Science, Spoken

Fifteen years ago, Kevin Tracey sat in a Washington DC conference room surrounded by officials from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. They’d been paying the neurosurgeon to study how doctors could stimulate the vagus nerve—a long nerve that controls everything from blood pressure to sexual arousal—to treat inflammation associated with PTSD. Now they wanted to know: Could he stimulate anything else into submission? He searched his brain. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

When I was young, there was no such thing as the world wide web or video streaming. If you wanted to watch something, you had to wait until it appearedon television. Sometimes you might think,“Hey, I think I’ll watch a show” and flip the channels until you found something interesting. This is how I discoveredThe Mechanical Universe … And Beyond. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The Cassini space probe is going to dive through Saturn’s rings again on Wednesday, the third of a planned 22 orbits threading that planetary needle as the probe continues a ballistic death-drop inward. And like the first ring-crossing two weeks ago, this one required a bit of complicated piloting. Remote-controlling a robot spaceship from 750 million miles away ain’t like dusting crops, as Han Solo might say. (RIP.) (Spoilers. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Brian Greene is one of those physicists. You know the type: Blessed with a brain capable of untangling the mysteries of the universe,and a knack for clearly explaining it all to the rest of us schlubs. His enthusiasm for doing these things keeps him quite busy, what with the three best-selling physics books for grown-ups, a children’s book about time dilation(!), a fewTV specials, and, of course, a TED talk. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Fidget spinners are the new Rubik’s Cube. Or maybe the new Tamagotchi. Or … I don’t know. Pick your fad. You see these toys, ostensibly designedto help kids fidgety concentrate, everywhere now. Seriously. Everywhere. Afidget spinner is basically a small bearing mounted in a piece of plastic or other material. You hold it and spin it. I guess it’s sort of amusing. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

I did it. On Saturday afternoon, a few hours after Eliud Kipchoge ranastunning, historic marathon in two hours and 25 seconds in Monza, Italy - narrowly missing his goal of breaking the two-hour marathon mark for Nike's Breaking2 initiative, but obliterating the current world record and everybody's idea of what is possible in the sport - I ran a half-marathon on the same course in 1:26:52. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

I have a tradition of doing a little analysis on one of my favorite movie franchises to celebrate Star Wars Day (May the Fourth Be With You). Given thatRogue One: A Star Wars Storyrecently appeared on DVD and various streaming services, I think its OK to look at that film without worrying about spoilers. In this case, I will calculate Darth Vader’s power output as he uses the Force. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

In the background of Colorado Springs, Pike’s Peak dominates the sky. But just to that mountain’s southeast looms another geological ripple. Cheyenne Mountain—a rounded, rocky thing that rises 9,565 feet above sea level—looks wild and quiet. But deep inside the mountain, a crew of humans toils in one of the nation’s most secure military installations. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Energy is the answer to so many questions. Pull back a spring-powered toy car and rolls forward. Why? Energy. You used your phone all day and it suddenly shut down. Why? No energy. A child eats six bags of M&Ms and runs around screaming and giggling because he has energy. But then he doesn’t want to clean his room because he has no energy. But what is energy? Ah… that is the real question. To answer it, let me start with a story about three friends, Alby, Bobby, and Cami. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On the outskirts of Bangalore one morning last summer, a sullen young man named Manjunath stood high atop a cocoa-colored 1,850-gallon tanker truck, waiting for its belly to fill with water. The source of the liquid was a bore well, a cylindrical metal shaft puncturing hundreds of feet down into the earth. An electric pump pulled the water up from the depths and into a concrete cistern; from there, a hose snaked across the mud and weeds and plugged into Manjunath’s truck. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices