Tag: history

Episode 189: Calvinist Tulips and Super Enormous Black Holes

On this episode of Life, the Universe & Everything Else, Lauren, Ashlyn, Laura, and Gem are skeptical about historical claims large and small. Was there really a secret Roman emperor named Sponsianus? Did the Dutch really go wild for tulips in the seventeenth century? Are you in a black hole right now?

Life, the Universe & Everything Else is a podcast that explores the intersection of science and society.

Emperor Sponsianus: fact or forgery?: Gold coin proves ‘fake’ Roman emperor was real (BBC News) | Authenticating coins of the ‘Roman emperor’ Sponsian (PLOS ONE) | Is Sponsian real? Further Considerations (American Numismatic Society) | An Expert Opinion on Sponsianus (CoinsWeekly) | Domitian II (Wikipedia)

Did Holland really go wild for tulips?: There Never Was a Real Tulip Fever (Smithsonian Magazine) | What was Tulip Mania? Tulip Mania Overview & Crash (Study.com) | Tulipmania: About the Dutch Tulip Bulb Market Bubble (Investopedia) | Calvinism (The Canadian Encyclopedia) | Tulip mania (Wikipedia)

Are you in a black hole right now?: There’s a conspiracy theory that the world ended in 2012 and it makes sense (Upworthy) | Did The World End In 2012? A Mandela Effect Theory (YouTube) | What Is the Mandela Effect? Examples and Explanations (Verywell Mind) | 10 Questions You Might Have About Black Holes (NASA) | Fact check: No black holes created by CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (USA Today) | Will CERN generate a black hole? (CERN) | The Higgs boson (CERN)

Contact Us: Email | Twitter | Facebook

Listen: Direct Link | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Feed

Advertisement

Episode 184: Revenge of the Quiz Show!

On this episode of Life, the Universe & Everything Else, Gem, Ashlyn, Lauren, Laura, and Marissa test each other’s knowledge of creation myths, fall foods, historical clocks, anthropology, and medicine.

Life, the Universe & Everything Else is a podcast that explores the intersection of science and society.

Creation Myths: Enuma Elish: The Oldest Written Creation Myth | Accounts of creation (BBC Bitesize) | Chaos (cosmogony) (Wikipedia) | Creation myth (Wikipedia) | Emergence (Wikipedia) | Zuni mythology (Wikipedia) | List of mythological pairs (Wikipedia) | Kintu (Wikipedia) | Völuspá (Wikipedia)

Timekeeping: A Chronicle Of Timekeeping (Scientific American) | The Very Long and Fascinating History of Clocks | A Brief History of Time-Keeping (The Washington Post) | Decimal time: the revolution that never was (Watches and Culture) | Decimal time (Wikipedia) | The Evolution of Timekeeping: Water Clocks in China and Mechanical Clocks in Europe (Encyclopedia.com) | Wrist Watches: From Battlefield to Fashion Accessory (The New York Times) | A Brief History of the Wristwatch (The Atlantic) | History of timekeeping devices (Wikipedia) | Water clock (Wikipedia)

Diagnosis: UpToDate | Centor Score for Strep Pharyngitis (MDCalc) | Classification criteria for systemic lupus erythematosus (UpToDate) | Overview of the management and prognosis of systemic lupus erythematosus (UpToDate) | Polymorphic light eruption (NHS) | Osteosarcoma: epidemiology, pathology, clinical presentation, and diagnosis (UpToDate) | Diabetic ketoacidosis and hyperosmolar hyperglycemic state in adults (UpToDate) | Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage: clinical manifestations and diagnosis (UpToDate) | Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage: treatment and prognosis (UpToDate)


Contact Us: Email | Twitter | Facebook

Listen: Direct Link | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Feed

Episode 180: “Icebergs”

On this episode of Life, the Universe & Everything Else, Marissa McCool leads Lauren, Ashlyn, Laura, and Gem on an exploration of ideas as “icebergs”, with layers of hidden secrets just below the surface. Topics of discussion include US cities, the sinking of the Titanic, artificial sweeteners, and the curse of the pharaohs.

Life, the Universe & Everything Else is a podcast that explores the intersection of science and society.

Correction: This year marks Queen Elizabeth II’s 70th year on the throne, not her 75th.

Marissa’s Podcasts on Spreaker: Marissa McCool (Host/Producer)

The Sinking of the Titanic: Sinking of the Titanic (Wikipedia) | Titanic Coincidence? (Commonplace Fun Facts) | 5 Titanic Coincidences That Prove Reality is Stranger than Fiction (Travel Thru History) | Titanic Conspiracy Theories: When Did the Titanic Sink? (Popular Mechanics) | Fire and Ice: The Titanic’s Top 10 Weirdest Conspiracy Theories (Spyscape) | Titanic conspiracy theories (Wikipedia) | Fact Check-J.P. Morgan did not sink the Titanic to push forward plans for the U.S. Federal Reserve (Reuters) | Saved from the Titanic (Wikipedia) | Fact-checking QAnon conspiracy theories: Did J.P. Morgan sink the Titanic? (The Washington Post) | Haunted mirror ‘possessed by the ghost of the Titanic captain’ up for auction (Mirror Online)

Artificial Sweeteners: G.D. Searle, LLC (Wikipedia) | Aspartame (Wikipedia) | Artificial sweeteners get more than their fair share of grief (AGDAILY) | Is Aspartame Responsible for ‘An Epidemic of Multiple Sclerosis and Lupus’? (Snopes.com) | Hayes Planning To Resign as Head of FDA (The Washington Post) | Why Did the FDA Ever Approve Fake Sugar? (Vice) | Donald Rumsfeld and the Strange History of Aspartame (HuffPost) | ‘Aspartame Causes Cancer’ Was a Classic Internet Hoax (Smithsonian Magazine) | Aspartame controversy (Wikipedia)

The Pharaoh’s Curse: British Museum is world’s largest receiver of stolen goods, says QC (The Guardian) | Curse of the pharaohs (Wikipedia) | Discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun (Wikipedia) | Did a Cursed Mummy Sink with the Titanic? (Snopes.com) | Did a mummy’s curse sink the Titanic? Probably not, but the Washington Post once suggested that it did. (Slate) | The most famous myths about the Titanic (SFGate) | Brendan Fraser got ‘fully choked-out’ shooting ‘The Mummy’ (EW.com) | Here’s How Brendan Fraser Almost Died on the Set of ‘The Mummy’ (TheThings)

Contact Us: Email | Twitter | Facebook

Listen: Direct Link | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Feed

Episode 172: Quiz Show XP

On this episode of Life, the Universe & Everything Else, Ashlyn, Gem, Lauren, and Laura engage in a battle of wits over today’s most important scientific topics: eels, climate change, and… Jim Henson movies?

Life, the Universe & Everything Else is a podcast that explores the intersection of science and society.

Eels: Surprised Eel Historian, PhD (Twitter) | European eel (Wikipedia) | Interesting facts about eels (Just Fun Facts) | Trust Us, These 9 Slithery Facts About Eels Are The Real D-EEL (AwesomeOcean.com) | 20 Interesting Facts About Eels (Nature Tingz)

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: Sixth Assessment Report (IPCC) | Summary for Policymakers (IPCC)

Jim Henson Films: Jim Henson (Wikipedia) | The Muppet Movie (Wikipedia) | Academy Awards (Muppet Wiki) | The Dark Crystal (Wikipedia) | Labyrinth (Wikipedia) | The Witches (Wikipedia)

Contact Us: Email | Twitter | Facebook

Listen: Direct Link | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify | RSS Feed

Episode 167: Medical History

On this episode of Life, the Universe & Everything Else, Gem, Ashlyn, Lauren, and Laura swap tales from medical history, including the story of Ben Carson’s separation of the Binder twins, the legacy of Henrietta Lacks, and the “tainted blood scandal” that led to the formation of Canadian Blood Services.

Life, the Universe & Everything Else is a podcast that explores the intersection of science and society.

Ben Carson: The story of the surgery that made Ben Carson famous and its complicated aftermath (The Washington Post) | Separation of craniopagus Siamese twins using cardiopulmonary bypass and hypothermic circulatory arrest (The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery) | Patrick and Benjamin Binder (Wikipedia) | From Vaccines to Creationism, Ben Carson’s Views Perplex Some (The New York Times) | Ben Carson on Creationism, Evolution, and Intelligent Design (Evolution News) | Ben Carson’s Scientific Ignorance (The New Yorker)

Henrietta Lacks: Henrietta Lacks (Wikipedia) | Significant Research Advances Enabled by HeLa Cells (Office of Science Policy) | Cell Lines – an overview (ScienceDirect Topics) | The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (Goodreads)

The Tainted Blood Scandal: Canadian Red Cross apologises for distributing HIV infected blood (BMJ) | ABCs of eligibility to donating blood (Canadian Blood Services) | Collaboration, Competition, and Coercion: Canadian Federalism and Blood System Governance (Adam David McDonald) | Commission of Inquiry on the Blood System in Canada: Krever Report (Publications du ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux du Québec) | The Krever Commission Recommendations: What They May Mean for Hospital (Longwoods) | The Krever Commission – 10 years later (CMAJ) | Commemoration of the Tainted Blood Tragedy (Canadian Hemophilia Society) | Canada’s Tainted Blood Disaster (CBC Archives) | Unspeakable: the truth about HIV-tainted blood in Canada (The Lancet Infectious Diseases) | Today’s blood system no longer unsafe or “Unspeakable” (Canadian Blood Services) | Royal Commission of Inquiry on the Blood System in Canada (Wikipedia) | Research shows promising development in hunt for HIV vaccine (ABC News)

Contact Us: Email | Twitter | Facebook

Listen: Direct Link | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify | RSS Feed

Episode 159: Policing in Canada

On this episode of Life, the Universe & Everything Else, Gem is joined by Ashlyn, Lauren, and Laura to discuss the history of policing in Canada.

Life, the Universe & Everything Else is a podcast that explores the intersection of science and society.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police: Historical events in RCMP-Indigenous relations (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) | Canada isn’t offering a history lesson on colonialism, but the RCMP is (The Eyeopener) | History of the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) | Explainer: Who were the RIC? (TheJournal.ie) | Sitting Bull (The Canadian Encyclopedia) | The RCMP was created to control Indigenous people. Can that relationship be reset? (Global News) | Don’t forget RCMP’s history (Ammsa.com) | Heritage Minutes (YouTube)

The Pass System: Don’t forget RCMP’s history (Ammsa.com) | A Condensed History of Canada’s Colonial Cops (The New Inquiry) | Pass System in Canada (The Canadian Encyclopedia) | North-West Rebellion (The Canadian Encyclopedia) | 1889: Peasant Farming policy implemented (decolonizEd) | The pass system: another dark secret in Canadian history (CBC Radio)

Police Killings in Canada: List of killings by law enforcement officers in Canada (Wikipedia) | Discover Canada: Canada’s History (Canada.ca) | Aboriginal Justice Inquiry (Wikipedia) | John Joseph Harper (Wikipedia) | Inquest begins into police shooting of Winnipeg teen (CBC News) | Police identify man shot by officer (CBC News) | ‘It’s devastating’: South Sudanese condemn fatal police shooting of man with mental health issues (CBC News) | ‘Truly sorry:’ Winnipeg officer sentenced to prison for killing pedestrian (National Post) | Canadian police struggle to maintain reputation under unprecedented scrutiny and demands for new approach (National Post) | Stop the killing: Fatal police shootings in Canada (The Indy) | A timeline of police charged with murder or manslaughter in Canada (The Globe and Mail) | Theft (Armoured Suits Criminal Defence Lawyers) | Capital punishment in Canada (Wikipedia) | Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations (Wikipedia) | Shooting of Chantel Moore (Wikipedia) | Investigation of shooting death of Chantel Moore could take months (CBC News) | Edmundston, N.B., police officer who shot Chantel Moore now back at work (Global News) | Five things to know about Quebec police watchdog probing New Brunswick shootings (Global News) | Muslim man shot dead by Canadian police during mental health crisis (Daily Sabah) | Death of Regis Korchinski-Paquet (Wikipedia) | Defund the police? Here’s a look at how much Canadian cities spend on policing (CTV News)

Alternatives to Calling the Police: Alternatives to Calling the Police (Safe Congregations Handbook, UUA.org) | 12 Things to do Instead of Calling the Cops (Sprout Distro)

Contact Us: Email | Twitter | Facebook

Listen: Direct Link | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify | RSS Feed

Episode 158: Public Health History

On this episode of Life, the Universe & Everything Else, Ashlyn, Gem, Laura, and Lauren discuss the history of several public health initiatives: handwashing, toothbrushing, and nutrient fortification of food.

Life, the Universe & Everything Else is a podcast that explores the intersection of science and society.

Updated: During his segment, Gem mistakenly said “postpartum examination” when he meant to say “postmortem examination”. This has been corrected.

Handwashing: Hand washing (Wikipedia) | When and How to Wash Your Hands (CDC) | Ignaz Semmelweis (Wikipedia) | Daily Deaths, 2018 (Statistics Canada) | Pregnancy Mortality Surveillance System (Maternal and Infant Health, CDC)

Oral Hygiene: Monkeys may have better dental hygiene than you (Science, AAAS) | Miswak (Wikipedia) | Efficiency of traditional chewing stick (miswak) as an oral hygiene aid among Muslim school children in Lucknow: A cross-sectional study (NIH) | The evolution of the toothbrush | Who invented the toothbrush? (HISTORY)

Nutrient Fortification: Overview of Food Fortification in the United States and Canada (NCBI Bookshelf) | A brief history of food fortification (Baking Business) | History of U.S. Iodine Fortification and Supplementation (NIH) | Iodine (Wikipedia) | Fortification and Health: Challenges and Opportunities (Advances in Nutrition, Oxford Academic) | Rationale and Plan for Vitamin D Food Fortification: A Review and Guidance Paper (NIH)

Contact Us: Email | Twitter | Facebook

Listen: Direct Link | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify | RSS Feed

Episode 156: Wrath of the Quiz Show!

With their usual trivia night cancelled due to COVID quarantine, on this episode of Life, the Universe & Everything Else Gem, Laura, Ashlyn, and Lauren put together one of their own.

Life, the Universe & Everything Else is a podcast that explores the intersection of science and society.

Computers: B (programming language) (Wikipedia) | C (programming language) (Wikipedia) | Fax (Wikipedia) | Ada Lovelace (Wikipedia) | FLOW-MATIC (Wikipedia) | Tim Berners-Lee (Wikipedia) | Zero-based numbering (Wikipedia) | Boolean algebra (Wikipedia)

Canadian Roadside Attractions: Manitoba’s 9 wackiest roadside attractions (canada.com) | Meleb’s early buildings worth visiting for history buffs (Winnipeg Real Estate News) | Meleb Park Cumming Mushrooms (Interlake Tourism) | Red Paperclip Story (Town of Kipling) | 10 quirky Canadian places to visit for Canada’s 150th birthday (Globalnews.ca) | Sunny the Giant Banana Monument (Historic Sites of Manitoba) | The Vegreville Pysanka (Atlas Obscura) | Vegreville Pysanka (Town of Vegreville) | Canada’s 25 Biggest Attractions (Literally) (Reader’s Digest Canada) | The First Giant Squid (Archival Moments) | Sizable Squid in Glover’s Harbour (CBC Archives) | Ready and waiting: Alberta town built world’s first UFO landing pad 45 years ago (National Post) | The Sunless City (Wikipedia) | Homecoming History: Roots of a mining town (Flin Flon Reminder)

Animal Facts from the Cincinnati Zoo: Videos from the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden (Facebook)

Contact Us: Email | Twitter | Facebook

Listen: Direct Link | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify | RSS Feed

Episode 152: SandwichCast!

On this episode of Life, the Universe & Everything Else, Laura leads Ashlyn, Lauren, and Gem in a discussion of the history and science of sandwiches, then everyone attempts (and fails!) to define what, exactly, makes something a sandwich.

On this episode: Ashlyn maintains that open-faced sandwiches do not exist, Gem argues that soup in a bread bowl is in fact a sandwich, Ashlyn and Laura dispute whether pie qualifies as a casserole or a dumpling, and Lauren opines that once a sandwich is put in the Snackmaster sandwich maker, it ceases to be a sandwich entirely.

Life, the Universe & Everything Else is a podcast that delves into issues of science, critical thinking, and secular humanism.

John Montagu, Fourth Earl of Sandwich: Warfare on the Mediterranean in the Age of Sail: A History, 1571–1866, by David S.T. Blackmore (Google Books) | A Tour to London, Or, New Observations on England and Its Inhabitants, by Pierre Jean Grosley (Google Books) | Earl of Sandwich (Wikipedia) | John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich (Wikipedia) | The Story of the Sandwich (History) | History of the Sandwich (PBS Food) | Trencher (Wikipedia) | Meze (Wikipedia) | Poker Night in Napa (Food & Wine)

Biphasic Sleep: Biphasic and polyphasic sleep (Wikipedia)

Processed Meat and Cancer: International Agency for Research on Cancer, IARC (MSDS HyperGlossary) | This is the only known thing that is not a carcinogen (Business Insider) | List of IARC Group 1 Agents (Wikipedia) | Bacon, salami and sausages: how does processed meat cause cancer and how much matters? (Cancer Research UK) | Processed meat and cancer – what you need to know (Cancer Research UK) | Red meat, processed meat and cancer (Cancer Council NSW) | Q&A on the carcinogenicity of the consumption of red meat and processed meat (WHO)

The History and Science of Bread: Wheat (Wikipedia) | Bread (Wikipedia) | History of bread (Wikipedia) | Bread in culture (Wikipedia) | Bread (History Magazine) | Science of Bread: Bread Science 101 (Exploratorium) | Science of bread making (Baking Industry Research Trust) | Bread Baking Clinic: Under-Kneading & Over-Kneading (The Kitchn)

Cultural History of Sandwiches: Important Sandwiches That Changed America Forever (Thrillist) | The History of Five Uniquely American Sandwiches |(Smithsonian Magazine) | To Evade Pre-Prohibition Drinking Laws, New Yorkers Created the World’s Worst Sandwich (Gastro Obscura) | Raines Law (St. Louis Public Library) | Who Invented the Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich? (National Peanut Board) | The Curious History of Vietnam’s Bánh Mì Sandwich

Contact Us: Facebook | Twitter | Email

Listen: Direct Link | Apple Podcasts | Google Play | Stitcher | RSS Feed |Spotify

Episode 124: Ancient Discoveries

On this episode of Life, the Universe & Everything Else, Gem, Ashlyn, Laura, and Lauren discuss several important scientific, technological, and mathematical discoveries made in the ancient world.

Life, the Universe & Everything Else is a podcast that delves into issues of science, critical thinking, and secular humanism.

Note: We experienced some technical difficulties near the top of Ashlyn’s segment, so listeners may notice a brief drop in audio quality. Sorry!

Links: History of the compass (Wikipedia) | The Shorter Science and Civilisation in China (Joseph Needham and Colin A. Ronan) | Geomagnetic reversal (Wikipedia) | Formation of the Chinese Civilization (china.org.cn) | Contribution of Al-Khwarizmi to Mathematics and Geography (Muslim Heritage) | Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi (Wikipedia) | Al-Khwarizmi biography (History
of Mathematics Archive) | Al-Khwarizmi (The Story of Mathematics) | Who Invented Zero? (Live Science) | 0 (Wikipedia) | The Origin of Zero (Scientific American) | What is the origin of zero? How did we indicate nothingness before zero? (Scientific American) | Who invented the zero? (History.com) | Zero (History of Mathematics Archive) | The Origin of the Number Zero (Smithsonian) | Who invented zero and how? (Quora) | Babylonian numerals (Wikipedia) | Jabir ibn Hayyan (Wikipedia) | History of Science and Technology in Islam | Chemistry (Islamic Spain) | From Alchemy to Chemistry (Muslim Heritage) | Aqua regia (Wikipedia) | History of glass (Wikipedia)

Contact Us: Facebook | Twitter | Email

Listen: Direct Link | Apple Podcasts | Google Play | Stitcher | RSS Feed