The Titanium Physicists Podcast

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Dr. Ben Tippett and his team of physicists believe that anyone can understand physics. Black Holes! Lightning! Coronal Mass Ejections! Quantum Mechanics! Fortnightly, they explain a topic from advanced physics, using explanations, experiments and fun metaphors to a non-physicist guest. Visit the we…

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  • Oct 13, 2020 LATEST EPISODE
  • infrequent NEW EPISODES
  • 53m AVG DURATION
  • 96 EPISODES


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Latest episodes from The Titanium Physicists Podcast

Episode 86: Live at AAAS- Quantum Computers

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 13, 2020 63:22


Dr. Sarah and Dr. Danica Marsden are here with me in Seattle, Washington for our live show at the AAAS! We talk about how quantum computers do their quantum computer thing.  Our guests are Old friends of the show: Matt Sheehy (from Lost Lander), and Brent Knopf (From Ramona Falls and El VY)

Episode 85: Decoherence Not Incoherence

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 1, 2020 83:22


Our Guest Today is Ted Leo, of "Ted Leo and the Pharmacists" Fame. Our experts today are Dr. Danica Marsden and Dr. Stephanie Simmons.  Our topic is QUANTUM COHERENCE and DECOHERENCE: how a quantum superposition will not stay that way forever. The Environment will start asking it questions until our system loses coherence. 

Episode 84: Super Stars Look Like Zebras

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 31, 2019 103:06


The topic of this Episode is O-type stars, the biggest, brightest stars in the universe! Astrophysicists Dr. Benjamin Brown and Hannalore Gerling-Dunsmore break it all down for our guest Ryan North (of Dinosaur Comics, and Squirrel Girl). 

Episode 83: Feeling Feeble WIMPS and Axions

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 30, 2019 67:43


Today's guest is a marvel! It's the host of the Drabblecast: Norm Sherman! Norm joins Dr. Ken Clark and Dr. Katelin Schutz, experts in dark matters.  today we talk about dark matter candidates: our best guesses for what is causing the crush we feel but cannot see. 

Episode 82: Snowing Diamonds

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 31, 2019 92:36


Andray Domise joins  Dr. Sabine Stanley from Johns Hopkins University and Erin Wenckstern from the Weather Network to learn about NEPTUNE!  Home to the fastest winds in the solar system, where it rains diamonds, and mysterious "superionic water," the ice giant slowly trudges around its orbit, the farthest planet from the sun!

Episode 81: LISA the Giant Tumbling Space Triangle

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 29, 2019 78:50


Humorist and Podcaster Benjamin Ahr Harrison (Greatest Generation, Friendly Fire) Join me and Dr. Joey Shapiro Key and Dr. Jocelyn Read to talk about THE NEXT GENERATION of gravitational wave detectors: LISA  (the Giant Tumbling Space Triangle) and NANOGRAV our pulsar timing array system! 

Episode 80: Picturing the Bach Hole

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 21, 2019 94:35


Adal Rifai from "Hello From the Magic Tavern" joins us to talk about the first PHOTOGRAPH of a black hole by the Event Horizon Telescope.  Our guide through this amazing story are Dr. Leo Stein and Dr. Katie Bouman.  We learn the basics of Black holes, and the interferometry performed by the Event Horizon Telescope, and then about the complicated image processing which needed to be done to interpret all of that amazing, messy data!

Episode 79: MiniBooNE or Giant Curse

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 10, 2019 62:29


Particle physicists Dr Erica Caden and Dr. Ken Clark are my physicists today.  Our guest today is Author, musician, composer and novelist Cecil Castellucci. Today we're talking about the MinniBooNE experiment and the possibility of Sterile Neutrinos. 

Episode 78 The Heat Death of The Universe

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 9, 2018 74:59


Dr. Katie Mack and Dr. Robert McNees team up to explain the heat death of the universe to Award Winning Author Ken Liu. 

Episode 77: Disruptive Feedback

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 18, 2018 55:44


A supermassive blackhole at the centre of a galaxy can cause the gas that falls into it to glow SO BRIGHT that it stops the creation of new stars. What? How? Courtney Brooke Davis is here to ask the questions! Dr. Victoria Scowcroft and Dr. Carolin Villforth are here to give the answers!  and I'm here to talk about pudding. 

Episode 76: All that Glitters

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 18, 2017 69:00


Announcing the return of the A Team! Jocelyn Read! David Tsang! joining us today the comedian Charlie Demers! Episode 76! This episode is gold. specifically, it's about neutrons stars MASHING TOGETHER in the depths of space!

Episode 75: The Undeniable Outward Push

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 13, 2017 60:39


Like how the same basic stuff can make many different types of star, and planet and cookie, this episode brings a lot of familiar things together in new ways! Hanalore Gurling-Dunsmore!  Dr. James Sylvester! and our guest Zach Weinersmith! (Zach and his wife Kelly just wrote an amazing book!) we're going to talk about Supernovas (type 2). How a perfectly ordinary gigantic star can just one day decide to EXPLOOODDE. today's episode is amazing. It brings together a lot of things we have talked about in other episodes!

Episode 74: Jingle Bell Sweaters

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 24, 2017 48:53


Biophysicists Dr. Nicole Prent and Dr. Jacqueline Townsend are back. this time we're talking about Electron Spin Resonance, a technique that's like Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, but different. our guest this time is Diana Goodman, Host of the Thirty Twenty Ten podcast.

Episode 73: An Episode with Glass

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 10, 2017 87:49


A touch of Glass! Dr. Jane Cook and Dr. Jessica Rimsza are here to talk with Bobak Ferdowsi about glass. We talk about what glass is, and how it forms, and what makes it glassy, and where to find it, and so many more things! FASCINATING!

Episode 72: Moonquake

Play Episode Listen Later May 1, 2017 63:42


Dr. Briony Horgan and Dr. Meg Rosenburg are here to explain that the moon is actually shrinking. It's getting smaller. And we know that it is because we have been studying it. Today's guest is Eric Molinsky, host of the "Imaginary Worlds" podcast. 

Episode 71: Neutriyes or NeutriNO

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 19, 2017 60:51


I'm gonna give it to you straight: we make beams of neutrinos. Neutrinos are particles that barely touch anything as they pass through everything.   Ken Clark and Tia Michelli are back and this episode is awesome.  neutrino beams: why would we make them? how do we make them?   our guest is the host of the FOO SHOW: Will Smith!

Episode 70: Muon, science cat, muon

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 16, 2017 60:32


Muons are very small fundamental particles that are much heavier than they should be.  they fall apart pretty quickly, but they rain down on us. It's magical. Today's physicists are Ryan Martin, the particle physicist; and Diana Cowern, host of the "Physics Girl" youtube channel.   Our Guest this time is Sarah Gailey, the author!

Episode 69: Super Hyper Fire Hose Bucket Challenge

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 12, 2016 71:50


Today our guest is a person I've wanted to meet for years: The founder of the Skepchick website, Rebecca Watson. Our physicists are Dr. Katie Mack and Hannalore Gerling-Dunsmore. TODAY'S TOPIC: Supermassive Black Holes!!

Episode 68: The Shadows of Creation

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 6, 2016 61:11


This episode is about the The Sunyaev–Zel'dovich Effect, where photons from the big bang are used to backlight giant galaxy clusters! My Physicists this episode are Dr. Michael Zemcov, and Dr. Danica Marsden. Our guest this time is TED LEO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOO! THE COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND! 

Episode 67: A Phonon Call

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 1, 2016 57:32


A phonon.. that's not a spelling mistake... is a quantum of vibration. it's a particle... that lives as a vibration in a crystal.  and it's bananas!!! Doctors Fiona Burnell and Darren Peets have joined me to try to explain this all to Megan and Anthony Leon.

Episode 66: Life On Mars

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 20, 2016 68:08


There are astrophysicists who study life on mars.  specifically, the prospects of detecting life on mars.  Zach Weinersmith Joins Catherine Neish and Briony Horgan  and we talk about LIFE ON MARSSSSS!!!

Episode 65: New Ways of Looking

Play Episode Listen Later May 22, 2016 54:33


How does a camera work? no, a digital camera, I mean.  yeah... yeah.. optics. I know all about lenses. how does the plate at the back.. the one the photons hit.. how does it turn photons into electronic signals that turn into digital information? we're talking: CCDs,CMOS cameras, MKIDs, and superconducting bolometers! Dr. Danica Marsden and Dr. Suresh Sivanandam are here, and our guest today is award winning author Elizabeth Bear!

Episode 64: E and N (The edges of Einstein)

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 24, 2016 84:44


Maya Inamura Joins Me, Katie Mack and Leo Stein and we talk aboutTEST OF GENERAL RELATIVITY

Episode 63: Worldbuilding

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 25, 2016 59:57


Patrick Mchale makes his triumphant return to the show! Astrophysicists Catherine Neish and Brian Jackson explain how planets form around stars, and why the planets we see around other stars are so weird.

NONEPISODE: ben's feeling

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 11, 2016 31:31


Hi!LIGO just announced detecting.1. gravitational waves2. colliding black holes 1.3 billion years away.this is just me talking about my feelings about it. 

Episode 62: Black Bells

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 31, 2016 89:10


Did you know that if something falls into a black hole it will "ring" like a bell, radiating gravitational waves at a very specific frequency. pretty fun! Brent Knopf and Matt Sheehy are back! Two new physicists: Leo Stein and Chiara Mingarelli!    fun times!

Episode 61: Levitating Trains

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 18, 2016 49:33


*sorry about the audio quality**one guy was in china, and my mic broke and all sorts of bad stuff happened. :(*OH MAN!!!Erika Ensign, from all the dr. who podcasts, has come on our showso that Darren Peets and Abby Shockley and I can do our best to explain how VORTICES enable MAGNETIC PINNING in TYPE 2 SUPERCONDUCTORS.    rad.

Episode 60: Meters Of Interference

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 16, 2015 73:18


Radio telescopes have really crummy resolution.but if we line them up and hook them together,  using a technique called "radio interferometry"  we can see the head of a screw 300 km away.   This episode, our guest is Ben Acker, one of the authors of "the thrilling adventure hour". amazing! Our Physicists are Rupinder Brar and Sabrina Stierwalt! exciting!

Episode 59: Strange Truth and Charming Beauty

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 1, 2015 50:55


There is no force stronger. Gravity? get out.  Electrostatics? no. Love? incorrect. THE STRONG FORCE! Tia Miceli! Ken Clark! AND OUR SPECIAL GUEST RYAN NORTH!!!!   this is a really fun episode where we talk about how protons are made of quarks stuck together with gluons. so much fun. 

Episode 58: Extraordinary Evidence

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 25, 2015 67:13


The Big bang. How do we know it happened? How do we know what happened?Dr. Michael Zemcov and Dr. Katie Mack and I talk to the clever hosts of Encyclopedia Brunch. It's Tim Dobbs and Kathryn Cogert! WHAT FUN!

Episode 57: Two Photons Walk Into An H Bar

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 18, 2015 90:41


BIOPHYSICS! Nicole Prent! Jacqueline Townsend! Broadway actor Brian Cross joins us to talk about how biophysicists use frequency doubling of photons To LOOK INSIDE CELLS! well, it's really cool I can't wait for you to hear it!

Episode 56: What "In Tangles" Meant

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 7, 2015 81:49


Oh boy it's been a while since we got an episode scheduled, recorded, edited and out the door. but the wait has been worth it because THIS EPISDE IS AMAZING! Dan Harmon (From Channel 101, The Sarah Silverman Show, Monster House,  COMMUNITY!, Harmontown (the podcast), Harmontown (the documentary about the podcast), and Rick and Morty) joins us! Physicist Katherine Brown RETURNS! and Ken Clark is flying shotgun!TODAYS EPISODE TOPIC: QUANTUM ENTANGLEMENT. this is a lovely episode and i am prouder than punch to present it to you.

Question Barn 8

Play Episode Listen Later May 18, 2015 17:47


Ken Clark Joins me! we answer Ramiro's question, who asked "I have heard that bosons are the force carriers. So what force is the higgs boson "carrying" ?"  

Episode 55: Laser Laser Laser Laser Laser Laser

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 1, 2015 53:48


Appologies. the audio turned out way crunchier than i thought it would be while we recorded. I tried to fix it.  My "Doctor Evil" impression is way crappier than it sounded in my head. after all these years of thinking i had a good doctor evil impression.. turns out i suck. THIS EPISODE IS ABOUT LASERS! Dr. Abby Shockley and Dr. Tia Miceli join me in trying to explain lasers to a very Patient Aaron Fischer. this episode is super fun.    

Question Barn 7

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 22, 2015 16:26


Me and Amanda Bauer Answer a question from dave! "First of all I really enjoy the podcast!  And for a while I’ve been wanting to send in this question and think it would be perfect for the new segment.  My question is:  What direction would one look to see the big bang? Now, I understand that we are in an ever expanding universe and technically the big bang is in all directions but I guess I’m having a hard time mentally grasping the concept. I’ve heard the balloon analogy but I just can’t understand that if I was expanding on an inflating balloon I would still be able to look to the center of said balloon, right?!. Conversely, would it be possible to look away from the big bang and into the space our universe is expanding into?   I hope this hasn’t already been covered but if it has would it be possible to go more in depth with an explanation of the expansion itself. Thanks for such an awesome podcast!      Dave”

Episode 54: The Way the Dog Ran Away

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 12, 2015 65:43


Erin McGathy (from the "This Feels Terrible" and "Harmontown" podcasts and the USB theater in LA) joins us! Dr. Rupinder Brar and  Dr. Amanda Bauer have both returned after WAY TOO LONG!   We talk about the milky way! dust and pancakes. dusty pancakes. that'd be a great name! Oh man what a great show! this episode is GREAT! Listen past the end music for some addition great conversing. wooooooooooooooooo

Question Barn 6

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 1, 2015 31:48


Dr. Katie Mack and I talk about big bang stuff.    the question is from bob: "Hello again Ben. I've found and listened to the QB episodes. Thanks for the help with locating them. Since you seem to have ready access to a cosmologist, I'd like to offer for QB a trio of related cosmological questions that have bugged me for some time. 1. How do we know that all the matter in the universe came from the big bang? 2. How do we know that the big bang did not expand into an existing precursor universe? (It seems plausible to me that this may be the case but we have no way to know because the hyperinflation immediately after the big bang and accelerating expansion due to dark energy will permanently keep us outside of the light cone of any event in this hypothetical precursor universe. I'm not fond of unfalsifiable theories...)"

Episode 53: Consistent Variables

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 11, 2015 47:13


Vicky Scowcroft and David Tsang were talkin' to me, and i was like "Yoooo what kind of show topic should we do" and Vicky was like "Cepheid Variables" so i was like... hmm. A star who tells us about distance and travelling... Who else should I ask on the show to talk about these crazy stars, but Lucy Knisley, star of the comic book world and the travel memoir?  mmm. happy winter, everyone. 

Question Barn 5

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 25, 2014 56:19


Geoffrey Lovelace and I talk about Interstellar.  mostly we geek out over the relativity. we ran out of time before we could make this podcast 3 hours long.  it was definitely a possibility.

Episode 52: Through The Mirror

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 20, 2014 82:13


I was super excited about this Episode! Our Guest is Patrick McHale! We Talk about CPT symmetry (Charge-Parity-Time inversion symmetry), which leads to discussions about antimatter, and the nature of time. it's a SUPER EPISODE! It goes ON AND ON! CRAZY AWESOME PHYSICS!   Physicists Tia Miceli and Ryan Martin!

Question Barn 4

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 8, 2014 26:57


email your questions to tiphyter@titaniumphysics.com the question today: "Howdy,  The Higgs boson turned out to be a massive particle from what I understand.  It is also supposed to be a field through which everything moves.  So, there must be a lot of them, I reason.  So, could this be the missing mass of the universe?  Maybe there is some obvious reason that it is not, but I have not heard the idea mentioned and it seems obvious to me."

Question Barn 3

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 17, 2014 25:24


This is the Third episode of "Question Barn" send your questions to TIPHYTER@TITANIUMPHYSICS.COM This one has Mike Zemcov

Question Barn 2

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 14, 2014 16:00


This is the Second episode of "Question Barn" send your questions to TIPHYTER@TITANIUMPHYSICS.COM This one has Ken Clark.  

Question Barn 1

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 12, 2014 19:58


This is the First episode of "Question Barn" send your questions to TIPHYTER@TITANIUMPHYSICS.COM This one has Jocelyn Read on it.

Episode 51: Tabled Tops

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 22, 2014 49:16


Mr. Noah Zimmerman joins us to talk about nuclear magnetic resonance. you know MRIs? "Magnetic resonance Imaging" is what it stands for, "Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging" is what it actually stands for. Essentially, magnets are used to make the nuclei in your atoms stand up and dance.    Our experts are the Mighty Dr. Fiona Burnell, and the Mighty Dr. Abby Shockley.  THIS IS SO MUCH FUN!    

Episode 50: The Death Of Spirals

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 1, 2014 48:27


Galaxies are cool. some are eliplical (blobby) some are swirly. there's a reason why. Our guest today is Katrina Griffiths from the verity podcast. and my experts are Sean Moran and Laura Hainline (they're married. that's why they keep interrupting each other. it's kinda sweet, i think)   wooo! 50 episodes!

Ep 49: Parallel Philosophies with Christopher Reynaga

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 1, 2014 52:29


Christopher Reynaga is an awesome author, and he has written the best story ever which is called  “I Only Am Escaped Alone to Tell Thee” . look it up, a link to a podcast reading of the story will be on teh website.   Anyway, I wanted to talk to him so I told him that I'd explain many worlds Quantum mechanics to him. well, that and copenhagen interpretation, why not. So this week's episode is where the math side of physics meets the philosophy side of physics! Experts are Ken Clark and Tia Miceli .

Domains of Influence with Matt Sheehy and Brent Knopf

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 30, 2014 71:43


Some famous singing clowns once sang a song about magnets. The world looks down on a singing clown's ignorance, but how many of us can actually explain how magnets work?  the question is rhetorical, though, because the answer is obviously "yes I can do it because i am a physicist and i have clever physicist friends who also know a lot about it." i recruited my old pals Brian Sullivan and Fiona Burnell!  Our guests today are Matt Sheehy from the band 'Lost Lander' and Brent Knopf from the band 'Ramona Falls'.  the show is super extra long and we talk about everythinggg! from how magnetic fields are generated, to how magnets work, to how to levitate a frog, to how the sun and earth's magnetic fields work, to how guitar pickups work. it's a good episode. you should note that a lot of the topics we mention (solar flares, superconductors) have their OWN EPSIODES all about them. 

Episode 47: The Song Of Falling Stars with Robot Hugs

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 18, 2014 48:42


Long story short: there's no such thing as a stable orbit... any two objects in orbit will emit gravitational waves.. and slowly get closer and closer together. If the two objects in question are neutron stars, we can even detect the gravitational waves! We hope to "hear" them soon with the LIGO gravitational Wave Observatory!   Today's guest it Robot Hugs, the author of the Robot Hugs comic. The Physicists are Jocelyn Read and David Tsang! WHAT FUN!

Episode 46: Burning Twice as Bright with Alasdair Stuart

Play Episode Listen Later May 11, 2014 50:52


Today is a super episode! it's got so much stuff in it it's CRAYCRAY. Alasdair Stuart, from the Pseudopod podcast joins James Silvester and Vicky Scowcroft and me. and we talk about STARS. what's inside them and how they work and how they change. 

Episode 45: The ThumBprint of Creation with Ryan North

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 28, 2014 48:34


The most amazing thing has come to pass: a telescope at the south pole called BICEP2 has detected decisive evidence demonstrating that the model of how the universe grew over the first second of existence is correct. It detected evidence of gravitational waves which were generated during inflation! I've put the best team together. Katie Mack! Mike Zemcov... and returning to the show, RYAN NORTH. it's a the best episode we have made.

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