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Merry TWISmas And A Happy New Year! TWIS Recaps The Top 11 Science Stories Of 2011…
Disclaimer, Disclaimer. Disclaimer!!!
On this week’s show: we have 11 stories. The science stories that we feel are the cream of the crop from the past year… the TWIS Top 11.
Number 11:
– Quantum teleportation
– entanglement
– light from nothing
Number 10:
– The fight against aging, or The year of the vampire
Number 9:
The fight against diseases!!!
– HIV antiretroviral treatment
– Malaria vaccine
– MIT universal virus cure
– avian flu fiasco
– Black death bacteria identified
Number 8:
– Fracking
Number 7: Taking a new look
– The Big Splat
– Dark matter
– New standard candle
– hayabusa
Get a free audiobook at Audible.com!
Number 6:
– robots replacing us (Watson, lab AI, hypothesis generator)
– or, the robots will be us – – carbon nanotubes make synapse… bionics…
Number 5:
– Humans did it –
– microbiome
Number 4: The Earth…
– Arctic sea ice loss
– Extreme weather
Number 3:
– LHC finds a particle … and the search for the Higgs
– Trapping antimatter
Number 2:
– Potentially FTL neutrinos
Number 1: Planets
– Kepler and Earthlike (potentially habitable) planets
– Mercury Messenger
– New Dawn
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I'm the host of this little science show. 
On Justin’s Supernova Measuring Technique
This isn’t practical because of the large time lag.
The closest supernova on record was 168,000 light years away.
OPERA superluminal neutrinos would mean a lag time on the order of a year.
1. This did not happen, several neutrinos were measured coincident with the light.
Justin, READ THE ABOVE SENTENCE! You seem to still be confused on this point.
2. Influence of noise in a signal increases with the time separation between events.
I’m pretty sure a SN close enough to measure by this method would sterilize the planet.
While it may not be practical, but it’s a neat idea in theory!
[The Fukushima Disaster] opened people’s eyes [about nuclear safety].
Despite his mispronunciation (it’s foo-koo-shee-mah), I strongly AGREE with Justin! 🙂
As of September 2011, there were no deaths or serious injuries due to direct radiation exposures.
You spoke of “the terrible events that took place in Japan” as though they happened only in Fukushima.
They happened all along the cost of Japan! 125,000 buildings damaged or destroyed! Over 15,000 dead!!!
Proselytizing nuclear paranoia while thousands of bodies decompose at sea is a morbid sacrilege.
To usurp such a tragedy, wherein so many lives were lost, towards an anti-nuclear (or any) agenda is opprobrious.
Spread THAT message, not the tired old “nuclear is too dangerous” lie.
While you’re at it, pick up a copy of Power to Save the World by Gwyneth Cravens.
Hi! I am a first time listener. I enjoy listening to you talk but can you please put bookmarks in your audio, so I can skip to stories I want to hear about?
Thanks