FHS Science podcast.

Ethanol is a key chemical in society from its (ab)use in drinks to fuels to hand gels. There are other ‘alcohols’, but how do alcohols work? We share our ignorance on the subject and hope to provide a starting point…. We are not experts!

What do we know about the Sun? What can we calculate about the Sun?! The Sun is essential for life on Earth - its distance, the heat it radiates… but what do we know about it and Heliophysics?

We try and talk around what AI is… and some of the perceptions in films, and whether it’s all doom and gloom!

We talk about films and science predictions. What predictions have come true…

We talk Christmas and science… stars, planets, trees, batteries… all good stuff, some of it may be true, 😂🤘

How much of the comic book science is based on reads science? We talk Ant man, Wolverine and Deadpool.

We talk about some scientific ‘facts’ and whether they are true or not…. Does what goes up always come down?

We talk about the molecule carbon dioxide and it’s importance, it’s uses and the problems it’s causing for our weather and climate.

We talk talk clouds, wandering clouds, daffodils, art and okta. Queen also gets a mention of course.

With the World increasing in temperature through man-made global warming, what are the best ways of keeping yourself cool? We talk about how animals do it, and how we might need to focus more on passive cooling methods.

After the World cycling championships in Glasgow we talk about bikes and what is the best way to reduce head injuries in cyclists.

We talk about faster Tour de France cycling times and the Festina affair, and the Titan submarine catastrophic failure. Last one for season 2. See you again in season 3.

We talk about why science should be taught in schools, and why science is really about rebellion and rock’n’roll. 🤘The image used for this podcast is of Carl Sagan, legendary scientist and communicator.

We talk songs in science and what effect they have on us. Part of the STE(A)M series linking art and science.

We talk inflammation, leeches and maggots. We are not medically trained, do not use our chat as any kind of endorsement of any medical best practise.

Is it healthy to be cold?

We link King Charles’ coronation with conservation work, de-extinction, reintroduction and biodiversity. Have you ever had an Elk burger?

What is atmospheric pressure? We talk altitude and pressure for balloons, aeroplanes and mountains.

Ferry’s, water density, surface tension, cisterns and bugs?

Outsells coke, sold in cans/bottles with a secret recipe…. What’s the history of IrnBru and what goes into each can?

Scotland apparently has created the modern world through invention. The discussion wasn’t quite what I expected, but some interesting chat on inventions… I’m not sure we proved the case for Scotland’s place as invention capital of the world!

We talk about what we know about ‘the brain’. Brains, talking about brains? 🤷‍♂️

A tricky one to navigate, but, do you feel optimistic about the future because of science, or do you feel an overwhelming sense of doom? We chat about the perception of science… despite Mr a Forsyth trying to dodge the question! 😂

We chat about why we sleep and how we measure sleep. Do all animals sleep? 🤷‍♂️

The Parliamentary Office for Science and Technology (POST) provides ‘horizon scanning’ , briefing notes and full notes for Westminster. Used in Select committees and to inform policy and legislation we chat around some of the possible issues.

We talk around bones - what do they ‘do’ and how are they attached?

W discuss what a battery is and some of the issues surrounding their use and disposal.

We talk space, crash test mooses and whether our risk of death might be doubled in a simple test.

Some tenuous links between things associated with a winter Christmas and some science discussions. We find out that Mr Atkinson is super tasty… or a super taster?

We talk ‘what has the BBC ever done for us?’

We look at public scares that either turned out not to be through lack of basis, or were avoided through taking precautions. We talk Y2K, GMO and vaccines. Remember it’s a chat, we’re not topic specialists.

We talk briefly about the context of Prince William’s Earthshot prize, and how science does have the answers to many of today’s issues.

We chat around why water is so important and some of its special properties. What is it about liquids that is so interesting?

We talk water and sewage - who invented the toilet, why water disposal is so important, and make sure you shower before you swim!

We talk careers and paper rounds with Mr Forsyth, Atkinson and Young focussing on the importance of #nowrongpathway, skills, resilience and growth mindset.

Tennis is an interesting subject for science as it is hugely dependent on materials (racquets, courts, balls) but would tennis players be any better if they knew more physics?

A German word meaning ‘environment’. But also that different species, with different dominant senses, perceive the world very differently to us. We do our best to discuss what these are and how perhaps we could be less human sense-centric!

We try to add our thoughts on the TV show ‘Breaking Bad’. They have used science experts, what can we add to the discussion?

Hear from Ricky Sheriff-Short as he describes his journey from an inauspicious academic end to school to working with 15,000 nurses after an interactive and fulfilling nursing career. When Ricky says ‘bank’ he means a nursing bank, not a bank bank! ;-)

Scales are useful for relative measurement - so pH 1 is more acidic than pH2 by a factor of x10 concentration hydrogen ions. Similarly, 20decibells is 10x louder than 10decibells. But what about your stools? On a scale of 1 to 7 your stool can be used to tell whereabouts you are more constipated or have diarrhoea. Awesome.

We discuss rockets, fuel, the proposed base on the moon and travel to Mars. Radiation, dummies and Shaun the sheep. As ever, we’re not experts, it’s a starting point for discussion…for example, the solid fuel rocket is used second not first! …and we don’t know if it is (insoluble) aluminium oxide poisoning the aquatic life around the launch site.

What units of measurement should we use, and which ones do we commonly use? We discuss the metric system, Imperial units and odd ones used on the news…. Like Wales!

Second series - up and running with the usual expert insight and occasional ignorance. But, always discussion.

A final discussion on covid and global warming - what’s the solution? As always we are not experts, we are discussing science to expose our ignorance and learn from it. Happy holidays.

Today we talk materials, earthquakes and buildings. We’re not experts, obviously, but it’s a starting point. I wonder if the technology and science behind wind proof bridges is used for earthquake proof buildings?