Benjamin Banneker, the Black Authority that Shaped DC

Benjamin Banneker, the Black Authority that Shaped DC

The nation spoke in the lan­guage of lib­er­ty, but it had been built to deny lib­er­ty. It praised rea­son, but it fenced rea­son off by race. Yet here was a self-taught Black astronomer doing pre­cise fed­er­al work for the cap­i­tal of the Unit­ed States.

Hobbes v. Boyle: Who Decides Scientific Facts

Hobbes v. Boyle: Who Decides Scientific Facts

In the 1600s, philoso­pher Thomas Hobbes and exper­i­men­tal sci­en­tist Robert Boyle clashed over a strange new machine, the air pump, and a dan­ger­ous ques­tion: when should soci­ety trust sci­en­tif­ic claims, and who gets to decide? Their dis­agree­ment wasn’t just about experiments … 

The Sun Dagger: How Ancient Puebloans Made Calendars from Sunlight

The Sun Dagger: How Ancient Puebloans Made Calendars from Sunlight

Before cal­en­dars were print­ed, before clocks ticked, and before num­bers were writ­ten, humans looked up. We looked up at the sky not just to admire the beau­ty of the stars and celes­tial bod­ies, but also to pre­dict the best times for plant­i­ng and har­vest­ing crops. So stargaz­ing was not just an enjoy­able endeav­or; it was a method of sur­vival. In

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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! 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!

FLASHCARDS! Imagination Is the Engine of Science.

FLASHCARDS! Imagination Is the Engine of Science.

TRANSCRIPTS Wel­come to Flash­cards Fri­days! If you had a chance to lis­ten to Tuesday’s episode, I inter­viewed the the­o­ret­i­cal physi­cist Dr. Ronald Mal­lett, who shares how a moment of heart­break in his child­hood became the foun­da­tion for his entire sci­en­tif­ic career. It’s an inspir­ing inter­view, and I hope you lis­ten to it. Today I’m fol­low­ing up on his con­clud­ing state­ment, and

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Turning Grief into Physics: Dr. Ronald Mallett’s Journey Through Time

Turning Grief into Physics: Dr. Ronald Mallett’s Journey Through Time

PODCAST TRANSCRIPTS Gabrielle Bir­chak I just fin­ished edit­ing this fan­tas­tic inter­view with Dr. Ronald Mal­lett, Pro­fes­sor Emer­i­tus of Physics at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Con­necti­cut. This episode of Math Sci­ence His­to­ry is all about explor­ing one of physics most dar­ing fron­tiers, time trav­el. Dr. Mal­lett has spent a life­time inves­ti­gat­ing whether light itself can twist space time enough to form loops

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