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4th Floor Podcast

4th Floor Podcast

By Christopher Gallon

Welcome to The Fourth Floor Podcast! Joined by your host Chris, and co-hosts Calvin and Jason, The Fourth Floor unpacks Astrophysical phenomenon, entertains clever guests and researchers in all walks of life, and most importantly: have a good laugh over bad jokes.TFF consists of members who all met on the Fourth Floor of the Elliot building at UVic; the hub of budding physicists and astronomers. The Fourth Floor is a continuation of the discussion had at Astronomy Open Houses, petty yet hilarious squabbles about humanity's fate as a space-faring race whilst avoiding studying, and staring out at the firmament as it stares back. Happy listening!
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Currently playing episode

Annaliese: We Are the Stewards of Space

4th Floor PodcastMar 28, 2021

00:00
01:16:48
5 Meter High Club: A Spoonful of Oxygen

5 Meter High Club: A Spoonful of Oxygen

Calvin, Chris and Jason catch up with Perseverance and Ingenuity's experiments on Mars, namely, MOXIE whose primary purpose is to generate/reclaim oxygen on the red planet, and Ingenuity's flight test whose highest flight is at 5 meters. We also touch on the fun complaint that Mars' wifi just wasn't good enough to send us a video greater than 720p. What were the gang at NASA even thinking 7 years ago? 

Apr 26, 202145:54
A Space Age of Piracy: Hijacks, Hi-Jinx, and a Lens Theif
Apr 11, 202154:40
Annaliese: We Are the Stewards of Space

Annaliese: We Are the Stewards of Space

Jason, Calvin, and Chris are joined by our resident Astrobiologist, Annaliese Meyer to explore the possible consequences of Space Exploration today and in the future. When we explore the solar system, will we not be contaminating the places we visit by introducing biological competition that has had billions of years to evolve to a possibly fragile ecosystem? How will billionaires now and in the future allocate and/or control natural resources? Do current and future policies ensure ownership of sections of outer space that aren't currently claimed? This is why we need Annaliese.

Mar 28, 202101:16:48
Celebrating Women's Day: Our Favourite Pioneers of Science

Celebrating Women's Day: Our Favourite Pioneers of Science

With Women's day on the 8th, the gang shared their favorite female heroines along with some honourable mentions! Our list was so long, we had to clip it, so let us know your heroine from history! (Yes, it can be your mom)

Mar 14, 202101:07:40
To Mars and Never Beyond

To Mars and Never Beyond

In this episode, Jason, Calvin, and Chris chat about the recent Perseverance (Percy) Rover landing and the Ingenuity (Ginny) Mars Helicopter experiment that was onboard. We've sent a lot of metal there, and while the robots only live for around a decade or more, humans certainly wouldn't get through the day. We also take a jab at the Mars colonization hype and how (while we'll probably still try) it's near darn ridiculous to try to colonize... but baseball is probably really good there. 

Feb 27, 202101:08:56
Kali 2: ...who'da thought Ingenuity even flew?

Kali 2: ...who'da thought Ingenuity even flew?

This is the other half of our Planetary Exploration episode with Kali. Here we discuss the Kepler Space Mission, TESS, why old stars are great, the new Ingenuity Mars-copter that is attached to the Perseverance rover barreling towards Mars, arriving in a week from launching this episode! (Feb.18th)

Feb 12, 202158:22
Kali 1: Planets are Red, Kali is New...

Kali 1: Planets are Red, Kali is New...

In this episode we introduce one of our long-time, stellar space-pals Kali to discuss Exoplanets, the Kepler Space mission and it's big sister TESS. Later, we open up our old survey SWEEP, which examined planets around white dwarfs and the prognosis of white dwarf systems. Enjoy!

Jan 28, 202151:51
Adios, Arecibo

Adios, Arecibo

From it's inception in the summer '63, to it's untimely demise in December of 2020, we look at the past 57 years of service (and possible new future) that the noble Arecibo Telescope has given to the scientific community and the world as a whole. Oh yeah, it looked sharp in some movies too!

Jan 13, 202155:33
Things That Irk Us Prt.2

Things That Irk Us Prt.2

In this episode, Jason, Calvin, and Chris tidy up some of the things that irk them. We cover Quan-dumb Woo, Faster-Than-Light travel (FTL), Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MoND), and when smart people are wrong.
Nov 21, 202044:25
Things That Irk Us Prt.1

Things That Irk Us Prt.1

In this episode, Jason, Calvin, and Chris share the little things that irk them during their time as public outreach eduators.
Oct 22, 202048:00
That's mine, not yours! Prt.2: Astro-Spiders and Juice Tubes

That's mine, not yours! Prt.2: Astro-Spiders and Juice Tubes

Oct 01, 202048:56
Thats mine, not yours! Prt.1: Coming Together as Alloys

Thats mine, not yours! Prt.1: Coming Together as Alloys

Sep 17, 202030:58
Area Hysteria: Floor Scraps

Area Hysteria: Floor Scraps

Attached to our last episode, we had little extra blurbs we'd like to share that Calvin kindly stitched together for us! Enjoy!
Jun 01, 202018:29
Area Hysteria: COVID-19's global effect from a micro-biologist's point of view

Area Hysteria: COVID-19's global effect from a micro-biologist's point of view

Calvin, Jason and I are joined by our friend and resident mircobiologist 'Nacho'who is currently researching tropical infectious diseases in animals for a program at the National University of Costa Rica. Nacho shares with us his experience with how Costa Rica is handling COVID-19, his research, and his perspective of how places outside Costa Rica have responded to the pandemic.
May 08, 202047:11
Dark Energy gets brighter while Betelgeuse loses its lustre​

Dark Energy gets brighter while Betelgeuse loses its lustre​

Dark Energy gets brighter while Betelgeuse loses its lustre


Episode notes are coming soon!




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Apr 13, 202059:51
Dark Energy gets brighter while Betelgeuse loses its lustre​

Dark Energy gets brighter while Betelgeuse loses its lustre​

In this episode, Jason, Calvin, and I discuss a paper that was released towards the end of 2019 that opens up the idea that Dark Energy may not be real or necessary. For decades, astronomers have been using dying stars (or supernovae) as a measuring stick for seeing how big the universe really is, and how it’s expanding. Speaking of, amateur and professional astronomers have been pointing their telescopes towards Betelgeuse and watching it carefully, as it may potentially be in its final death throes.
Apr 13, 202059:51
Beloved textbook writers, a haunted universe, and ramblings of selfish, godly AI's

Beloved textbook writers, a haunted universe, and ramblings of selfish, godly AI's

Beloved textbook writers, a haunted universe, and ramblings of selfish, godly AI's



Episode notes are coming soon!



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Mar 19, 202001:55:32
Beloved textbook writers, a haunted universe, and ramblings of selfish, godly AI's

Beloved textbook writers, a haunted universe, and ramblings of selfish, godly AI's

Beloved textbook writers, a haunted universe, and ramblings of selfish, godly AI's



Episode notes are coming soon!



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Mar 19, 202001:55:32
Beloved textbook writers, a haunted universe, and ramblings of selfish, godly AI's

Beloved textbook writers, a haunted universe, and ramblings of selfish, godly AI's

Jason, Calvin, and I explore a paper published by a fun and beloved Physics textbook writer David J. Griffiths of Reed College. Later, we berate the idea of a mars helicopter for a lack of an atmosphere, to which we naturally segue into the AI apocalypse after Calvin asks Jason and I how we can better appease our new robot overlords one fake email at a time. While potentially selfish, our new AI deities may actually solve our problems for us and save humanity because after all, we are the custodians of Earth, and of course, all of their cozy server rooms.
Mar 19, 202001:55:32
Extra-Solar visitors and how to get to work faster with Universal Poof™

Extra-Solar visitors and how to get to work faster with Universal Poof™

Jason, Calvin, and I touch on extra-solar visitors before getting sidetracked exploring this hot new take: what actually happens if/when teleportation goes mainstream? Also, how terrify could theme parks be?
Mar 05, 202001:12:21
Extra-Solar visitors and how to get to work faster with Universal Poof™

Extra-Solar visitors and how to get to work faster with Universal Poof™

 

 

 

 

 

Mar 05, 202001:12:21
Space is hard and you can't trade caffeine for sleep...

Space is hard and you can't trade caffeine for sleep...

Feb 14, 202001:31:19
Space is hard and you can't trade caffeine for  sleep

Space is hard and you can't trade caffeine for sleep

In this episode Jason, Calvin, and I discuss a multitude of things, based on the overarching topic: “Space is hard”… because it is.
Feb 14, 202001:31:19
Space is hard and you can't trade caffeine for sleep...

Space is hard and you can't trade caffeine for sleep...

Feb 14, 202001:31:19
Us, the Centre of the Universe, Exoplanets, Supernovae and why are all Nevadan aliens nudists?​

Us, the Centre of the Universe, Exoplanets, Supernovae and why are all Nevadan aliens nudists?​

Us, the Centre of the Universe, Exoplanets, Supernovae and why are all Nevadan aliens nudists?

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Jan 19, 202001:36:41
Us, the Centre of the Universe, Exoplanets, Supernovae and why are all Nevadan aliens nudists?​

Us, the Centre of the Universe, Exoplanets, Supernovae and why are all Nevadan aliens nudists?​

Calvin, Jason and I sit in UVic’s Astronomy Open House Telescope lobby for a hangout where introduce ourselves, how we met, our education and some of what we do day-to-day, which eventually converges around a place called the Centre of the Universe by the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, located in Saanich, BC. We check out some funky nudist space aliens that take regular vacations to Nevada and go over some of Jason’s work, which is thankfully unrelated.
Jan 19, 202001:36:41