S2 Ep 30. Smart phones could become even smarter – thanks to ants, beetles, moths and spiders! A multi-animal special episode, marking the season 2 finale.
Patrick explores what could be an insect inspired phone of the future! There’s the story of the fire ants and bark beetles and a new camera lens with a much greater field of view. The hairs on butterflies, moths and spiders could help with an amazing new microphone. Moths might make it easier to look at our phones in bright sunlight. There’s also a waterproof, anti-bacterial cover which could be based on the wings of cicadas.
Thanks for listening and please help us spread the word. #30Animals
Prime numbers are considered to be the building blocks of mathematics. Every natural number can be broken down into the constituent prime numbers that make it up.
Prime numbers have been known since antiquity and they are one of the most simple aspects of mathematics to understand, yet they remain at the center of some of the most puzzling problems in mathematics.
Learn more about prime numbers, what we know about them, and what we don’t know, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
In the year 607, the Emperor Yang of the Sui dynasty implemented a reform whereby a series of exams would be administered throughout the empire to create a bureaucratic elite that would administer the country.
That reform became one of the bedrocks of Chinese society, through every dynasty, for the next 1,300 years. The effects of these exams can still be felt in Chinese society today.
Learn more about the Mandarin class and the Imperial Examination system on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
In the aftermath of World War II, the newly formed United Nations placed a group of Pacific Islands into a trusteeship that was to be administered by the United States.
After several decades, that trusteeship was dissolved and it resulted in three independent countries, one US territory, and a unique system of international relations.
Learn more about the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands and the countries of Micronesia, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
Our first interview today is about a novel that, believe it or not, was actually written before the coronavirus pandemic even started. The End of October, written by Lawrence Wright, is about...a pandemic. But Wright told NPR's Mary Louise Kelly he wishes he hadn't gotten so much of it right. The second interview is with two friends, Marilyn Hacker and Karthika Nair, who were separated by the pandemic. So to connect with each other, they wrote a book of poetry called A Different Distance. They told former NPR host Noel King that the collaboration actually strengthened their friendship.
Modern society is completely dependent on a set of technologies that include computer chips, fiber optic cables, lasers, video screens, electric motors, and batteries.
All of those things are dependent on a small category of chemicals called rare earth elements.
Their importance in technology has made them a focal point of international trade and politics.
Learn more about rare earth elements and how the world has become completely reliant on them, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
