What The If? artwork

What The If?

350 episodes - English - Latest episode: 17 days ago - ★★★★★ - 60 ratings

Learn how to think like EINSTEIN! Every week we learn science running imaginative thought experiments. Our brilliant guests are some of the world’s greatest science fiction writers, scientists & science communicators. Leap into a journey to answer the most fascinating question in the universe: What The IF?

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Episodes

108 - The HELIOPAUSE That Refreshes - with Kirby "NASA Man" Runyon!

August 27, 2019 00:00 - 42 minutes - 58.9 MB

What the IF you could travel to the very EDGE of the SOLAR SYSTEM... and beyond? What would you see when you looked BACKWARDS? What would happen when you encountered the river of energized particles swirling through our galaxy? We're joined by KIRBY "Nasa Man" RUNYON, one of the scientists at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab who works on the New Horizons mission that visited PLUTO and Ultima Thule. When it launched, New Horizons was the fastest object ever rocketed into space... and toda...

107 - Land A Man On The EARTH! - with Nancy Atkinson

August 20, 2019 00:00 - 44 minutes - 62.1 MB

It's Opposite Apollo Day! In honor of the 50th Anniversary of the first landing on the Moon, our special guest today is Nancy Atkinson from Universe Today! Her amazing new book is "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Mission." We ask: What The IF we lived on the Moon and had to send the first mission to EARTH? This lunacy gives rise, as with all our IFs, to an amazing about of information about the REAL Apollo mission, and the science, engineering and chutzpah it took to do it...

106 - What The MONKEY? Part 2 of Our TWIS Special!

August 13, 2019 04:07 - 1 hour - 95.8 MB

Our TWIS Special, Part TWO! TWIS the IF? What The TWIS? You put your science in my what! It's a special, double stuffed, super combo show. Dr. Kiki invited us to bring the IF to her long-running public radio show and podcast, This Week In Science. In Part 1 we got some science up in the NEWS! Dr. Kiki, Justin & Blair invite Philip & Matt to join the insightful, hilarious and very, very bizarre news stories that fly around the roundtable this week. Now In Part 2: Join us as we take the NEW...

105 - What The KIKI? Part 1 of Our TWIS Special!

August 13, 2019 03:42 - 53 minutes - 73.7 MB

Our TWIS Special, Part ONE! TWIS the IF? What The TWIS? You put your science in my what! It's a special, double stuffed, super combo show. Dr. Kiki invited us to bring the IF to her long-running public radio show and podcast, This Week In Science. Here in Part 1 we get some science up in the NEWS! Dr. Kiki, Justin & Blair invite Philip & Matt to join the insightful, hilarious and very, very bizarre news stories that fly around the roundtable this week. In Part 2 join us as we take the NEW...

104 - Walking on IO with Robin Andrews!

July 30, 2019 06:34 - 58 minutes - 108 MB

DR. ROBIN GEORGE ANDREWS, science writer for The NY Times, National Geographic, Scientific American, and many more, joins us with an IF that'll keep you on your feet: What The IF we could walk on Jupiter's ultra volcanic moon, IO? Would you walk on a hot pizza? If so, you're ready for the trip! The views of Jupiter would be spectacular, but bring your kevlar umbrella because lava's gonna come flyin' out of the sky. One of the most spectacular places in the solar system, Io is also terribly my...

103 - Alastair Reynolds!

July 23, 2019 00:00 - 1 hour - 90.9 MB

Best selling author ALASTAIR REYNOLDS is our guest! He's Philip's favorite author on the planet and one of the world's most popular Science Fiction writers. Al brings a whopper of an IF, loosely inspired by one of his newest stories, "Different Seas" which he wrote for the new prophetic anthology, "TWELVE TOMORROWS" from MIT Press. WTiF Elon Musk sent a bunch of dummy bots to the red planet into whose bodies we could transport ourselves, via telepresence, and explore from the comfort of ou...

102 - WTiF Apollo Never Stopped? Encore Presenation With FRASER CAIN!

July 16, 2019 00:00 - 45 minutes - 26.4 MB

In honor of the 50th Anniversary of APOLLO 11, we're featuring an encore of our episode with FRASER CAIN -- veteran space journalist and publisher of UNIVERSE TODAY! Fraser asks: WTiF we NEVER STOPPED going to the MOON? Imagine! By now we would have already spent FIFTY YEARS traveling to, and building on The Moon. What incredible things would we have achieved by now? What does this alternative today look like? Where can we fly? What can we see? Let's IF all the way TO THE MOON, and beyond! ...

101 - Planet of POISON!

July 09, 2019 23:23 - 58 minutes - 80.5 MB

Pollution run AMOK! Imagine if no one -- no one at all -- tried to stop the poisoning of our land, water and air? Our listener Daniel asks: What The IF the Environmental Protection Agency were never, ever, ever created? What would America look like, smell like, and taste like? Our most pungent IF yet! -------- EINSTEIN'S WAR by our very own MATT STANLEY is also in stores now! The Washington Post says "Stanley is a storyteller par excellence." A starred review recipient from KIRKUS, PUB...

100 - Paul McAULEY Shrinks The SUN!

July 01, 2019 23:59 - 46 minutes - 63.9 MB

The incredible Science Fiction author PAUL McAULEY joins us to celebrate episode 100! With a preview of the science behind his upcoming novel, WAR OF THE MAPS, Paul asks: What The IF we could save the Earth from the inevitable death of the Sun? It's gonna be a lotta work! First we've gotta MOVE the Earth outward when the Sun expands into a RED GIANT, then we need to HUDDLE UP close when the Sun shrinks into a WHITE DWARF. Yep, Paul treats us to some EPIC ENGINEERING and ultra vivid SOLAR ...

99 - Living INSIDE The Big BANG

June 24, 2019 23:59 - 50 minutes - 69.6 MB

Listener Bob from Virginia asks what it would be like if you found yourself INSIDE the BIG BANG? Does time flow differently? Can you Netflix and BANG? Why is your best friend who's right next to you suddenly... TRILLIONS of miles awaaaaaayyyyy!!! Put on your helmet and join us inside the freakish inflating spacetime bubble that began it ALL! REVIEW the show: itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1250517051?mt=2&ls=1 SUBSCRIBE for free: https://pod.link/1250517051 BUY, GIFT, READ Matt Stanley's engr...

98 - OWN Your Own BRAIN

June 17, 2019 23:59 - 47 minutes - 66.3 MB

Listener Jon from Sweden ascends to the rank of Super IFFer by submitting a winning IF! Jon asks, "What The IF... we knew EXACTLY how the BRAIN worked?" Would we be stuck as mere observers of the working brain, or could we fiddle with it, improve it, HACK it? How would it feel if you were changing the code of your own brain? Does the BRAIN have an ESC KEY? Let's hope so, because we're pluggin' yours in and messing with your MEATWARE. What the IF you dare! REVIEW the show: itunes.apple.co...

97 - Spacetime GOGGLES

June 10, 2019 23:00 - 48 minutes - 66.9 MB

100 years ago, the British Astronomer Arthur Eddington confirmed that, as Albert Einstein had said, Spacetime exists, and YOU FEEL Gravity because it's CURVED all around your body... in the 4TH DIMENSION. Wouldn't you like to SEE all this stuff that's tossing you around? Could we ever even HANDLE seeing the 4th dimension? Well, we monkeys are a clever bunch! What the IF we could invent a pair of GOGGLES that allow us to SEE SPACETIME? If they were fashionable... they'd be awesome, so let's...

96 - How To Cook With A Star Trek REPLICATOR

June 07, 2019 01:09 - 45 minutes - 62.5 MB

A brand new, super fun and mostly delicious episode, based on a fabulous question from listener and Super IFFer, Guy Rader! Beam up with us and let's get cookin'! REVIEW the show: itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1250517051?mt=2&ls=1 SUBSCRIBE for free: linktr.ee/whattheifshow BUY, GIFT, READ Matt Stanley's engrossing new book! EINSTEIN'S WAR: How Relativity Triumphed Amid the Vicious Nationalism of World War I. Choose your favorite store here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/608113/ein...

95 - ASTROLOGY??? Heaven Help Us!

May 29, 2019 17:15 - 44 minutes - 41.1 MB

Astrology is super complicated and totally crazy. But! What The IF... Astrology were REAL? Would there be "personality rays" shooting out of the planets? So many, many questions. Our crack Crazy Elaborate Systems Construction Department is working overtime to make this Astrology thing work in a genuinely SCIENTIFIC way. Amazingly, our WIZARD OF SCIENCE AND SCIENCE HISTORY AND CRAZY OLD BELIEF SYSTEMS, Professor Matt, is an unstoppable font of REAL knowledge about everyone from Ptolemy to New...

94 - MEAT Vs. The WORLD

May 20, 2019 18:37 - 57 minutes - 52.7 MB

What the IF everyone in the world STOPPED eating MEAT? Delicious, delicious meat... be gone! REVIEW the show: itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1250517051?mt=2&ls=1 SUBSCRIBE for free: linktr.ee/whattheifshow BUY, GIFT, READ Matt Stanley's engrossing new book! EINSTEIN'S WAR: How Relativity Triumphed Amid the Vicious Nationalism of World War I. Choose your favorite store here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/608113/einsteins-war-by-matthew-stanley/9781524745417/ Thanks & Keep On IFFin'!...

93 - EINSTEIN'S WAR - Part Two - With Author MATT STANLEY

May 14, 2019 14:41 - 39 minutes - 36 MB

Matt has an amazing new book! Here in part two of our journey with Einstein, we dive even deeper (!) into Professor Stanley's incredible story about how, while living through hunger, freezing and fear, the unknown and unheard of Professor Albert Einstein became... EINSTEIN. What The IF, we ask: World War I never, ever happened? Would Einstein have solved his Theory of Relativity sooner -- or, perhaps, NEVER AT ALL? REVIEW the show: itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1250517051?mt=2&ls=1 SUBSCRIBE...

92 - EINSTEIN'S WAR - Part One - With Author MATT STANLEY

May 07, 2019 04:58 - 44 minutes - 40.6 MB

Matt has an amazing new book! We dive into Professor Stanley's incredible story about how, while living through hunger, freezing and fear, the unknown and unheard of Professor Albert Einstein became... EINSTEIN. What The IF, we ask: World War I never, ever happened? Would Einstein have solved his Theory of Relativity sooner -- or, perhaps, NEVER AT ALL? REVIEW the show: itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1250517051?mt=2&ls=1 SUBSCRIBE for free: linktr.ee/whattheifshow BUY, GIFT, READ the book! E...

91 - Standing TALL On A Dwarf PLANET - Visit PLUTO With Kirby Runyon!

April 30, 2019 17:44 - 47 minutes - 43.8 MB

KIRBY RUNYON, science team affiliate on the NEW HORIZONS mission to Pluto, Charon, and the Kuiper Belt and a science team collaborator on the HiRISE camera currently in orbit around Mars, takes us to the gateway to the Kuiper Belt! Where on PLUTO would you LAND? What would it be like to WALK there? Could you JUMP to it's moon Charon? How much SCIENCE could you do, and how much FUN could you have? Kirby knows it all! Follow Kirby on TWITTER: https://twitter.com/nasaman58 And visit his WEBSITE...

90 - VOLCANOES Like To Party - With Volcanologist Karen Holmberg!

April 23, 2019 00:00 - 43 minutes - 40 MB

Archaeologist and self-described Volcano Fetishist Dr. Karen Holmberg LOVES Volcanos… so we make her dream come true: What The IF you could invite ALL THE VOLCANOES in the world to a COCKTAIL PARTY! Dr. Holmberg takes us around to meet all her favorite exploding mountains, and the people who live at their feet, and we learn how each giant has it’s own personality. As the night progresses, and the CRYOVOLCANO bartenders pour ever more deliciously dangerous drinks… we dive deeper and learn the ...

89 - Fraser Cain - WTiF Apollo Never Stopped!

April 16, 2019 19:47 - 45 minutes - 41.6 MB

We're super honored to be joined this week by an incredible special guest: FRASER CAIN, veteran space journalist and publisher of UNIVERSE TODAY! In celebration of the upcoming 50th Anniversary (!!!) of APOLLO 11's historic landing on the Moon, we ask... WTiF we NEVER STOPPED going to the MOON? Imagine! By now we would have already spent FIFTY YEARS traveling to, and building on The Moon. What incredible things would we have achieved by now? What does this alternative today look like? Where...

88 - Sci - Fi Author, DAN MOREN - "What The IF ENCRYPTION Runs Amok?"

April 09, 2019 00:00 - 1 hour - 62.5 MB

We're honored to be joined this week by the awesome Science Fiction writer, and esteemed technology journalist, DAN MOREN, who brings us an important, enigmatic, spooooooky IF... You are being watched, listened to, logged, sorted, faved, hashed and salted by TECHNOLOGY every moment of the day, including right now! Our devices are tattle-telling on us to their corporate bosses, gathering GIGABYTES of GOSSIP every second. What The IF we decided, enough with the convenience, we'd rather have TO...

87 - Galactic MAILBAG!

April 03, 2019 02:17 - 52 minutes - 48.4 MB

Our cup of listener mail overfloweth! This week: our fans, aka our #SuperIFFers discuss our most mind-blowing shows and the latest science news stories. What the IF... you could hang out with the smartest, funniest, science-y-ist audience in the galaxy? You can! Listen now and FEEL THE IF! Share your love of the show REVIEW: itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1250517051?mt=2&ls=1 Don't miss An IF SUBSCRIBE: linktr.ee/whattheifshow Thanks and Keep On IFFin'! -- Philip & Matt

86 - The Science Of NOTHING - Ness!

March 26, 2019 03:25 - 43 minutes - 39.9 MB

Our listener, the awesome Super IFFer Bill Prokopchak wrote in and asked “What the IF there was a place in the Universe where there was absolutely NOTHING?” It turns out there’s a mysterious force that prevents space from ever, ever, EVER being truly, absolutely, totally, EMPTY. But… this force only acts when YOU’RE NOT LOOKING. The very strange and exceptionally vivacious life of VIRTUAL PARTICLES… and YOU… this week on What The IF! Share your love of the show REVIEW: itunes.apple.com/pod...

85 - WTiF NASA Asked YOU For Help? - #NASAsocial At KSC & The Planetary Society's DAY OF ACTION

March 19, 2019 19:17 - 46 minutes - 42.9 MB

What the IF... Big ol' NASA asked little ol' YOU for HELP? Could you do it? What would you do? This week: a special report from Philip after his two adventures volunteering on behalf of the famous American space agency. First, at the Kennedy Space Center where he was invited to participate in the #NASAsocial program, providing social media outreach by sharing his incredible experiences BEHIND THE SCENES of the SpaceX #CrewDragon Demo-1 mission. #NasaSocial #CrewDragon Then, in Washington, ...

84 - Planet Of The Identical TWINS!

March 11, 2019 20:32 - 57 minutes - 53.1 MB

Maya and Zoe are TWINS, and that's only the beginning of what makes them exceptionally qualified to take us to a planet where EVERYONE shares the same... FACE. Would this world be your personal Heaven... or Hell? It depends on how you look, and how everyone looks at you! From the vivid imagination of two very eloquent and insightful sisters... It just might just be the best planet ever created. Join us for a super duper, totally amazing IF, times TWO! Share your love of the show REVIEW: i...

83 - COLD Blooded People

February 26, 2019 00:00 - 48 minutes - 44 MB

LIZARDS are cold blooded creatures. What the IF... YOU were too? Don't miss An IF SUBSCRIBE: linktr.ee/whattheifshow Share your love of the show REVIEW: itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1250517051?mt=2&ls=1 Thanks and Keep On IFFin'! -- Philip & Matt

82 - CETACEAN INVASION! WTiF Whales Take Back The Land?

February 19, 2019 00:00 - 52 minutes - 48 MB

The amazing science educator and cetacean researcher, DR. VANESSA PIROTTA joins us again from Sydney, Australia and takes on the BIGGEST IF yet: What if WHALES decided to RETURN TO LAND? How would their bodies need to adapt? How would they communicate? What would they eat? Would they eat us? Could we ride them? And we also ponder the MYSTERY OF DOLPHIN HAPPINESS. Why so happy, dolphins? What's the secret? Or is it all a facade...? Let's follow Dr. Pirotta as she leads our expedition to the CE...

81 - Love Thy MOON

February 12, 2019 04:13 - 43 minutes - 40 MB

We celebrate the LUNAR NEW YEAR and VALENTINE'S DAY by learning all the ways Earth would be a real loser without it's heavenly partner... the MOON! Don't miss an IF! Subscribe: linktr.ee/whattheifshow Share your love of the IF! Drop us a review: itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1250517051?mt=2&ls=1

80 - HAGFISH - Champion Of The SLIMER BOWL!

February 02, 2019 20:01 - 51 minutes - 47.2 MB

The HAGFISH, little known, little respected... greatly feared... by sharks! Is the hagfish the Spiderman of the Sea? This little slimy fish can spit out a slimy blob that BLOWS UP REAL BIG. What the if... WE could defend ourselves like that? Imagine the sport! In celebration of the SUPER BOWL, we present a special episode: The SLIMER BOWL. Let the games begin! Don't miss an IF! Subscribe: linktr.ee/whattheifshow Share your love of the IF! Drop us a review: itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1250517...

79 - The Notorious BIG... BANG!

January 28, 2019 20:49 - 49 minutes - 45.8 MB

Special Guest ASTRONOMER Brian Keating returns, with an astounding IF! What The IF, Brian asks, there was MORE than one BIG BANG? WTiF another one is FLYING toward us NOW? OMG, bang bang bang, let's go...! Put on your space kevlar jackets and let's go surfing ALL the Big Bangs! Check out Brian Keating's best selling book, "LOSING THE NOBEL PRIZE" on Amazon: www.amazon.com/Losing-Nobel-Priz…ook/dp/B07889Q65W Don't miss an IF! Subscribe: linktr.ee/whattheifshow Share your love of the IF! Dro...

78 - PIGEON VISION

January 22, 2019 04:30 - 45 minutes - 42 MB

The MYSTERY behind the EYES that watch over our cities. WATCH OUT, this IF will change the way you see pigeons, and yourself, trespassing human! Don't miss an IF! Subscribe: https://linktr.ee/whattheifshow Share your love of the IF! Drop us a review: https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1250517051?mt=2&ls=1 THANKS and Keep On IFFin'! -- Philip & Matt

77 - Let's Pretend We're WHALES! Dr. Vanessa Pirotta Turns Us Into Super Smart Cetaceans

January 15, 2019 23:47 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MB

The amazing science educator and cetacean researcher, DR. VANESSA PIROTTA joins us from down under, in Sydney, Australia... But she guides us on a journey to the REAL down under... UNDER THE SEA! Come along with us as we SWAP OUR HUMAN BRAINS for the singing, smiling, super smart BRAINS OF WHALES and dolphins. HOW DOES IT FEEL to navigate all around the planet -- HOW do we do it? WHO are we SINGING to, and are we doing it well? WHY is there a little helicopter flying over our head... silly...

76 - Now We Know How Many BRAINS It Takes To Fill The Albert Hall

January 07, 2019 05:11 - 39 minutes - 35.9 MB

A couple of weeks ago we explored PARALLEL UNIVERSES... and in *this* parallel universe we take up a similarly BRAIN BENDING a concept: the INFINITE probabilities that surround us in our INFINITE universe. Why should the guy with the goatee be the EVIL one? And what about PANTS... a necessary evil? In an INFINITE UNIVERSE surely there is one little place where people are less... judgmental. Also, did you see a brain lying (or FLYING) around here somewhere? LUDWIG BOLTZMANN says he lost his m...

75 - WTiF You Could See EARTH RISE... With Your Own Eyes?

January 01, 2019 05:00 - 45 minutes - 41.5 MB

Happy New Year, dear IFFers!!! A joyous episode greets you. Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Astronaut William Anders' society transforming photograph, "Earthrise," and basking in the glow of Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic breakthrough towards bringing passengers into space... Philip wonders WTF is wrong with all these people on the plane who close their windowshades??? Meanwhile, on the skin of the Earth, the view of the skies is disappearing drastically, night after night. WTiF we co...

74 - Bubbling Brew Of PARALLEL UNIVERSE Stew

December 25, 2018 10:00 - 53 minutes - 48.8 MB

Our listener & Super IFFer Jeff from Nashville asks What The IF there are parallel universes? Turns out... they might be exploding all around you! Should we fear the ones where we are wearing a beard? Good vs. Evil, Weird Science vs REAL SCIENCE. Strap on your parallel boots and let's go! SUBSCRIBE! linktr.ee/whattheifshow REVIEWS are greatly appreciated: https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1250517051?mt=2&ls=1

73 - It's An ARTHUR C. CLARKE Christmas!

December 18, 2018 10:00 - 50 minutes - 46.4 MB

For our Christmas Special, our devoted listener Mitchell Scherr was inspired by the ARTHUR C. CLARKE short story "The Star," in which an ASTRONOMER ponders the source of the STAR OF BETHLEHEM. Was it a super nova? A meteor? A COMET, sent to a solar system which badly needed a tune up? ISAAC NEWTON had some very strong opinions on the matter, and he also has some seriously badass SINS to CONFESS. For realz! Enjoy this wonderful gift from Santa iCloud, directly to your ears, because you were...

72 - How To Tell People EARTH IS MELTING Without Killing The Party

December 11, 2018 10:00 - 50 minutes - 69.4 MB

Listener, and Super IFFer, Amira Youseff wrote in to the [email protected] hotline and asked: "How can I get MY FRIENDS to be interested in GLOBAL WARMING?" We discuss how IN THE WORLD you can talk about CLIMATE CHANGE at the party without causing everyone to yawn and abandon you. This week, how to SAVE THE PLANET while making friends and influencing people! This party is HEATING UP!

71 - Does A Watched PLANET Ever BOIL?

December 04, 2018 10:00 - 44 minutes - 40.9 MB

Today we take up another fabulous -- and dastardly -- suggestion from our audience! Super IFFER Mike Holland sent an email to our hungry [email protected] mailbox and asked.... How did we come to know that CLIMATE CHANGE is really happening, and what it will do to our world? Scientists agree: our atmosphere is heating up and something wicked this way comes. But it wasn't always this way, predicting globally is a skill we've only recently developed... but how??? And WHO was the first...

70 - Victory Over GRAVITY!

November 27, 2018 10:00 - 51 minutes - 46.8 MB

70 - Victory Over GRAVITY! by Philip Shane, Matt Stanley, Gabrielle Paniccia

69 - Dummies VS Gravity!

November 20, 2018 17:03 - 42 minutes - 38.6 MB

69 - Dummies VS Gravity! by Philip Shane, Matt Stanley, Gabrielle Paniccia

68 - Are We Entertaining The MARTIANS?

November 14, 2018 00:00 - 54 minutes - 49.6 MB

IF we were Martians, looking at the Earth with our telescopes… would we know there’s LIFE there? If so, how would we know? Could we have watched humanity evolve? Would we see the humans coming to US? Run for the mons! It’s another fast & fascinating episode of What The IF?!!!

67 - KEPLER'S Planets & EGOMANIACAL Mathematicians!

November 07, 2018 00:00 - 51 minutes - 47.3 MB

This week, the ground-breaking, sky-breaking, star-breaking, NASA telescope, Kepler, got arthritis and, creeeeaaaaaakkkk.... slipped into a well earned and well deserved retirement, now free to lounge about forever doing the backstroke and sipping martinis among the galaxies. But if you think THAT sounds like a PARTY (!) wait until you hear all the classes clinking and whips cracking and bottles popping that went on in the REAL HISTORY of KEPLER's namesake... and his crowd of rowdy astronome...

66 - Danger, SLOW BRAIN Ahead! TIME DILATION From Head To Toe

October 31, 2018 03:57 - 28 minutes - 26.3 MB

When scientists discovered that our brain communicates with our body through electrical signals, they had a scientific and philosophical freak-out: if it took a not insignificant amount of TIME for our brain to process the world around us... then that information -- OUR SENSES -- were always TOO SLOW! What did this mean for our SENSE OF REALITY? And when we began exploring the solar system, our communication with our far flung human and robot astronauts was even more DELAYED. What The IF is g...

65 - Can You Trust Your Family ROBOT?

October 26, 2018 02:46 - 33 minutes - 30.8 MB

Attack of the FRIENDLY Robots! Will Robots really CARE for us? Or will they be faking it? Do all our screens WANT to be TOUCHED? This wildly imaginative episode, one of our original fan favorites, will change the way you think about that screen you’re looking at RIGHT NOW. Click and enjoy!

64 - Physicist CLIFFORD JOHNSON Peers Deep Into A BLACK HOLE And Finds...?

October 18, 2018 18:07 - 1 hour - 68.8 MB

Superstar Theoretical Physicist CLIFFORD JOHNSON, author of the incredible graphic novel, “THE DIALOGUES: Conversations About The Nature Of The Universe” joins us for a very special show. He asks us to imagine… WTiF our entire solar system drifted TOO CLOSE (!!!) to a BLACK HOLE? What would it be like to be on Earth when it crosses the EVENT HORIZON? Would half the planet disappear? Would time stop? Would we find ourselves in a place where NOTHING IS AS WE KNOW IT? Better bring a flashlight ...

63 - Astronomy SMELLS - The Art & Science Of Data Visualization

October 08, 2018 16:57 - 30 minutes - 28 MB

On Feb 22, 2017, astronomers announced four additional exoplanets around TRAPPIST-1, bringing it's total number of EXOPLANETS to seven. SIX of those (!) could possibly reside in the HABITABLE ZONE of that mysterious star.... so naturally we'd really like to SEE these planets! In this remastered broadcast of one of our most popular episodes -- Philip & Matt explore the magic and maybe-ness of NASA's "artistic impressions" and imagine what we'd REALLY see through the WINDOW of our space ships. ...

62 - GHOSTS!

October 03, 2018 22:33 - 43 minutes - 39.6 MB

What the IF... We could get scientific evidence of GHOSTS? Trick or Treat, once again we dive into the crazy realm of the PARANORMAL... as we learn REAL science!

61 - FLAT EARTH YouTube LIVE Special! - Joining Forces With The NonSequitur Show

September 23, 2018 21:43 - 1 hour - 142 MB

Philip & Matt were honored to be invited onto the hilarious and super smart NonSequitur Show. The hosts of this popular YouTube channel invited us to play What This IF with one of their favorite topics, the wacked and weird ideas behind a FLAT EARTH. We say “YES, AND…” to this insane idea and grab it by the corners and take it for a spin, learning the REAL SCIENCE that flummoxes the crackpots. We bust up the Flat Earth club, and have a hoot doin’ it!

60 - See The RADIO WAVES All Around YOU! The Science & Wonder Of Electromagnetic Fields

September 17, 2018 04:02 - 47 minutes - 65.2 MB

60 - See The RADIO WAVES All Around YOU! The Science & Wonder Of Electromagnetic Fields by Philip Shane, Matt Stanley, Gabrielle Paniccia

59 - DEEPER Into THE SUN We Go - Flying And Frying... For Science!

September 09, 2018 20:10 - 46 minutes - 42.7 MB

Our journey continues... to the CENTER of the SUN!

Guests

Carl Zimmer
1 Episode

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