FLASHCARDS! The Physics of Shoveling Snow

FLASHCARDS! The Physics of Shoveling Snow

The hol­i­days have end­ed, the dec­o­ra­tions have come down, and many peo­ple have stepped out­side to find that the ground has been qui­et­ly trans­formed into a dense, slip­pery physics problem. 

FLASHCARDS! The Riddle of Love

FLASHCARDS! The Riddle of Love

It’s Flash­cards Fri­days, and today I’m going to talk about some­thing qui­et­ly uni­ver­sal about what humans do when the year begins to slow down. Across cul­tures, across cen­turies, when the days grow short­er and the nights stretch long, peo­ple gath­er. They sit clos­er togeth­er. They talk more. They tell sto­ries. And again and again, they pose ques­tions that do not

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The History of Jigsaw Puzzles

The History of Jigsaw Puzzles

You might not think of jig­saw puz­zles as sci­en­tif­ic objects. They seem sooth­ing, domes­tic, almost med­i­ta­tive. But behind every lit­tle card­board piece is a sur­pris­ing­ly rich sto­ry, one that spans glob­al explo­ration, tech­no­log­i­cal inno­va­tion, Vic­to­ri­an par­lor cul­ture, eco­nom­ic upheaval, wartime mate­r­i­al short­ages, cog­ni­tive sci­ence, and the dig­i­tal age. And it all begins with an Eng­lish car­tog­ra­ph­er who want­ed to teach children

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FLASHCARDS! Your Brain on Puzzles

FLASHCARDS! Your Brain on Puzzles

Today we explore some­thing won­der­ful­ly nerdy: the neu­ro­science of puz­zles. Not just why puz­zles are fun, but what your brain is actu­al­ly doing the moment you lean over a cross­word, a log­ic grid, or a deli­cious­ly tricky time-trav­el cipher.

HOLIDAY PUZZLE 2025!

HOLIDAY PUZZLE 2025!

UPDATE!! AS OF DECEMBER 18, NO ONE HAS SUBMITTED CORRECT ANSWERS! SO THANKS TO DAVID T. AT ASU, THE PUZZLE HAS BEEN GIVEN AN EXTENSION TO DECEMBER 31, 2025!  Wel­come to Math! Sci­ence! His­to­ry! It’s Decem­ber and that means it is Puz­zle Month. Hi, I’m Gabrielle Bir­chak. I’m a sci­ence com­mu­ni­ca­tor with a back­ground in math, sci­ence, and jour­nal­ism. This year,

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Carl Friedrich Gauss: The Quiet Genius Who Transformed Math, Astronomy & Modern Science

Carl Friedrich Gauss: The Quiet Genius Who Transformed Math, Astronomy & Modern Science

Wel­come to Math! Sci­ence! His­to­ry!, Today we’re explor­ing the sto­ry and the myths sur­round­ing Carl Friedrich Gauss, the Prince of Math­e­mat­ics. This isn’t because he chased fame, he didn’t, but because his insights were so deep they silent­ly built the scaf­fold­ing of mod­ern sci­ence. Hi, I’m Gabrielle Bir­chak. I’m a sci­ence com­mu­ni­ca­tor with a back­ground in math, sci­ence and journalism.

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FLASHCARDS! Does Turkey Really Make You Tired? The Science of Tryptophan and Holiday Meals

FLASHCARDS! Does Turkey Really Make You Tired? The Science of Tryptophan and Holiday Meals

Thank you for tun­ing into today’s pod­cast! If you are here for the recipes, just scroll to the bot­tom! PODCAST TRANSCRIPTS Wel­come to Flash­cards Fri­day! Today we’re tak­ing a clos­er look at some­thing that shows up every Novem­ber: tryp­to­phan. Yes, that mys­te­ri­ous amino acid that gets blamed every year for the leg­endary “post-Thanks­­giv­ing nap.” Turkey is the star wit­ness, but

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It’s Pumpkin Spice Season!

It’s Pumpkin Spice Season!

Dis­cov­er the chem­istry of fla­vor, the his­to­ry of spices, and the math behind the per­fect pump­kin spice lat­te. Grab your favorite pump­kin spice treat, get cozy, and join me on this fla­vor­ful exploration!