What The If?

What The If the UNIVERSE stopped spinning! The universal check engine light is on and we have stopped moving! Time to bring this bad boy into the shop! — Got an IF of your own? Want to have us consider your idea for a show topic? Send YOUR IF to us! Email us at feedback@whattheif.com and let us know what's in your imagination. No idea is too small, or too big! --- Special thanks to Kyle Crichton,...

University of Arizona located two students with Covid, by testing the poop of their entire dorm, reports Jaclyn Peiser in The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/08/28/arizona-coronavirus-wastewater-testing/ HOW did they do it? Gaby explains! Every week, Rockefeller University Virologist GABY PANICCIA explores the science behind the headlines. More info at RockEDU: rockedu....

How easy would rockets be if there were no ROCKET SCIENCE? Would everyone have their own SOAP BOX rocketship? Make sure those cardboard ships are sturdy, strap in and hold tight. We're going for a ride! Our very own Howard Zheng joins us on this adventure in a paper box built for space! — Got an IF of your own? Want to have us consider your idea for a show topic? Send YOUR IF to us! Email us at fe...

A test using lasers to examine the efficacy of face masks gets misinterpreted by the press. Joggers and bikers get yelled at by passers by! Gaby says, chill out and... save the gaiters! Every week, Rockefeller University Virologist GABY PANICCIA explores the science behind the headlines. More info at RockEDU: rockedu.rockefeller.edu and covid-19-research.rockefeller.edu --- Special thanks to Howar...

What The IF you could travel faster than the SPEED OF LIGHT to observe a dying star up close! Grab your popcorn, and get ready for a wild ride courtesy of the warp course on the ENTERPRISE! Would we see the same light we see from home, or would the star have vanished in a SUPERNOVA?! The incredible EMILY LEVESQUE joins us to talk about her latest book, THE LAST STARGAZERS, as well as her research...

You RECOVERED from Covid-19, but where are your ANITBODIES? Every week, Rockefeller University Virologist GABY PANICCIA explores the science behind the headlines. More info at RockEDU: rockedu.rockefeller.edu and covid-19-research.rockefeller.edu --- Like the show? Share your love for the IF by dropping a review on Apple Podcasts! itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1250517051?mt=2&ls=1 Have you subscribed...

Incredible guests this week! World famous space science artists DON DAVIS and PAMELA LEE join us to imagine getting to do their masterful artistry while on location at… THE CENTER OF THE GALAXY. Comets! A Supermassive Black Hole! Astronauts taking selfies! And YOU, a great illustrator, capturing the whole scene with your ART. NASA may turn to artists to give them a depiction of what that place may...

POOL Testing is here! So... WTF is Pool Testing? Gaby explains! Every week, Rockefeller University Virologist GABY PANICCIA explores the science behind the headlines. More info at RockEDU: rockedu.rockefeller.edu and covid-19-research.rockefeller.edu --- Special thanks to Howard Zheng and Illia Zheng for their help with the show. --- Like the show? Share your love for the IF by dropping a review o...

NOTE: This episode was recorded on March 6, 2020 What the If Earth was Teeny TINY? Would gravity crush us? --- Special thanks to Kyle Crichton, Howard Zheng and Illia Zheng for their help with the show. --- Like the show? Share your love for the IF by dropping a review on Apple Podcasts! itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1250517051?mt=2&ls=1 Have you subscribed? Grab one (always free!) at pod.link/125051...

Glow in the dark CORONAVIRUS? Rockefeller University Virologist GABY PANICCIA explores the science behind the headlines! More info at RockEDU: rockedu.rockefeller.edu and covid-19-research.rockefeller.edu --- Special thanks to Kyle Crichton, Howard Zheng, and Illia Zheng for their help with the show. --- Like the show? Share your love for the IF by dropping a review on Apple Podcasts! itunes.apple...

What the IF is HERD IMMUNITY? It’s coming! Gaby tells us what to do to make it so. Every week, Rockefeller University Virologist GABY PANICCIA explores the science behind the headlines. More info at RockEDU: rockedu.rockefeller.edu and covid-19-research.rockefeller.edu --- Special thanks to Kyle Crichton, Howard Zheng and Illia Zheng for their help with the show. --- Like the show? Share your love...

What The If our brains were SLOWER? Can you upgrade the CPU or perhaps install more RAM to avoid the spinning beach ball of death?! What the if you were practicing karate with Matt and your brain processed your punch slower than you actually moved? Our resident black belt historian of science Matt Stanley tells us about karate and the OODA LOOP! --- Special thanks to Kyle Crichton, Howard Zheng an...

How does IMAGINATION work? What The IF… you had NO imagination! Our guest TRACY GLEASON is a Developmental Psychologist studying relationships, real and imagined, with a focus on young children's imaginary companions. A professor of psychology at Wellesley College, Professor Gleason studies how young children understand their relationships with other people, and in particular, on the relationships...

Did Covid-19 come to your shores from one person, or many? Every week, Rockefeller University Virologist GABY PANICCIA explores the science behind the headlines. More info at RockEDU: rockedu.rockefeller.edu and covid-19-research.rockefeller.edu --- Special thanks to Howard Zheng and Illia Zheng for their help with the show. --- Like the show? Share your love for the IF by dropping a review on App...

ONE Language For ALL? by Philip Shane, Matt Stanley, Gabrielle Paniccia

SMITHSONIAN Magazine published a very thought provoking article this week, urging caution against thinking we are on the same path as the 1918 PANDEMIC. Every week, Rockefeller University Virologist GABY PANICCIA explores the science behind the headlines. More info at RockEDU: rockedu.rockefeller.edu and covid-19-research.rockefeller.edu --- Special thanks to Howard Zheng and Illia Zheng for their...

What The IF you were about to have a meeting with Aliens and you wanted to made a good FIRST IMPRESSION? Carl Sagan and his colleagues took up this very challenge when crafting the “messages in a bottle” that they attached to the Pioneer and Voyager spacecraft. (Spoiler: no bottles, but plaques and record suitable for playing by alien DJ’s!). The brilliant BLAKE LEWIN joins us to talk about his am...

New York reopens and the scientists are eager to get back to the lab! Gaby tells us how it feels for the city's scientists as they are getting ready to don higher grade protective gear and jump in deeper into the hunt for a vaccine. Every week, Rockefeller University Virologist GABY PANICCIA explores the science behind the headlines. More info at RockEDU: rockedu.rockefeller.edu and covid-19-resea...

WHERE was the virus born? Rockefeller University Virologist GABY PANICCIA explores the science behind the headlines! More info at RockEDU: rockedu.rockefeller.edu and covid-19-research.rockefeller.edu --- Special thanks to Howard Zheng and Illia Zheng for their help with the show. --- Like the show? Share your love for the IF by dropping a review on Apple Podcasts! itunes.apple.com/podcast/id12505...

Our long time listener JOE ascends to SUPER IFFER status by submitting this week's fabulous IF! Joe asks, "What The If... EVOLUTION were speeded up?" What if you could see it happening in your own lifetime? What would you see? What would you feel? Could you SURVIVE what your children will become? Let's find out! --- Want to submit your own ideas for show topics? Send YOUR If to us! Email us at fee...

Hair salons and swimming pools are the front lines of our duel with the Coronavirus. Find out how to survive with expert advice from Rockefeller University Virologist GABY PANICCIA. More info at RockEDU: rockedu.rockefeller.edu and covid-19-research.rockefeller.edu --- Special thanks to Kyle Crichton, Howard Zheng and Illia Zheng for their help with the show. --- Like the show? Share your love for...

A QUANTUM MIND MELD? The renowned historian of science DAVID KAISER joins us from MIT! A prolific science communicator and hilariously witty raconteur, his latest book is QUANTUM LEGACIES: Dispatches from an Uncertain World. David asks: “What The IF we could use Quantum Entanglement to CONNECT OUR BRAINS, all the way across the Universe?” It’s our most mind-blowing, mind-expanding, mind-ENTANGLING...

The animals of the world, especially the urban world, seem quite happy that all the humans are suddenly staying inside! Outside, it's a party and they're livin' it up... all the way down the food chain! Dr. Vanessa Pirotta joins us from Sydney, Australia (via Bostwana!) and helps us see today's world under human quarantine... through the eyes and ears and furry paws and flappy fins! Dr. Pirotta is...

MASKS are everywhere in the NEWS this week, but NOT on everyone's faces! What The IF, people? What happens if you don't wear a mask? And what about your neighbor? And their neighbor, and...? Rockefeller University Virologist GABY PANICCIA gives us the low down on how to show up with your face mask on. Pro Tips, from a real pro. More info at RockEDU: https://rockedu.rockefeller.edu & https://covid-...

Is the virus floating IN THE AIR we breathe, riding particles of pollution like evil cowboys? Our expert Virologist from Rockefeller University, GABY PENICCIA helps us understand the scary Covid-19 news headlines. Science!