Site • RSS • Apple PodcastsDescription (podcaster-provided):
Are you tired of hearing about coronavirus? Has lockdown left you worn out? Then perhaps it’s time to escape. Join Rowan Hooper and the team at New Scientist in this covid-free space, as they discuss all that’s right with the world - the stories that remind us of how wonderful this planet really is. Find out more at newscientist.com/podcasts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.Themes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):
➤ Science escapism • nature and animal behaviour • human perception, sound and music • physics and cosmology • chemistry and elements • maths concepts • space exploration • psychology of flow • overlooked scientists • emerging technologyThis podcast is a covid-free science escape hosted by New Scientist writers and editors, built around short, themed conversations that highlight curious, uplifting or awe-inspiring aspects of the natural world, human ability and scientific discovery. Episodes typically take a single broad concept—such as perception, sound, speed, mass, warmth, flow, scales or “the unseen”—and explore it through several contrasting examples that range from everyday experience to cutting-edge research.
A recurring feature is attention to how humans sense and interpret the world. The show spends time on hearing and acoustics (including unusual animal communication, audio illusions, binaural effects and ASMR), on the science of music and why it affects emotion, and on metacognition and other mechanisms that shape what we notice and understand. Alongside sensory themes, the podcast often uses striking demonstrations from biology—spider silk strength, lichen symbioses, bees generating heat, bombardier beetles’ defensive chemistry, peregrine falcons’ high-speed dives, bats’ echolocation—to illustrate underlying physical and evolutionary principles.
Physics, mathematics and astronomy are frequent touchpoints, presented through vivid explanations and thought experiments: escape velocity and space travel, the speed of light and its implications, infinity puzzles, dark matter and neutrinos, quantum-scale strangeness, and tours of notable worlds beyond Earth such as major moons in the solar system. The show also connects science to place and history, visiting real locations tied to elemental discovery and highlighting overlooked contributors to major advances in chemistry, mathematics and space exploration.
Across topics, the tone is exploratory and explanatory, aiming to translate complex ideas into accessible stories supported by memorable sounds, examples and occasional historical context.
