip currents flow in very erratic patterns, not in steady courses as previously believed -- which may help explain why they can be so dangerous even for experienced swimmers. Oceanographers have discovered the behavior by tracking the motion of colored dye added to a wave pool generating rip currents.
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The Mystery of Black Holes - December 01, 2005
A satellite called Swift is revealing that black holes have a messier birth than previously thought. Instead of being created in one instant, astrophysicists now believe after a star dies and collapses -- ultimately forming a black hole -- it continues to cause havoc. The baby black hole devours material while at the same time spewing it back out, a process that is revealed in multiple outbursts of gamma rays.
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Underwater Weather Watchers - January 01, 2005
Researchers are now collecting valuable information about ocean weather from a fleet of cost-effective instruments called Argo floats. Using hydraulic fluid in internal and external sacs, each float sinks about a mile and a half underwater. Every ten days, the float rises to the surface and transmits information on the ocean temperature and salt content. Researchers hope Argo will improve the ability to forecast the paths of hurricanes and where they will make their landfall.
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Protecting Your Privacy - February 01, 2004
The physics of quantum cryptography is the basis for Quantum Privacy Network (QPN). This network can send a message that is hacker proof. Photons are attached to each message. If a hacker intercepts the message the photon is removed and the sender and receiver are alerted that the message has been intercepted.
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