The Rest Is Science

From tiny six sided cubes to oversized polyhedrons with dozens of faces, Michael’s collection of dice is more than just a hobby, it’s a window into probability, design, and the strange ways we humans play with chance! Why might some dice feel luckier than others? How do they shape the games we play, the mathematics we study, and the way we've made decisions throughout history? Each die has it's uses but they all reveal the patterns, quirks, and surprises that lie in the numbers we trust and the randomness, or chance, that we don’t. Welcome to The Rest Is Science: Field Notes. Every Thursday, Hannah and Michael rummage through their personal troves of scientific treasure and source discoveries that explain our understanding the universe, oddities that scramble our brains, objects that hint at forces we’ll never see...and a few things that are essentially just plain cool. Expect deep dives into the science behind each pick, the spark that grabbed their attentions, and the sheer delight they get from sharing it all with you. They’ll also be tackling your questions, so email The Rest Is Science at [email protected] ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience ⁠⁠ Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠clicking here.⁠ ------------------- Video Producer: Adam Thornton Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott Producer: Becki Hills Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What day is it, really? And who decided? What happens to time when we leave the Earth? And when might future humans be counting down to the dawn of a New Year in the middle of the day? From missing days and meddling popes to atomic clocks and vanishing centuries, Professor Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens dive headfirst into one of the slipperiest questions in science and society: what IS the time and date? On the way they trace a tiny error by Julius Caesar, a correction by Pope Gregory XIII, and how time itself has bent to human will. In the process, faiths have quarrelled, centuries have blurred or been deleted altogether and yet, we crave precision in a universe that drifts, producing clocks so exact they must pause to let the Earth turn. ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠⁠ Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠clicking ⁠here⁠.⁠ ------------------- Video Producer: Adam Thornton Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott Producer: Becki Hills Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Each December millions of homes fill with the unmistakable scent of pine. It's sharp, resinous, and strangely comforting, feeling timeless…familiar…safe. But what if that smell isn’t what we think it is at all? Professor Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens follow the trail of the molecules that shape this seasonal scent. It turns out it didn’t evolve to delight, but to warn and repel. The smell of Christmas is the smell of fear. Welcome to The Rest Is Science: Field Notes. Each Thursday, Hannah and Michael rummage through their personal troves of scientific treasure to source objects and ideas that hope to expand our understanding the universe, scramble our brains, or hint at forces that are invisible to the naked eye. They’ll also be tackling your questions, so email The Rest Is Science at [email protected]. ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠ Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠clicking here.⁠ ------------------- Video Producer: Adam ThorntonVideo & Social: Bex TyrrellAssistant Producer: Imee MarriottProducer: Becki HillsSenior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-CarterHead Of Digital: Samuel OakleyExec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Could Santa Clause still exist IF we stripped away the magic? If the ability to bend spacetime was gone? What conditions would Santa need to deliver a present to every human being on Earth in a single night? Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens explore the historical, geographical, and logistical realities behind these questions using population data, longitudinal lines, mathematics AND a healthy dose of Christmas curiosity to calculate the impossible routes, speeds, and time spans involved in a 12 hour gift giving bonanza at global scale as a completely average human being. Wish them luck! ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠ Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking here.⁠⁠ ------------------- Video Producer: Adam Thornton Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott Producer: Becki Hills Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tucked away in old engineering kits and museum drawers is a device whose sweeping motion once captivated mathematicians and designers alike.  The ellipsograph: a mechanical tool built from sliding arms and rotating joints that were tracing flawless curves long before computers made such things effortless. While they have the appearance of an ancient curiosity, the ellipsograph’s power lies in its ability to transform abstract geometry into tangible motion on a page. Its careful movement can physically enacts the strict mathematical conditions that define an ellipsis - a shape that’s central to geometry, but also to the natural order of the cosmos. So is this object just a relic of the past? Or does it have a place in the present? As a reminder of the deceptive simplicity that rules the world around us, and the ingenuity required to understand it. Welcome to The Rest Is Science: Field Notes. Each Thursday, Hannah and Michael rummage through their personal troves of scientific treasure to source objects that expand our understanding the universe, that scramble our brains, that hint at forces we’ll never see...and, that are sometimes, just plain old cool. Expect deep dives into the science behind each pick, the spark that grabbed their attentions, and the sheer delight they get from sharing it all with you. They’ll also be tackling your questions, so email The Rest Is Science at [email protected]. ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠ Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠clicking here.⁠ ------------------- Video Producer: Oli Oakley Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott Producer: Becki Hills Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices