The Rest Is Science

Most people use just a fraction of the words they understand. But how big is your vocabulary, really? When a listener builds a tool that claims to measure it, Hannah and Michael put themselves to the test. If you'd like to try for yourself, follow the link and tell us what score you get in the comments: https://vocabowl-870366514258.us-west1.run.app/ Along the way they uncover forgotten words, obscure linguistic curiosities, and a surprising question hiding beneath the quiz itself: what does it mean to know a word? After the break, they tackle your questions and answer a nuclear pizza problem, explain why humans can grow such remarkably long hair, and ask whether everyone has a voice inside their head. ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/our-research/rest-is-science Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking here.⁠⁠ ------------------- Video Producer: Adam Thornton + Oli Oakley + Jack Meek Animator: Sam Benson Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell Assistant Producer: Lucy Lipscombe Producer: Simona Rata Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What do lightning, wireless electricity, Cambridge dining etiquette, hypnosis, and a lovestruck pigeon have in common? The answer is (of course) Nikola Tesla. In this episode of The Rest Is Science: Field Notes, Michael and Hannah experience a real Tesla coil, exploring the spectacular physics behind one of Tesla's most famous inventions. Why do these devices create miniature lightning storms? How did Tesla dream of delivering wireless electricity to the entire planet? But there was a stranger side to Tesla's life too, from his fear of pearls to the heartfelt story of the white pigeon he claimed to love "as a man loves a woman." Plus, your questions: the science of hypnosis, the oldest symbols still in use today, why Cambridge professors have personal napkin rings, and whether ‘nothing’ can ever truly exist. ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠ Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking here.⁠⁠ ------------------- Video Producer: Adam Thornton + Oli Oakley + Jack Meek Animator: Sam Benson Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell Assistant Producer: Lucy Lipscombe Producer: Simona Rata Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What can be revealed about a person by their choice of…lead? In this gloriously nerdy episode of Field Notes, Michael Stevens arrives armed with an entire collection of mechanical pencils, sparking a series of passionate debates about graphite, the merits of ink, and whether the perfect pencil will ever really exist. Plus: what happens to fizzy drink bubbles in zero gravity? Why did early scientists believe sperm contained tiny pre-formed humans? Are gravitational waves the most beautiful thing in the cosmos? And are modern scientific discoveries becoming too complicated for any one person to fully understand? ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/our-research/rest-is-science Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking here.⁠⁠ ------------------- Video Producer: Adam Thornton + Oli Oakley + Jack Meek Animator: Sam Benson Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell Assistant Producer: Lucy Lipscombe Producer: Simona Rata Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley Exec Producer: Neil Fearn ------------------- Advertise with us: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠partnerships@goalhanger.com⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What if the next pandemic could be predicted before it even begins? Hannah and Michael step into the unsettling world of outbreak simulations, where scientists map invisible infections, model human behaviour, and try to stop global catastrophe before it starts. Some warnings save millions. Others get ignored, until it’s too late. After the break the conversation takes a turn into space stations, fizzy drinks in zero gravity, the first microscopes, and gravitational waves bending the fabric of spacetime itself. Welcome to Field Notes! ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠ Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking here.⁠⁠ ------------------- Video Producer: Adam Thornton + Oli Oakley + Jack Meek Animator: Sam Benson Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell Assistant Producer: Lucy Lipscombe Producer: Simona Rata Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What if one of the most valuable objects on Earth has been sitting untouched at the bottom of the ocean for 100 million years? In this Field Notes episode, Professor Hannah Fry brings Michael Stevens (VSauce) a strange metallic rock formed in the deepest parts of the Atlantic over millions of years. What begins with a bizarre Cold War CIA cover story involving Howard Hughes and a sunken Soviet submarine quickly turns into a journey through deep sea geology, natural “electric” rocks, and the environmental dilemma of mining the ocean floor for the rare metals used in electric car batteries. Plus: can you train yourself to become ambidextrous? are giraffes more vulnerable to lightning strikes than other animals? Does damp cold really feel colder than dry cold? And do humans actually sense wetness at all? ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠ Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking here.⁠⁠ ------------------- Video Producers: Adam Thornton + Oli Oakley + Jack Meek Animator: Sam Benson Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell Assistant Producer: Lucy Lipscombe Producer: Simona Rata Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What do Bill Bryson, Daniel Wegner and J.R.R. Tolkien have in common? They are all part of Michael's reading recommendations. On this episode of Field Notes we answer one of our most frequent inbox questions... "What do you both read?" Alongside that Professor Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens delve into whether some numbers give off "vibes" and the optimal way to use airflow to rid your car of dog hairs and unwanted smells. A handy list of Michael's books (Hannah's will come in the future)! Sum by David Eagleman A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson The Seven Mysteries of Life by Guy Murchie Thinking Physics: Understandable Practical Reality by Lewis Carroll Epstein The Discovery of Dynamics: A Study from a Machian Point of View of the Discovery and the Structure of Dynamical Theories by Julian Barbour The Outer Limits of Reason: What Science, Mathematics, and Logic Cannot Tell Us by Noson S. Yanofsky Mortal Questions by Thomas Nagel The User Illusion: Cutting Consciousness Down to Size by Tor Nørretranders The Illusion of Conscious Will by Daniel Wegner ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠ Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking here.⁠⁠ ------------------- Video Producer: Adam Thornton + Oli Oakley Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott Producer: Simona Rata Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices