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135 – High-Energy Neutrinos and the IceCube Neutrino Observatory

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(average: 4.68)
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This episode covers the discovery (strictly speaking, “strong evidence”) for high-energy (astrophysical) neutrinos. The discovery was announced on 22 November 2013. In this episode we talk with DESY‘s Markus Ackermann about the the evidence for astrophysical neutrinos and why they are important. We also discuss how the the IceCube Neutrino Observatory works, which opened up this new field of astronomy. We conclude with a brief conversation about traveling to, and living at the south pole, where IceCube is located.

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130 – Violin Physics

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(average: 4.57)
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In this episode we investigate the physics of the violin in a conversation with Jim Woodhouse of Cambridge University. We discuss the way the bow interacts with the strings, the different vibration modes of the body and how they influence the sound and the playability of the violin as well as how scientific methods (can) help with understanding existing and creating new violins.

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119 – Chaos

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(average: 4.56)
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This episode is about chaos, or more specifically non-linear dynamics and sensitive dependency on initial conditions. We talk to Harry Swinney and Michael Marder, both from UT Austin’s Center for Nonlinear Dynamics. We discuss the basics of chaos, the kinds of systems that exhibit chaotic behavior, fractals, the phase space and the strange attractor. We also discussed practical applications of chaos theory and Harry’s and Michael’s current work.

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104 – Space Flight Dynamics

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(average: 4.80)
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In this episode we talk to Rainer Kresken of ESA ESOC Darmstadt about orbital mechanics and space flight dynamics. We have obviously addressed this topic in earlier episodes, this episode really diggs down deeper, and helped me understand the concepts and the challenges much better.

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102 – Discovering the Higgs

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(average: 4.82)
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This episode wraps up our recent coverage on particle physics by discussing in some detail the recent discovery of a Higgs particle. Our guest in this episode is Kerstin Borras who heads up the CMS group at DESY. We recap the role of the Higgs very briefly, look in some detail at the two detectors CMS and ATLAS, discuss the importance of the famous five sigma and look at the process by which such a discovery is confirmed and (re-)checked.

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