Learn It From A Layman

We revisit thermodynamics and discuss 6 thermodynamics processes. What is an ideal gas? What's the difference between hyperbaric, isobaric, and hypobaric? What are the uses of idealized thermodynamics processes in the real world? We describe what happens to a piston in thermodynamic terms. What is the scientific definition of work? Should you call your refrigerator an isothermal system in front of friends? Is David Bowie exempt from the laws of physics?

We discuss the science of goals. What's the difference between intentions and goals? Who is Edwin Locke? What is goal theory? What are the five key principles of goal setting? What are the three types of goals? Are goals necessary and do they really make a difference? Is disambiguate a real word?

We talk the basics of machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI), and robotics. What is the difference between machine learning and AI? What is machine learning used for? What are the models and algorithms used? What is a deep neural network? What's the difference between supervised and unsupervised learning? Is machine learning improving? How does cognitive modeling work? Are robots going to take over the world?

We talk about the basics of biology. What are amino acids? What are organic compounds and why are they important for living things? How do the various components of a cell work? What is osmosis? How does the same DNA create various types of cells? Why do identical twins express different traits? How does evolution work? Why do viruses mutate so quickly? Did Darwin have a better publicist? 

What's it take to build a satellite and get it into space? What are the six major factors to consider when building a satellite? How does a satellite get into orbit? What about space dust and space junk? Are solar storms likely to take down our satellites? Can satellites shoot lasers at the earth? What do you call people from the Yukon Territory? 

What language should you learn? What are the best ways to learn a language? What is a cognate? Is language emersion the only way to learn? What is L1 transfer? How do you test a language learner for proficiency? We discuss all the things you need to know about learning a second language and how to succeed and what succeeding means. Join us.

We take on economics. What does GDP mean and why is it important? What are the principles of a free market? How can a natural disaster cause economic problems? How does economic inequality happen and does it cause problems? How much gold is there in the world? What is the Federal Reserve? What is a command or planned economy? How does communism work? What is the difference between socialism and communism? What is bitcoin? Come find out with us.

We discuss vaccines. What is the history of vaccines? How do vaccines work? Can you get sick from a vaccine? What is VAERS stand for and what's its purpose? Are there serious side-effects from the COVID vaccine? (We pull numbers from this chart.) What are the reasons to get the COVID (and other) vaccines? Is a vaccine mandate legal? Should you send a picture of a rash to your doctor? We deal with all of these questions and more.

We discuss the basics of units of measurement. What are the international standards for measuring. We cover the seven basic units and some derived units. How is a meter defined? Is the standard kilogram still a large chunk of metal? Is a kilogram measuring mass or weight? What is a joule? What is a gigawatt? Did Back to the Future contain scientific inaccuracies? Come find out how measurement units can help you understand the physical sciences.

We're joined by the former Director of the American Institute in Taiwan, Brent Christensen, who answers all of our questions about Taiwan. What are the biggest industries in Taiwan? How is Taiwan's semiconductor manufacturing affecting the price of cars? How did Taiwan control the COVID-19 pandemic? Why does Taiwan use traditional characters? What is the history of the Taiwanese people? What's going on with Taiwan immigration and education? Brent gives us in-depth analysis into various aspects of the Taiwan-American relationship, and the Taiwanese culture.

We discuss the principles of object oriented programming. What is a script vs a program? What are the four principles of object oriented programming? What's an interface? How can understanding programming help you better understand movies? What's a value type vs a reference type? What is recursion? Come learn about these and more with us.

We give you the inside scoop on everything hotel related. WARNING: This episode does include some discussion of mature topics. Can you ensure you can stay in a hotel, even if it's booked up? Why would you stay at a hotel for 3 years? What crimes happen in hotels? What does the front desk have to offer? What is it ok to take from a hotel room? What's the best time of year to book a hotel? How full are hotels usually? What effects has the pandemic had on the hotel industry? Is staying a month better than staying 28 days? Come learn these and more with us.

We discuss the theory of relativity. What is the difference between special relativity and general relativity? Who is Hendrik Lorentz? Why can't we accelerate a particle to the speed of light? How can there be a massless particle? What is the space-time continuum? Why does time stop when you're traveling at the speed of light and what does it have to do with an asymptote? Does a warp drive mean faster-than-light travel? Is it possible to travel back in time according to the laws of physics? Come find out with us.

Our first ever best-of podcast. We compiled the most insightful and useful information on the subjects of physics, thermodynamics, calculus, orbital mechanics, quantum physics, the electromagnetic spectrum, trigonometry, and lasers. This is your crash-course in math and physics. Enjoy.

We discuss riddles and how to solve them. How do you solve a riddle? What information do you need? What is algorithmic thinking? We help you develop your riddle skills while we walk through 5 specific riddles: The nuts and bolts buckets, the cue balls, the bridge at night, the Othello pieces, and the horse race riddles. Join and us and see if you can solve these riddles.

Come learn about the scientific study of language or linguistics. What is etymology? What is a minimal pair? What is the difference between phonetics on phonics? What's a morpheme? What's syntax and how could a lawyer use it? What's a garden path sentence? What is a semantic prime and how does it help us understand semantics? What is WordNet? Where does humor come from? What influence on language does society have? Does the font affect how quickly someone can read? How does Google read your mind? How do you turn a linguistics degree into marketable skills and money?

We discuss the basics of lasers. What are the physics of lasers? What is a gain medium? What does collimated mean and how does it apply to lasers? How do lasers work for barcodes and DVD players? What is the cat distraction application of lasers and is it relevant to way the military uses lasers? Can lasers be used to create light sabers or a death star? What is a femtosecond? Should you fire lasers at people's eyes? Come learn about lasers with us. 

We discuss terraforming. What makes Earth habitable? How do you keep an atmosphere around a planet? What roles do gravity and the magnetosphere play? How would we get people to mars or another planet safely? What is a Hohmann transfer? How could we add a significant amount of mass to Mars or Venus? Should we bomb Mars? Come learn with us. 

Tim walks us through the Spanish language. Where did Spanish come from? What is Proto-Indo-European? How did Arabic influence Spanish? How many speakers of Spanish are there? What business usages are there for Spanish? What are the best ways to learn Spanish? Which languages are easy to learn if you already know Spanish? Come learn about one of the world's most important languages.

How likely are you to get in a car accident? What effect does a past event have on the probability of a future event? What is the Monty Hall problem and can we make any sense of it? Did Disney have it right about sports teams and feel-good moments all along? What is a random event vs a deterministic event? Come learn about probability theory with us.