Podcast Transcript For thousands of years, humans have been using the power of the wind to do useful work. At first, the wind was just used for sailing ships, but eventually, the wind’s power was harnessed to do mundane tasks like milling grain and pumping water. Unlike many ancient energy sources, wind power is still …
Podcast Transcript Most people are familiar with the ancient Egyptian civilization, which arose along the banks of the Nile River. However, the Egyptians were not the only major civilization that existed on the Nile. Just south of Egypt was a culture that was very similar yet very different, who was Egypt’s sometimes enemies, sometimes trade …
Podcast Transcript For thousands of years, humans knew that certain foods could treat certain ailments. However, why or how the foods did this was totally unknown. It wasn’t until the early 20th century that researchers discovered exactly what chemicals were in food that prevented and cured many diseases. Today, that knowledge has led to an …
Podcast Transcript Centuries ago, if you were a ruler, you needed to protect yourself and your realm. You’d obviously need an army and soldiers, but you would also need some sort of defensive fortification to protect yourself from attack. The solution to this problem in the middle ages was the development of massive structures which …
Podcast Transcript For thousands of years, humans have looked up at the night sky and wondered, “are we alone?” For the longest time, it remained nothing more than a philosophical question, but in the 20th century, some researchers thought it was time to finally start looking. One of the big questions was how do you …
Podcast Transcript In 1854 an unusually severe outbreak of cholera occurred in London. While cholera was not an uncommon disease, physicians at the time weren’t sure what caused it. This time, one doctor took a completely different approach, stopping the epidemic and ushering in a new field of medicine. Learn more about John Snow and …
Podcast Transcript Located in the South Pacific Ocean is one of the most isolated islands in the world. It is over a thousand miles from the nearest human settlement. Here a civilization unlike any other in the world arose and ultimately fell. While the story of the island didn’t end with the fall of that …
Podcast Transcript In 1957, two chemists at the Clinton Corn Processing Company of Clinton, Iowa, developed a system for converting the glucose found in corn starch into fructose. Over 60 years later, the product they created can be found in a dizzying array of food products worldwide. Learn more about High Fructose Corn Syrup, how …
Podcast Transcript In February 1904, the Russian Empire found itself at war with the Empire of Japan over what was territory in the current nation of China. The problem for Russia was that a big chunk of its navy was located in the Baltic Sea, and the war was in Asia. The Baltic fleet was …