Science Project

42. When a Wolf Swallows the Sun (The Solar Eclipse)42. When a Wolf Swallows the Sun (The Solar Eclipse)

August 16, 2017

Chances are you’re just as excited as we are for the Total Solar Eclipse coming up on Monday, August 21st. So, here’s some handy science knowledge to help you make the most of the experience:

How does an eclipse happen?

Here’s a super zoomed out visual of what will be happening in space during Monday’s total solar eclipse.

How should I watch the eclipse?

First of all: DON’T LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN.

Except if you’re in the path of totality. Then you can look at the sun, with your naked eyeballs, for 120-ish seconds the sun is completely eclipsed. At all times and in all other places, you need special eclipse glasses. Regular sunglasses, even really dark ones, let thousands of times too much sunlight into our eyes, which can cause serious damage.

Also, don’t look at the sun through binoculars, a camera, or your phone, EVEN when you have the glasses on. Apparently the concentration of sunlight through a lens can damage your glasses and your eyes. This recommendation comes directly from NASA, so you have to do it.

If you can’t get a hold of eclipse glasses, you can still participate in this historic event by crafting some sort of pinhole projection device. We prefer the tried and true shoe box device we all made in grade-school. Here’s a link to some DIY instructions. With a pinhole projector, you face away from the sun, and watch the shape of a circle of light become a crescent as the eclipse happens.

But again, if you’re in the path of totality, where the body of the sun will be completely blocked out at the time of eclipse, go ahead and take off the glasses (for the duration of total eclipse only! 2.5 minutes if you’re in the center of the path of totality, less if you’re anywhere else in the path.) Fully experience how the colors of your surroundings change, how the stars come out, just how incredibly weird the world is during a solar eclipse. But of course, before even a sliver of the sun is visible again, make sure your glasses are back on if you’re gonna look up.

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41. It’s A Gas, Gas, Gas41. It’s A Gas, Gas, Gas

August 9, 2017

It’s all around you, in your lungs, inside that balloon, it even comes out of your youknowwhere… It’s gas! The invisible, but incredibly important, substance that makes life on Earth possible!

Kira makes a cloud!

But what exactly is a gas? So glad you asked! K+K have the background story on why gas behaves the way that it does, and the fun things you can do with it. They even get Jefferson to let them make a cloud, and light a fire, IN THE STUDIO. Man, this job is awesome.

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40. Did We Start the Fire? If Not, How Long HAS It Been Burning?40. Did We Start the Fire? If Not, How Long HAS It Been Burning?

July 26, 2017

Humans love fire, in the form of BBQ or combustion engines. A raging forest fire, however, can be devastating for our flimsy wooden human houses. Why then, is it so important that we let them burn? In this episode, the Science Ladies uncover:

How fire has been shaping ecosystems since long before any human ever lit a match
The forest-dwelling pyromaniacs that thrive in the flames, and why these species need fire to survive
What fire really is, and how it burns
The science behind putting out a fire (or, “How to not burn down your kitchen”)

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39. The Placebo Effect39. The Placebo Effect

July 12, 2017

It’s not just conjecture: placebos work. The question is… how? Why is it that many diseases and physical ailments can be cured just as well with a sugar pill as they can with clinically tested medicine? K+K examine a case of mysteriously healed Parkinson’s Disease, talk about a doctor curing chronic pain with peppermint candies, and take a look at what happens in a person’s brain when they believe they’re receiving medical treatment… but aren’t.

Yum.

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38. The Eyes Are The Window To The Retina.38. The Eyes Are The Window To The Retina.

June 28, 2017

Human eyes are pretty impressive, but let’s be honest, our ocular organs don’t hold a candle to the eyes of animals like owls, mantis shrimp, cats, eagles, dragonflies, octopuses, bees, parrots, goats, chameleons… Ok, maybe human eyes aren’t all that impressive after all.

They’re eyeballs.

Today K+K discuss:

The anatomy of the eyeball
Color and light wave perception (what is a color, really?)
How to see with amazing precision at a distance, or at night (hint: become an owl)
The amazing mantis shrimp (who may not actually be as amazing as you’ve been told, but then by the end you’ll think they’re amazing again)

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37. I Used to Call You On My Cellphone.37. I Used to Call You On My Cellphone.

June 14, 2017

Isn’t it wonderful that we can own cellphones, use them to call our mothers and look up photos of dogs in hats and locate the Chipotle nearest to us, and we never even need to know how they work? (Spoiler alert: we’ll tell you how they work in this episode.)

Do you get it yet?

Join K+K to explore:

Where the your voice goes when you speak into your cell phone
How sound waves become light waves just to become sound waves again
The language of satellites and cell phones
Why Drake is so sad
What the heck Trilateration is, and how you might use it if you were a wizard

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36. Human Evolution (A Brief Overview)36. Human Evolution (A Brief Overview)

May 31, 2017

We humans are pretty fortunate. Our intelligence and physical features are a result of the evolutionary hand we’ve been dealt, and are what have allowed us to build an advanced society with sophisticated infrastructure.

Get it?? The HAND we’ve been dealt??

Despite what you may have learned from 2001: A Space Odyssey, genetic changes, which produce physical and behavioral changes, don’t happen overnight, propelled by the power of a giant Monolith. Adaptations like walking upright, dexterity, and large complex brains, took millions of years to develop, and required the right environmental conditions for these random genetic changes to be considered assets. Join Kira and Keera on the journey of just how, and why, our ancient primate ancestors became… us.

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35. 6th Grader Questions, Part 235. 6th Grader Questions, Part 2

May 24, 2017

In a special “Listener Question” episode of Everything is Interesting, K+K answer some excellent inquisitions, sent in by the kids from Mrs. Pace’s 6th grade class at Pleasant Valley Middle school in Vancouver, Washington. The question writers brought up some super interesting topics, and we wanted to answer them all, so we broke this one up into 2 separate episodes. On today’s show the science ladies tackle:

-How the Earth was formed
-Why the Earth’s axis is tilted
-Where Earth’s water came from
-The first plant to emerge on Earth
-The number of endangered species on Earth
-The temperature on the moons of Neptune

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34. 6th Grader Questions, Part 134. 6th Grader Questions, Part 1

May 17, 2017

In a special “Listener Question” episode of Everything is Interesting, K+K answer some excellent inquisitions, sent in by the kids from Mrs. Pace’s 6th grade class at Pleasant Valley Middle school in Vancouver, Washington. The question writers brought up some super interesting topics, and we wanted to answer them all, so we broke this one up into 2 separate episodes. On today’s show the science ladies tackle:

-Geese vs. Swift formations
-Why we have droughts
-How Magnetic Levitation works
-How much gasoline humans use
-How trees make Oxygen
-How moss reproduces

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33. Bad Science Fiction Movies #233. Bad Science Fiction Movies #2

May 3, 2017

If there’s one thing we love, its ruining movie night for everyone by informing them of all the horrible science in wonderful movies. Play along with our 2nd Bad Science Fiction Movies Quiz, and see if you can pinpoint the scientific slip-ups in Transformers, The Core, Spider Man, and The Matrix.

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