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Saturday, December 30, 2023

The true cost of nuclear power

Out of the many bad arguments against nuclear power, there are two good arguments: It's too expensive and the power plants take too long to build. But are they true? And if so, why is it that nuclear power is so slow and so costly? That’s what we’ll talk about today.


The quiz for this video is here.

Sunday, December 24, 2023

Nuclear Power Comeback Update: Poland Authorizes Small Modular Reactors

Nuclear power is back in fashion in many countries because of its potential to decarbonize even energy-intense industry quickly. In its latest success, Poland has authorized the construction of 24 small nuclear reactors at six sites across the country.


The quiz for this week's science news is here.

Friday, December 22, 2023

Life could have begun in an interstellar gas cloud

Scientists have long speculated that life didn’t begin on earth but in space. According to a new preprint, life could have come from intergalactic gas clouds, so called molecular clouds.

Thursday, December 21, 2023

The experiment that could save physics

Physicists at the University of Warwick in the UK are starting to build an experiment that could just save physics. They could be the first to measure the effects of quantum gravity and unlock progress in a field that has been stuck for more than 4 decades.

Wednesday, December 20, 2023

Is there science behind a fossil fuel phaseout?

Sultan Al Jaber recently said that there is "no science" behind a phase-out of fossil fuels, prompting a lot of outrage among climate scientists. I think he is right. Here I am trying to explain why.

Tuesday, December 19, 2023

Particle physicists make wishlist. I'm underwhelmed.

Last week, a panel of scientists named the Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel, or P5, signed on to a list of policy recommendations for the US Department of Energy and the National Science foundation. And since 5 is such a nice number, they’ve come up with 5 priorities.


Join the discussion on Patreon.

Sunday, December 17, 2023

Quantum Computers cross 1000 Qubits Threshold! What does this mean?

IBM just announced they produced the first quantum processor with more than 1000 qubits and I got a lot of question about what this means, so let’s have a look.

Saturday, December 16, 2023

Complexity: The biggest gap in modern science

Everyone loves to talk about complex problems and complex systems, but no one has any idea what it means. I think that understanding complexity is THE biggest gap in science today. What do we even mean by complexity? What do we know about it? And what’s the problem with trying to explain it? That’s what we’ll talk about in this video.
This video has a quiz which you can take here.

Friday, December 15, 2023

Climate change to force people indoors earlier than expected

A new study says that climate change will make big parts of the world uninhabitable much faster than expected. And I think they’re making a very good point.

Thursday, December 14, 2023

First transatlantic flight with sustainable fuel. Is this the future of flying?

Last week, Virgin Atlantic chartered the world’s first-ever transatlantic flight powered by sustainable aviation fuel. Their Boeing 787 flight from London to New York was powered by a mix of waste oil and biofuel and intended to test the performance. What are sustainable aviation fuels and is this the future of flying?

Wednesday, December 13, 2023

Black Hole Singularities "Faith, not science!" Prominent Physicist Claims

This is the maybe most surprising development in theoretical physics I’ve seen for a decade or so. A well-renown physicist is saying that there’s a mistake in a proof that dates back half a century, and black holes might not actually contain singularities.

Tuesday, December 12, 2023

String Theory gets Competition: A New Attempt to Solve Physics' Biggest Mystery

Every scientific discipline has its holy grail, and the holy grail of physics is definitely quantum gravity. Quantum gravity is Einstein’s unfinished revolution, the missing unification of General Relativity and Quantum Theory. String theory is the best-known contender, and this week have a strong newcomer.

Monday, December 11, 2023

Social media doesn't affect your emotional life, new study finds

A study just out from researchers at Durham University in the UK has found that reducing social media use doesn’t have much of an effect on people’s emotional life one way or another. Hard to believe? Let's put this new finding into context.

They found a reliable way to create antibubbles

You’ve all heard of bubbles, but have you heard of anti-bubbles? Me neither, but it’s a thing, as I just learned from this recent paper.

Sunday, December 10, 2023

Bitcoin mining could help energy transition, researchers say

According to a new study from researchers at Cornell, bitcoin mining could be used to power our transition to green energy. I couldn't quite believe this either, but I think they're serious.

These scientists got sued for doing their job

Science and the law come in to conflict more often than you might think. In this episode I want to tell you about several cases that I have followed which have concerned me greatly. The issue here isn't the actual scientific evidence, it is rather the way that scientists pursue and discuss this evidence, usually in a straight-forward and frank manner that doesn't sit well with courts.


NEW: This video comes with a quiz on QuizWithIt.

Saturday, December 02, 2023

The Best Sleep Advice -- According to Science

A lot of people worry about not getting the perfect sleep, an issue that’s been driven by sleep trackers along with the increase of people offering sleep-advice on social media. Today, we will be discussing the science behind our sleep problems and what can help improve our quality of sleep.


NEW: This video comes with a quiz on QuizWithIt.