Interstellar

Interstellar

Author: Festival of the Spoken Nerd September 1, 2020 Duration: 42:03

In this episode, Steve tries to measure distant stars with his thumb, Matt talks black holes & plot holes and Helen plays some of her favourite space sounds. Plus a song from Helen that may provide useful information for your future interstellar travel needs:

- Steve's bit (01:00)

- Helen's bit (12:30)

- Matt's bit (24:40)

- Helen's Cryonic Love Song (38:50)


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Come for the Unnecessary Detail. Stay for the A Podcast Of. 

 

SHOW NOTES: 

Unfortunately our show notes are too big for Acast's margins to contain... head to the Interstellar episode page to see everything.


Corrections and clarifications:

- 12:09 - Helen uses the phrase "standing on the shoulders of giants" which - as Lynda Goldenberg rightly points out - not actually a complement, but rather a heinous insult used by Isaac Newton to describe Robert Hooke. We'll pull this apart properly in a future episode. 

- 20:49 - Anaesthetists @brisgasdoc and @mjtb1987 have confirmed that they use the blood oxygen level tone all day, every day with their patients. This paper is an interesting investigation into attention and sonification in the operating room, and does mentions how surgical colleagues prefer to keep the oximeter volume down low. 


Thanks for listening!


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Ever find yourself falling down a rabbit hole of questions about the seemingly mundane? That’s the exact territory mapped out in A Podcast Of Unnecessary Detail. Each month, the trio from the live comedy phenomenon Festival of the Spoken Nerd-stand-up mathematician Matt Parker, experiment enthusiast Steve Mould, and musical geek Helen Arney-gathers to pick apart three unrelated stories with a gleeful, granular focus. They operate on the principle that the most fascinating layers are often hidden beneath the surface of ordinary things, and they have the comedic and explanatory chops to dig them up. This isn't a broad overview; it's a deep dive into the tangents and technicalities that most conversations gloss over, all delivered with the warmth and wit of friends who love to get sidetracked by a good fact. Listening to this podcast feels like being let in on a brilliant, meandering backstage conversation where laughter and genuine curiosity are equally important. You’ll hear the unexpected connections they draw, the playful debates, and the moments of genuine surprise as ordinary topics unravel into extraordinary tales of science, maths, and human ingenuity. It’s for anyone who’s ever wondered ‘why?’ and then immediately followed it up with ‘but how, exactly?’
Author: Language: English Episodes: 26

A Podcast Of Unnecessary Detail
Podcast Episodes
On The Ones And Twos [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 45:05
In this episode, Steve explains why all the molecules in your body are right handed, Matt bigs up the strong law of small numbers and Helen grabs the mic to get on the ones and twos. Stand by to receive details!- Matt's…
Live And Kicking Part 1 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:46
Helen, Matt and Steve introduce the best bits of their recent live shows, performed at London’s Bloomsbury Theatre. With nerdy guest performers Dr Rohin Francis aka Medlife Crisis discussing why the human body isn’t real…
Curiouser and Curiouser [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:29
In a different kind of episode, our intrepid Detailers reveal three facts that they just could not believe the first time they heard them, but turned out to be true. The reproductive habits of barnacles, the unexpected m…
Hearts and Minds [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:16
In this episode, logical thought and raw emotion meet as Matt finds two numbers that say “I Love You”, Helen sings mathematical equations that are guaranteed to make your brain light up and Steve embarrasses himself with…
Input and Output [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:57
In this episode, Steve explains how computers talk to each other behind our backs, Helen co-writes a song with a popular internet search engine (if you can’t work out which one, Google it) and Matt brings an Oscar-winnin…
Go Forth and Multiply [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:59
In this episode, Matt finds out how a runaway algorithm created the world’s most expensive book, Helen searches for the most singable fruit fly genes and Steve considers whether donating a kidney is easier than buying a…
Primed and Ready [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:25
In this episode, Matt finds his portrait in a Prime Number, Helen sings about the biggest Prime Number ever discovered (at the time of recording) and Steve discovers the hot new trick that wild honey bees are using to de…
Flush and Forget [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:42
In this episode, Steve discovers the greedy cup siphon hiding inside your loo, Matt delves into Joseph Bazalgette’s calculations for London’s sewer system and Helen teaches everyone how to flush a toilet, through the med…
A Podcast Of Unnecessary Detail is back! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:08
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts for new episodes as soon as they are released!Looking for a science comedy podcast that doesn't skimp on the details? We've got you. One starting point sets off three different sc…
Transmission [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:01
In this final episode of Series 1, Steve talks about how plants transmit their genes, Helen eavesdrops on whales and Matt decodes spacecraft transmissions. Plus a song about the bravest little transmitter in the known un…