Episode #6 – March 2008

Science + Music = Sassy

Hidden Dimensions – String theorists talk about hidden dimensions beyond the 3D we experience every day. What are these mysterious extra dimensions and when might we know more about them? Last summer I met up with Dr. Lisa Randall at the ideaCity conference in Toronto where we had a nice chat over wine about these supposed hidden dimensions. Dr. Randall is a Harvard University Physicist and author of the book “Warped Passages – Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe’s Hidden Dimensions.”

Parallel Universes – Our universe might not be the only one out there. In fact, we might live in a multiverse with new universes being born as you read this. I’ve broken open the Sassy Science vault for this interview with Dr. Michio Kaku – theoretical physicist and best-selling author of many books including “Parallel Worlds,” which I talked to him about two years ago. This interview, although older, but not dated, has never been heard on Sassy Science. You’re in for a real treat.

Theme Music
Drum Finale Throwdown
Blue Man Group Records & Publishing

Music

Unexpected Times – 3^rd Layer

Like a Rocket featuring Capitol – Makossa & Megablast

Ain’t No Sunshine, when she’s gone – 4 To The Bar

Running Time – 41:43

Size – 33.4 MB

Sassy Science Podcast

Science + Music = Sassy

Sassy Science News – Snot helps sharks find dinner, lobster pain, optimism pinpointed in the brain, curvier women have smarter children, why cursing at work is f*#@$ great, and more.

Terrorizing Details of the Dino Extinction – We all know an asteroid came in and wiped out the dinosaurs, but what exactly happened to cause the mass extinction to go down? Dr. Jay Melosh, a Professor of Planetary Science whose speciality is geologic violence, is investigating this mystery. He’s from the University of Arizona, but I caught up with him at a public lecture he was giving at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics.

Theme Music
Drum Finale Throwdown
Blue Man Group Records & Publishing

Music
The Hunters Return – JustinRY

Chargin Mix - The Sandman

Fun Machine Theme – The Baldwin Fun Machine

Begin - Amy Steinberg Band

Dinosaur

Clouds or Smoke? – Derek K. Miller (Penmachine Sessions)

Sound Effects - Soundsnap & The Freesound Project

Superconducting to a Quantum Revolution – Superconductors are going to change the way we compute. These materials transmit electricity with zero resistance. As soon as scientists learn more about them and how to get them to work at room temperature, we’re off to the quantum computing races. Now a new major scientific discovery just brought us one step closer. Hear about it in my interview with the lead scientist of that study.

Science News – Viagra to treat jet lag. Daddy’s girls attracted to daddy’s doppelgangers. Circumcision cutting away sensitivity. Get angry – make a decision. Spirit rover finds clear evidence of ancient water on Mars. And more…

Synaptic Self – How much of whom we are rests in our brains? One neuroscientist wrote a book called “Synaptic Self” that explores the idea that we’re just one walking bag of meat controlled by neurons. I interview that scientist and author to find out more about this way of looking at ourselves.

Theme Music
Drum Finale Throwdown
Blue Man Group Records & Publishing

Music
The Hunters Return – JustinRY
Teneka San – Alexen
Gift of Gab “remix” – Doug Evans
All in a Nut - Amygdaloids

Traveling to a Distant Planet – Astronomers found an earth-like planet 20.5 light years away. Will it have water? Life? Maybe. Can we travel there if it does? We probably won’t get there via conventional means, so I talk to a mathematician about the feasibility of non-conventional space travel – worm holes & teleportation.

Science News – Superman beware: kryptonite-like mineral found on earth. Gravity Probe B proves Einstein right. Black holes as portals to other universes. Ethanol – the dirty fuel. Female sperm. Our brains hard wired for distractions. Ecstasy really is a love drug? Chimpanzees more evolved than humans. And more…

Science of Heroes – NBC’s television show Heroes is a science-fiction series based on the premise that there are genetic mutants with extraordinary powers out to save the world. This Human Genome Project plays a big part in the show’s theory, but where does the science end in this show’s science-fiction continuum? I interview a geneticist to find out.

Theme Music
Drum Finale Throwdown
Blue Man Group Records & Publishing

Music
Project BluBook – “When Science Becomes Fiction, Merlin’s Theory”
b-side All Stars – “Sunshine Science Dub”
The Baldwin Fun Machine – “Bondage and Discipline”
Pasted Hedz – “Sitting on a Cloud”

Intentions – A neuroscientists talks about how he was able to determine people’s intentions by looking in their brain.

Science in the News – Oh my! Oh my! Scientists have been busy… There’s a big sea on Titan, but an even bigger ocean underneath Asia. Origin of pubic lice. Sleep deprivation and your morality. Feeding cocaine to rats. Genes make women cranky. Franken-bacteria. Large Hadron Collider update. Seeing red lowers test scores. And more…

Magneto – The poor mutant Magneto. He’s only one of the most powerful superheroes in the Marvel Comic Book Universe! The mutant can control metal at will. I go to the Ontario Science Center to investigate Magneto’s superhero powers.

Theme Music
Drum Finale Throwdown
Blue Man Group Records & Publishing

Music
The Hunters Return – JustinRY
Dub80 – Acid Monkeys
The Best Dishwasher I Ever Had – Lederhosen Lucil
Science… - In the Headset

Virgin Earth Challenge - Sir Richard Branson talks about his $25-million Virgin Earth Challenge to bring down the level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Science in the News - What’s been going on in the world of science news lately? Tons of stuff! Saturn’s moon is a graffiti artist. More evidence of water found on Mars. No sight of the Beagle 2 Lander on Mars. The Hubble Space Telescope’s Advanced Camera for Survey’s is dead. Naps are good for the heart. Sleep deprivation is bad for the brain. Daydreaming is our brain’s default setting. Video games are good for the eyes.

Hit the Streets - On the search for men’s sweaty armpits to test out the study about a chemical in their sweat that affects women’s hormone levels.

Programming the Universe - The universe computes. It processes information. Who or what is programming it? Big Questions interview with Dr. Seth Lloyd, a quantum mechanical engineer from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The Incredible Hulk - A gamma ray bomb transformed Dr. Bruce Banner into the Incredible Hulk. How might science explain his resulting superhero powers? Listen and find out.

Theme Music
Drum Finale Throwdown
Blue Man Group Records & Publishing

Music
The Hunters Return – JustinRY
Friends (Body Mind and Soul) – TaiterNutz
Fuzzy Peach – Monkeybacon
Sly-Dog – Perfect
Lyrical Life Science – Voice Activated Productions
February Day – Desert Radio