Podcast Transcript Sometimes over 3000 years ago, somewhere in Southwestern China, a leaf from the Camellia sinensis plant may have accidentally found its way into a pot of boiling water. Noticing that the leaf had turned the water a different color, some person unknown to history drank the concoction and found that it was good. …
Podcast Transcript On August 15, 1977, for a period of 72 seconds, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence had its greatest moment. A signal was received like none other before or since. However, in the over 45 years since the signal was recorded, astronomers have been unable to relocate it or even figure out what it …
Podcast Transcript As I do every month, I went to the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus to meet with the Augurs. I met an old priest, and I asked him, “Quo die est felicissimum?” He looked at a flock of birds that appeared to be flying in a circle. He saw a cloud float past the …
Podcast Transcript Located at the mouth of the Strait of Malacca, one of the most strategically important points on Earth is the nation of Singapore. Singapore is unlike most other countries in the world for a host of reasons, including how it was created and the fact that it is one of the few remaining …
Podcast Transcript Whenever there is a lottery, the odds of winning are given. If you go to a pizzeria, they might tell you the number of possible pizzas that can be made, given their toppings. If you have a combination lock, it is secured because of the number of different solutions that are possible. All …
Podcast Transcript You’ve probably seen footage of a rocket launch. There is a bunch of smoke and fire as the rocket lifts off to begin its flight to achieve an altitude and velocity which will get it into orbit. It works, but it requires a lot of energy to get even a small amount of …
Podcast Transcript In the movie Forrest Gump, one man finds himself at the center of historical events, encountering famous people over the course of decades. While Forrest Gump was fictitious, there have been people who have served as a nexus at certain places and times in history. One such person existed in the early 20th …
Podcast Transcript In the late 1970s and early 1980s, a war erupted in the world of video technology. Two competing video tape formats fought to gain supremacy in the market. In the end, one format crushed the other and was left as the victor. However, legend holds that the inferior format was actually the victorious …
Podcast Transcript Located on the island of Honshu, in the middle of the Japanese archipelago, lies one of the most important and iconic places in all of Japan, Mount Fuji. Mount Fuji has held an important place in Japanese culture for centuries as both an important site in the native Japanese Shinto religion and as …