Strange Attractor

What is virtual & augmented reality? What is virtual reality? (Explain That Stuff!) How augmented reality works (How Stuff Works, Tech) 'That VR Joint': The virtual reality place we visited on our excursion Virtual reality (Wikipedia) Augmented reality (Wikipedia) Beyond Pokémon Go: Augmented reality is set to transform gaming (New Scientist) Flight Radar 24: An app with an augmented reality function - point your phone at the sky to see which planes are flying by (iTunes) Star Walk: An app with an augmented reality function - point your phone at the night sky to see which stars & planets are there (iTunes) 'Playtest': Season 3, episode 2 of Black Mirror - explores augmented reality gaming (IMDb) A night landing at LAX using a 'head-up' augmented reality display in a plane cockpit (YouTube) The biggest challenges left in virtual reality, according to Oculus (TechCrunch) Flume The 'soma holiday' from Brave New World (GradeSaver) Oculus Facebook closes its $2bn Oculus Rift acquisition - What next? (The

How is music & video compressed & streamed? How MP3 files work (How Stuff Works, Tech) The 'Mother of the MP3': Tom's Diner by Suzanne Vega was used to develop the MP3 (Wikipedia) Tom's Diner by Suzanne Vega (YouTube) What is an MP3 & who was behind it? (Wikipedia) MP3s were officially released in 1993, but drew on research from as far back as 1894 (Wikipedia) A list of other non-MP3 digital audio formats (Wikipedia) 'Ogg Vorbis' is an alternative audio format (Wikipedia) 'FLAC' is another alternative audio format (Wikipedia) How competing audio formats were standardised into the MP3 (Wikipedia) Internet Standards Organisations (UniForum) If you want to include MP3s in your products, you may need to pay licensing fees as they're intellectual property like any other invention (MP3 Licensing) Licensing, ownership & legislation around MP3s (Wikipedia) The 'standards' comic Johnny mentioned (xkcd) Material Girl by Madonna (YouTube) A diagram of the structure of an MP3 file (Wikipedia) Ziploc.com

What's outside our solar system? Where does the solar system end? (ABC, Australia) Where in the universe is Voyager? The surprising showdown over where our solar system ends (TIME) What defines the boundary of the solar system? (NASA) Live tracking: Where are the Voyager probes now? (NASA) Voyager 1 is travelling at ~17 km/second (Wikipedia) It's believed that Voyager 1 is either in interstellar space or pretty close to it (the heliopause) - that's the furthest we've sent anything (Wikipedia) In about 30,000 years, Voyager 1 will have passed through the Oort Cloud & in 40,000 years it will pass within 1.6 light-years of the star Gliese 445 (Wikipedia) The infamous 'pale blue dot': Earth as seen by Voyager 1 from 6 billion km (Wikipedia) What is the heliopause? (Encyclopaedia Britannica) What is the heliopause? (Southwest Research Institute) The heliosphere: A proper sciencey paper (Max-Planck-Institut für Aeronomie) What is the Kuiper Belt? A belt of icy bodies beyond Neptune (Cosmos, Swinburne Universit

From vinyl to MP3 - how is media recorded? Music was made truly portable on 1 July, 1979, with the release of the Sony Walkman (Time) What is analogue recording? (Wikipedia) What is digital recording? (Wikipedia) Meet the 'telegraphone' & 'magnetophon', advancements in sound recording that never quite took off (Wikipedia) The new £5 note can play vinyl records (The Telegraph) The Voyager golden record (NASA) Playing a record with a pin & paper cup (YouTube) The 'compact cassette' tape was released by Philips in 1962 (Wikipedia) Transvision Vamp, Velveteen (Wikipedia) A timeline of audio formats: From 1860's 'phonautogram' to 2012's 'Opus' (Wikipedia) CDs were invented in 1982 (Wikipedia) A resource for some of the main ways we've recorded audio since olden times (Recording History) The history of the 8-track tape (Recording History) How recording tape was made, circa 1955 (Recording History) How is sound recorded onto magnetic tape? (HyperPhysics, Georgia State University) Johnny's old radio station

A quick tour of our solar system Limits of Humanity: The observable universe goes on for light years & we'll only ever see 0.00000000001% of it (Kurzgesagt, Devour) Powers of Ten: The classic video from 1977 that explains the scale of space (YouTube) Riding Light: Travel with a beam of light in real time through our solar system (Vimeo, Alphonse Swinehart) A beautiful planet (IMAX) The Total Perspective Vortex: The machine from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy that makes you feel so insignificant it will crush your soul (Hitchhiker Wiki) We need different types of telescopes to 'see' the different types of waves in the universe: radio, infrared, visible, X-ray, gamma (NASA) Telescope to seek Earthlike planet in Alpha Centauri system (The New York Times) The BoldlyGo Institute: Private space exploration (Boldy Go) Pluto is 7.5 billion km from Earth (Space.com) Live tracking: Where is Halley's comet now? (The Sky Live) Live tracking: Where are the Voyager probes now? (NASA) Voyager 1 is travelling at a

How do computer programs work? How do computers work? (Explain That Stuff!) What is a computer program? (Wikipedia) How does a computer program work? (Dummies) How do computer languages work? (The Linux Documentation Project) How does coding work? (code conquest) How Java works (How Stuff Works, Tech) Readings Bookshop: The beautifully programmed website Johnny was talking about (Readings) Icelab: The people who programmed the lovely website (Icelab) Dyson vaccuums: An example of putting thought into something that sucks & making it better (no pun intended) (Dyson) What is an algorithm? (Wikipedia) What is a computer algorithm? (How Stuff Works, Tech) An algorithm for making a cup of tea (Aristides S. Bouras) What are heuristics in computer science? (Wikipedia) Alan Turing: Creator of modern computing (BBC, iWonder) What is a Turing machine? (University of Cambridge) Why do computers crash? (Scientific American) The Mac spinning beach ball of death (The X Lab) The Windows hourglass wait cursor (Wikipedia

Bye bye Strange Shorts We've decided that we're not massive fans of our 'every other week' Strange Shorts experiment, so we're unceremoniously killing it off. We'll be back next week, and then regular as clockwork every other Friday, with a full size full on full sugar full moon full of beans Strange Attractor!

What are colours? What is colour? Just different wavelengths of light...mental (Wikipedia) Visible light (NASA) The visible spectrum (Wikipedia) What is electromagnetic radiation? (livescience) Spectral colours (HyperPhysics, Georgia State University) What wavelength goes with a colour? (NASA) Rabbit & Spaghetti Shiraz (Naked Wines) This is your brain on nature (National Geographic) Your colour red could really be my blue (livescience) How my friends described colours to me when I couldn't see (li.st) How colours get their names (livescience) Colour vision in humans & other species (Wikipedia) A nice overview on rods & cones (HyperPhysics, Georgia State University) How do we see colour? (livescience) Photoreceptor cells (Wikipedia) Bayer filter mosaics: How red, green & blue is arranged on our screens to complement our colour vision (Wikipedia) Theory of colours (Wikipedia) Newton & the colour spectrum (Web Exhibits) Newton's theory of light: His experiment split white light through a pri

What is Strange Shorts? An experiment in time management. Turns out, releasing a weekly podcast to our exacting standards, plus attending conferences in Sydney for International Podcast Day, is pretty time consuming. We also have some top secret new ideas for Strange Attractor, so we need to steal back some hours. So every other week we’re releasing a short episode with a few tasty treats. Stuff we forgot to cover in the big episodes, important corrections or cool facts we found while doing the show notes. Of course, if we’re contacted by any benevolent benefactors in the meantime (Hi Elon!), we’ll quit our jobs and return to making weekly hour-long episodes. Let’s see how it goes. Tweet @strangepeas with any feedback or questions you’d like answered!

How does online tracking and advertising work? Popping the publishing bubble: A great overview about what the iOS 9 ad blockers mean for online advertising (Stratechery) Data collection by loyalty programs (Choice) How supermarkets get your data & what they do with it (The Guardian) Online tracking systems, how do they work (NewFangled) Tracking the trackers: What are cookies? An introduction to web tracking (The Guardian) Online tracking: If they are watching, should you watch too? (NewFangled) A large tracking investigation (The Wall Street Journal) Don't track us (Duck Duck Go) I'm being followed: How Google, & 104 other companies, are tracking me on the web (The Atlantic) Facebook isn't free - it has made you its product (Computerworld) The decline of newspapers (Wikipedia) The Age The Herald Sun Newspaper Death Watch The future of print: Newspapers struggle to survive in the age of technology (Harvard Political Review) Newspapers' ongoing search for subscription revenue: From paywalls to micropa

What is Strange Shorts? An experiment in time management. Turns out, releasing a weekly podcast to our exacting standards, plus going out drinking with Elon (we can't be saving kittens all the time), is pretty time consuming. We also have some top secret new ideas for Strange Attractor, so we need to steal back some hours. So every other week we’re releasing a short episode with a few tasty treats. Stuff we forgot to cover in the big episodes, important corrections or cool facts we found while doing the show notes. Of course, if we’re contacted by any benevolent benefactors in the meantime (Hi Mr Gates!), we’ll quit our jobs and return to making weekly hour-long episodes. Let’s see how it goes. Tweet @strangepeas with any feedback or questions you’d like answered!

What are 'Standard International units'? Where are you from? Send us a postcard! Strange Attractor, c/ PO Box 9, Fitzroy, VIC 3065, Australia The seven Système International d'Unités (SI) base units: second, mole, metre, kilogram, kelvin, candela, ampere (National Physical Laboratory) The seven Système International d'Unités (SI) base units: second, mole, metre, kilogram, kelvin, candela, ampere (Wikipedia) The base units (Bureau International des Poids et Mesures) The SI system kicked off after 1799 (The National Institute of Standards & Technology) Moon Unit Zappa, child of Frank Zappa (Wikipedia) The 'cubit' was the length from the tip of one's middle finger to the bottom of the elbow (Wikipedia) History of length measurement: From cubits to lasers (National Physical Laboratory) A history of all the weird units of measurement from ye olde ancient times (Encyclopaedia Britannica) A history of the kilogram (National Physical Laboratory) Standard time was introduced from the mid-1800s around the world wi

What is Strange Shorts? An experiment in time management. Turns out, releasing a weekly podcast to our exacting standards, plus teaching conservation at the dolphin sanctuary, is pretty time consuming. We also have some top secret new ideas for Strange Attractor, so we need to steal back some hours. So every other week we’re releasing a short episode with a few tasty treats. Stuff we forgot to cover in the big episodes, important corrections or cool facts we found while doing the show notes. Of course, if we’re contacted by any benevolent benefactors in the meantime (Hi Elon!), we’ll quit our jobs and return to making weekly hour-long episodes. Let’s see how it goes. Tweet @strangepeas with any feedback or questions you’d like answered!

What is radioactivity? Where are you from? Send us a postcard! Strange Attractor, c/ PO Box 9, Fitzroy, VIC 3065, Australia What is radioactivity? Including alpha, beta & gamma decay, half-life, background radiation & health effects (Physics.org) Types of radioactivity (Andy Darvill's Science Site) The difference between radioactivity & radiation (The Conversation) Cool chart that shows radiation doses for all sorts of things...including sleeping next to someone & eating a banana (xkcd) Alpha, beta & gamma penetration (HyperPhysics, Georgia State University) Alpha, beta & gamma penetration (BBC, GCSE) Radioactive elements can 'decay' into other elements — here's the crazy decay chain for uranium-238 (Wikipedia) There are 29 radioactive elements on Earth & thousands more radioactive isotopes (Wikipedia) Some examples of radioactive isotopes or 'radionuclides' (Wikipedia) Some 'nuclides' are stable, but most are radioactive & decay — here's a list of >900 with half-lives from

Field trip! We leave our cosy recording studio (lounge room) and brave the wilds (Fitzroy) in the name of science. On our maiden voyage we test the hypothesis — Is it possible to differentiate the colour of Smarties, M&M’s and Skittles under a yellow street light? Will we return triumphant, write up our conclusions and further human understanding of how light and colour interact? Or get speared and eaten by angry natives (hipsters)? Cheeky review? (If we may be so bold) It'd be amazing if you gave us a short review...it'll make us easier to find in iTunes: Click here for instructions. You're the best! We owe you a free hug and/or a glass of wine from our cellar

What is science? Where are you from? Send us a postcard! Strange Attractor, c/ PO Box 9, Fitzroy, VIC 3065, Australia Understanding science: A great site Lucy found that kinda explains it all (University of California, Berkeley) Tyler Durden (Wikipedia) What is science? (University of California, Berkeley) What is the scientific method? (University of California, Berkeley) Some opinions on what is theoretical vs practical science (The Straight Dope) What is pure mathematics? (Wikipedia) What is applied mathematics? (Wikipedia) Game of Thrones (Wikipedia) Science is focussed on the natural vs supernatural world - the 'natural' world means anything in the universe, including anything that humans make (University of California, Berkeley) ESP: What can science say? (University of California, Berkeley) UriGeller.com What is reproducibility? A key principle of the scientific method (Wikipedia) The role of replication in science (University of California, Berkeley) Dutch agency launches first grants programme d

What is Strange Shorts? An experiment in time management. Turns out, releasing a weekly podcast to our exacting standards, plus volunteering at the orphanage, is pretty time consuming. We also have some top secret new ideas for Strange Attractor, so we need to steal back some hours. So every other week we’re releasing a short episode with a few tasty treats. Stuff we forgot to cover in the big episodes, important corrections or cool facts we found while doing the show notes. Of course, if we’re contacted by any benevolent benefactors in the meantime (Hi Elon!), we’ll quit our jobs and return to making weekly hour-long episodes. Let’s see how it goes. Tweet @strangepeas with any feedback or questions you’d like answered!

Solids, liquids, gases & how they transform The 'classical' states of matter (solid, liquid, gas, plasma) "are distinguished by changes in specific heat capacity, pressure & temperature" (Wikipedia) Pic: Transitions between the four fundamental states of matter - this is mostly what Johnny is talking about (Wikipedia) There's LOADS of other states of matter (modern & high-energy), but you don't see them lying around, e.g. they're made in stars or particle accelerators (Wikipedia) A 'Bose-Einstein condensate' is an example of a modern state of matter (Encyclopaedia Britannica) What is a solid? (Wikipedia) What is a liquid? (Wikipedia) What is a gas? (Wikipedia) What is plasma? (Wikipedia) What is steam? (Wikipedia) What is vapour? (Wikipedia) What is a cloud? A mass of water droplets, ice crystals, or a mix of both, suspended in the air (Encyclopaedia Britannica) The anatomy of a rain drop (Precipitation Education, NASA) The different states of matter have different properties (Purdue Science, Dep

What is Strange Shorts? An experiment in time management. Turns out, releasing a weekly podcast to our exacting standards, plus working in the salt mines, is pretty time consuming. We also have some top secret new ideas for Strange Attractor, so we need to steal back some hours. So every other week we’re releasing a short episode with a few tasty treats. Stuff we forgot to cover in the big episodes, important corrections or cool facts we found while doing the show notes. Of course, if we’re contacted by any benevolent benefactors in the meantime (Hi Elon!), we’ll quit our jobs and return to making weekly hour-long episodes. Let’s see how it goes. Tweet @strangepeas with any feedback or questions you’d like answered!

How was the universe made? Briefly. “Every atom in your body came from a star that exploded. And, the atoms in your left hand probably came from a different star than your right hand. It really is the most poetic thing I know about physics: You are all stardust”, Prof. Laurence Krauss (The School of Life, Vimeo) Pic: BANG! Protons formed after the first millionth of a second; fusion ended after 3 minutes (Wikipedia) Chronology of the universe (Wikipedia) The Big Bang theory (ESA Kids) The Big Bang theory (GCSE, BBC) Everything in the universe came out of the Big Bang (Why-Sci) The initial singularity is proposed to have contained all the mass & spacetime of the universe...then bang! (Wikipedia) So what was there before the Big Bang?...There's no such thing as nothing (Jon Kaufman) What is nothing? Physics debate (livescience) Why is there something rather than nothing? (BBC) The beginning of time (Prof. Stephen Hawking) A mathematical proof that the universe could have formed spontaneously from nothing (