Over the last few years I have become obsessed with podcasts! I started with ‘Potterless’, a podcast following a grown man reading Harry Potter for the first time. Since then I have enjoyed all kinds of podcast on topics ranging from food chats to historical figures.
I love listening and learning and find podcasts a really great way to learn more about Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths. I thought I’d share some of the STEM themed podcasts that I have been absorbed in recently!
30 Animals That Made Us Smarter
This engrossing podcast is presented by Patrick Aryee who is a Biologist and Wildlife TV Presenter. This podcast series has 30 episodes that are all about 15 minutes long, each episode tells you about a different animal that has influenced innovators and lead to the development of new technologies.
Whether you are an animal, science or technology lover you are in for a treat with this podcast series.
My Favourite Episode: ‘Sea Otter and Wetsuit’
This episode dives into how sea otters have influenced a design for a waterproof and warm wet suit. Some of the amazing facts I learnt from this episode were that sea otters have the finest fur in the animal kingdom, they have the same number of hairs per square cm as a blonde person has on their entire head! Also the incredibly dense fur traps pockets of air in between the hairs to keep the otter warm. The hairs have tiny barbs and these help to keep the fur matted together, this makes sure the fur closest to the body stays nice and dry. A team at MIT created innovative experiments and tests to see how these incredible properties can be applied to wet suit design. Find out more in the episode!
Listen now on Spotify or on the BBC here
The Infinite Monkey Cage
‘The Infinite Monkey Cage’ is presented by Professor Brian Cox and Robin Ince. This is an award winning BBC Radio 4 comedy and science podcast. It’s a celebration of science that is eye opening and inspirational. Every episode there is a guest panel normally consisting of two experts and a comedian who is a little less qualified!
I love the fast paced back and forth discussions that delve into real science and topical issues. There are a lot of series so there is more than enough episodes to get your teeth into!
My Favourite Episode: ‘Origin of Numbers’
I was laughing within the first few minutes of this episode with Robin Ince’s quick fire maths jokes. This episode was about all things numbers and had Prof Brian Butterworth (Cognitive Neurosychologist) , Dr Hannah Fry (Mathematician) & Matt Parker (Comedian Mathematician) on the guest panel. I learnt that some of the oldest words common to different languages are counting words (numbers 1 to 5). Also fish can count, yes you read that right! Fish are able to tell which shoal is larger so they can join a bigger group of fish, this helps them as it decreases the likelihood of the individual fish being eaten.
Listen now on Spotify or on the BBC here
Unprofessional Engineering
‘Unprofessional Engineering’ is hosted by James and Luke, this is a podcast that looks into the history of different feats of engineering. Each week they choose an everyday thing and break it down into engineering chunks that are easy to understand.
The 30 minute long episodes are easily digestible and they teach you about all kinds of different topics you may not have thought of!
My Favourite Episode: ‘History of Airplanes – Episode 53’
This great episode went through the timeline of important plane advancements throughout the years, being an aerospace engineer I absolutely loved this one! Some of my favourite historical moments included Edwin Link creating the flight simulator in 1928, this was used by US pilots in World War 2. The incredible Amelia Earhart completing the first solo flight over the Atlantic ocean by a woman in 1932. And the Concorde airliner flying in 1976 at supersonic speeds, travelling from London to New York in 3.5 hours – that’s twice the speed of sound!
Listen now on Spotify and on Soundcloud here
Maisie & Lily
2 Sisters In STEM
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