Absolute Zero is 0K

Absolute Zero is 0K

Author: DamnInteresting.com March 19, 2014 Duration: 30:17
Near the heart of Scotland lies a large morass known as Dullatur Bog. Water seeps from these moistened acres and coalesces into the headwaters of a river which meanders through the countryside for nearly 22 miles, until its terminus in Glasgow. In the late 19th century this river adorned the landscape just outside of the laboratory of Sir William Thompson, renowned scientist and president of the Royal Society. The river must have made an impression on Thompson--when Queen Victoria granted him the title of Baron in 1892, he opted to adopt the river’s name as his own. Sir William Thompson was thenceforth known as Lord Kelvin. Kelvin's contributions to science were vast, but he is perhaps best known today for the temperature scale that bears his name. It is so named in honor of his discovery of the coldest possible temperature in our universe. Thompson had played a major role in developing the Laws of Thermodynamics, and in 1848 he used them to extrapolate that the coldest temperature any matter can become, regardless of the substance, is -273.15°C (-459.67°F). We now know this boundary as zero Kelvin. Once this absolute zero temperature was decisively identified, prominent Victorian scientists commenced multiple independent efforts to build machines to explore this physical frontier. Their equipment was primitive, and the trappings were treacherous, but they pressed on nonetheless, dangers be damned. There was science to be done.

The stories that shape our world are often hidden in plain sight, waiting for the right moment to reveal their strange and significant details. That's the territory explored by Damn Interesting, a narrative-driven podcast from the team at DamnInteresting.com. Each episode is a deep and immersive dive into a true story, told with the care and pacing of an audiobook. You'll find yourself pulled into meticulously researched accounts from the overlapping realms of science, medicine, history, and human behavior. One week might unravel a forgotten medical mystery, while the next could detail a pivotal, overlooked moment in technological history or a psychological phenomenon that explains more than we'd like to admit. This podcast is built on the conviction that reality, when examined closely, is far more compelling than fiction. The narration is clear and engaging, designed to make complex subjects accessible and to transform historical footnotes into gripping narratives. It’s for anyone with a restless curiosity about the how and why of things, offering those satisfying moments of connection where disparate facts suddenly click into place. Listening feels like uncovering a series of fascinating secrets, each story selected for its inherent ability to surprise and make you reconsider a piece of the world.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 73

Damn Interesting
Podcast Episodes
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Otokichi's Long Trip Home [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 12:24
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The Conductor [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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Andrée and the Aeronauts' Voyage to the Top of the World [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:44
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The Mole Rat Prophecies [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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The Smoldering Ruins of Centralia [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 7:40
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The Spy Who Loved Nothing [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 21:13
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The Isle of Doctor Seaborg [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 21:03
It was the summer of 1936 when Ernest Lawrence, the inventor of the atom-smashing cyclotron, received a visit from Emilio Segrè, a scientific colleague from Italy. Segrè explained that he had come all the way to America…
The Arizona Dragonslayer [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 18:12
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