The Element in the Room

FromChemistry World Book Club

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The Element in the Room

FromChemistry World Book Club

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Length:

22 minutes

Released:

Mar 9, 2018

Format:

Podcast episode

Description

For this month’s podcast, we peruse Steve Mould and Helen Arney’s new book: The Element in the Room. Inspired by the popular science stand-up show, Festival of the Spoken Nerd, the book takes us on an energetic journey of discovery through science, showing us how to do a range of science experiments at home, and revealing facts and intriguing snippets of information that often get ignored.

Released:

Mar 9, 2018

Format:

Podcast episode

Titles in the series (78)

Meet the authors of the latest popular science books, and join Chemistry World for a review and discussion of the topics the book raises. Join in on twitter by using #bookclubCW

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Herding Hemingway's Cats: This month we discuss by Kat Arney. In Ernest Hemingway's house in Florida there is a family six-toed cats. Their appearance is caused by a mutation in the molecular switch that controls the Sonic hedgehog gene. These cats provided Kat Arney... by Chemistry World Book Club
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Big data: does size matter?: This month, we discuss the benefits of big data and whether these are offset by their threat to privacy by Chemistry World Book Club
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Adventures in the Anthropocene: A journey to the heart of the planet we made by Chemistry World Book Club
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Scientific Babel: This month we examine the history of scientific language, with Michael Gordin's book . We ask whether the mixture of science and language can be distilled, or if our reactions to words are too strongly bonded to their meaning. We'll discover how... by Chemistry World Book Club
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A is for Arsenic: Welcome to our new monthly podcast, theChemistry World Book Club. Each month we’ll be sharing our thoughts on one of the latest popular science releases and interview the authors to find out what inspired them to write about science. Join us for a... by Chemistry World Book Club
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Why does asparagus make your wee smell?: This month we answer the profound qustion This is the title of Andy Brunning's new book, which addresses a smorgasbord of questions about food and drink in a scientific manner. You can read here, and . We want to include... by Chemistry World Book Club
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The Elements of Power: This month we discuss by David Abraham. New technologies like smart phones and wind turbines are increasing the diversity of elements that humanitiy is ustilising. Amongst them are the rare metals, which may not acutually be rare, but they often... by Chemistry World Book Club
23 min listen
Bring back the king: Almost a decade after its extinction, the Pyrenean ibex became newly un-extinct thanks to cloning. But what are the limits of this technology? Could we one day visit a real-life Jurassic Park? Bring back the king by Helen Pilcher recounts the... by Chemistry World Book Club
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Grunt: the curious science of humans at war: This month we discuss by Mary Roach. The military is a huge investor in scientific and technological development. Mary Roach gained access to those who carry out research into those technologies of warfare that aren’t to do with weapons. Her... by Chemistry World Book Club
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Sorting the beef from the bull: This month we discuss by Richard Evershed and Nicola Temple. The horsemeat scandal opened our eyes to the fact that the food we eat is not always what it claims to be. Just how widespread is the problem, how do we detect it and what changes need... by Chemistry World Book Club
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Why science is sexist: This month we discuss by Nicola Gaston. That science is sexist – it is. Rather, she wants to know why a field that prides itself in being rational should behave so illogically.We discuss the research she presents on unconscious bias, in... by Chemistry World Book Club
23 min listen
Science and the city: the mechanics behind the metropolis: In this month’s book club we discuss the technologies that help modern cities function by Chemistry World Book Club
21 min listen
Thing explainer: This month we discuss Thing explainer by Randall Munroe. In this book the creator attempts to explain things as diverse as the International Space Station and the human body, using only the most common ten hundred words in the English... by Chemistry World Book Club
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The Element in the Room: For this month’s podcast, we peruse Steve Mould and Helen Arney’s new book: The Element in the Room. Inspired by the popular science stand-up show, Festival of the Spoken Nerd, the book takes us on an energetic journey of discovery... by Chemistry World Book Club
22 min listen
Chemistry World at the Hay Festival: Join Emma Stoye at the Hay Festival of Literature & Arts in Hay-on-Wye, Wales. She speaks to New Scientist's Rowan Hooper about his book Superhuman, finds out from Philip Ball why quantum physics is Beyond Weird, and discusses the genesis of... by Chemistry World Book Club
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I contain multitudes: the microbes within us and a grander view of life: Some cleaning agents claim to kill 99.9% of all bacteria, but if preventing disease is the main aim, then maybe total annihilation isn’t the best course to take. We discuss this and other lessons we have learnt by studying the microbiome: the... by Chemistry World Book Club
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We have no idea: Everything you need to know about everything we don’t yet know. This month’s book is We have no idea by the creators of PHD Comics, Jorge Cham and Daniel Whiteson. It discusses the great unsolved problems of physics in a way which is... by Chemistry World Book Club
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Losing the Nobel Prize: This month’s podcast is about the Nobel prize and the hype that has surrounded it for decades, as described in Brian Keating’s new book Losing the Nobel Prize. In 2014, Keating was confident that the invention he had helped to create –... by Chemistry World Book Club
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The master algorithm: If there’s one thing we can learn from histroy it’s everything that there is to know. Or at least that’s the promise of machine learning. by Pedro Domingos tells us how machines that learn are starting to transform the world, bringing us... by Chemistry World Book Club
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Scientific Paper Writing – a Survival Guide: This month we discuss by Bodil Holst. Every budding researcher must eventually write a scientific paper, and yet how to do this is not something that is usually taught. Some supervisors provide excellent guidance and others – let's be diplomatic... by Chemistry World Book Club
29 min listen
Homo deus and the best books of 2016: Yuval Noah Harari likes the big topics. His last book, Sapiens attempted to explain everything that has happened in the history of humanity. In his latest book he examines everything that will happen in humanity’s future. In part 1 of the podcast,... by Chemistry World Book Club
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Chemistry: This month we discuss Chemistry, in which First-time novelist Weike Wang takes us inside the mind of a Chinese American PhD student in Boston by Chemistry World Book Club
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More molecules of murder: This month we discuss More molecules of murder, in which John Emsley meets your morbid fascination with stories of true crime and the poisons involved by Chemistry World Book Club
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Seeds of Science: For this month’s podcast, we explore the world of anti-GM campaigning which Mark Lynas was a part of for years, and discover what it was that made him turn his back on his extreme views. The book looks at how and why he decided to help scientists on... by Chemistry World Book Club
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Unthinkable: In this month’s podcast presented by Emma Stoye, Helen Thomson reveals fascinating insights about some of the rarest neurological conditions known to science. From a man whose synesthesia allows him to see auras, to a woman who lacks a... by Chemistry World Book Club
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The death of expertise: The mass disparagement of knowledge is a recent phenomenon. Apparently we’ve all had enough of experts, and facts aren’t important, as there are always alternatives. In , Tom Nichols considers how facts fell out of favour, and what it means for... by Chemistry World Book Club
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How to: absurd scientific advice for common real world problems: Have you ever considered the practicalities of building a swimming pool out of cheese? Or wondered what it would take to surround your house with a lava moat? Even if you have never thought about these outlandish questions, Randall Munroe has the... by Chemistry World Book Club
19 min listen
The telomere effect: We would all love the gift of eternal youth. That remains a dream, but there are things we can actively do to resist the effects of ageing. One proven approach is to protect our telomeres, the short chains of DNA that cap our chromosones. The telomere... by Chemistry World Book Club
22 min listen
The angry chef: Dodgy dietary advice is everywhere, from bite-size morsels on social media to an all-you-can-eat buffet of books on how to eat ‘well’. ‘Lifestyle gurus’ dish up directions such as ‘cut out gluten’ or ‘consume like a caveman’, but much... by Chemistry World Book Club
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Furry logic: Evolution has created ingenious solutions to life’s problems. Some animals use physics in a way that stumps even the physicists. Turtles, for instance, venture thousands of miles across the ocean, yet return with precision to the exact beach from... by Chemistry World Book Club
21 min listen

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The Element in the Room

The Element in the Room

Description

Titles in the series (78)

More Episodes from Chemistry World Book Club

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