What The If?

Prepare to boldly go where no IFer has gone before! To the future of society, where we eliminated the need for money, and hunger is a thing of the past thanks to REPLICATORS! Inspired by Star Trek, super IFer Kyle Crichton comes to us with this week's IF! What The If We lived in a post-scarcity society?! The book mentioned in this episode is called "Trekonomics" written by Manu Saadia. https://www...

The CNN headline reads “An Oregon mink farm has reported a Covid-19 outbreak”. Does Covid suddenly have a lust for high fashion outerwear? How’d the mink get infected? Can they return the favor and send the virus back into humans? Are bats trying to win the public relations battle? Gaby gets into the science and the strategy of the virus and reveals the biological battle to destroy the Covid’s cro...

POP into a parking spot at any point in time?! What The If there were a time travel TRAFFIC Jam?! Prep your flux capacitors, set your clocks to 1985, and get ready for a time BACK IN TIME! On this weeks episode we are joined by the ever talented Tom Merritt. 
 Tom is an award-winning independent tech podcaster and host of regular tech news and information shows. Tom hosts Sword and Laser, a scienc...

Special guest Howard Zheng has just returned from China and reports on the state of the pandemic there. Gaby and the team compare China's methods with those we experience ourselves in the USA. 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? S...

For Thanksgiving, a special encore presentation of one of our most popular episodes! Matt has a new amazing book! We dive into Professor Stanley's incredible story about how, while living through hunger, freezing and fear, the unknown and unheard of Professor Albert Einstein became... EINSTEIN. What The IF, we ask: World War I never, ever happened? Would Einstein have solved his Theory of Relativi...

For Thanksgiving, a special encore presentation of one of our most popular episodes! Matt has a new amazing book! We dive into Professor Stanley's incredible story about how, while living through hunger, freezing and fear, the unknown and unheard of Professor Albert Einstein became... EINSTEIN. What The IF, we ask: World War I never, ever happened? Would Einstein have solved his Theory of Relativi...

Spooky children?! Past lives?! Astrology?! What could we possibly be talking about? What The If past lives, and reincarnation were real? On this episode, we talk about an article Philip found on NYTimes about reincarnation and how they actually considered the occult as scientific?! WHAT?! This if is dedicated to the comment section of this article: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/26/parenting/pret...

Science wins in the USA! Vaccine research looking good so far! As she does every week, Rockefeller University Virologist GABY PANICCIA explores the science behind the COVID-19 Pandemic’s headlines. Three fascinating stories this week: "Pfizer’s Early Data Shows Vaccine Is More Than 90% Effective" - The New York Times - https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/09/health/covid-vaccine-pfizer.html "Pfizer ann...

We are joined by Historian of Medicine, Professor of History at Clarkson University, Stephen Casper! You've got a tailbone, but WTiF Humans actually had TAILS?! Hang off those trees like our ape-like ancestors, chill out with a nice cool drink and enjoy this ride on the Human evolution train! — Got an IF of your own? Want to have us consider your idea for a show topic? Send YOUR IF to us! Email us...

The New York Times headline is ominous: "How Are Americans Catching the Virus? Increasingly, ‘They Have No Idea’" As she does every week, Rockefeller University Virologist GABY PANICCIA explores the science behind this scary headline and we aim to learn how it is that the Corona Virus seems UNSAFE AT ANY SPEED! Read the article here: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/31/us/coronavirus-transmission-e...

Reality TV in SPACE! What The If Aliens are WATCHING us!? Tune your televisions to the intergalactic channel, or open up your streaming app on your smart TV and watch the show called EARTH! Article mentioned in this weeks episode from Gizmodo: https://gizmodo.com/aliens-from-these-worlds-could-be-watching-us-right-now-1845452421 — Got an IF of your own? Want to have us consider your idea for a sho...

NBC News reports, "A rare Covid-19 complication was reported in children. Now, it's showing up in adults." Gaby helps us understand what scientists do when alarming data appears. How do scientists even gather so much data, how do they digest it, what can they do when something is extremely rare but highly concerning? Also, we discuss trick or treating this year when Halloween occurs in the middle...

What The If Zombies were real!? Start armoring your vehicles, boarding up your windows, and stocking up on toilet paper! We've got a spooky episode for you, just in time for Halloween! The Walking Dead roam the earth! George Romero, eat your brain out! It's time for the RISE OF THE DAWN OF THE DEAD! — Got an IF of your own? Want to have us consider your idea for a show topic? Send YOUR IF to us! E...

It's Fall in the Northern Hemisphere, and Thanksgiving and other holidays are coming up, so we look to SCIENCE for answers on how to arrange our family gatherings during the PANDEMIC. But sometimes... science doesn't have enough ANSWERS! How are people dealing with making choices during this information gap, or even, really, INFO OVERLOAD in the time of Covid? What would YOU do? A whole lotta turk...

Vacuums in space! Space is a vacuum! This week on WHAT THE IF? We talk about Vacuums with the power of a black hole! How much MASS will they have?! Strap in, and get ready for a ride on the Event Horizon! — 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 sma...

Looking for the most ideal planet to inhabit, ya know in case ours goes belly up? Look no FURTHER! This week's WHAT THE IF? Will tell us where we can find the PERFECT Planet! The article discussed in this episode is called "Scientists discover 24 'superhabitable' planets with conditions that are better for life than Earth. By Aisha Zahid, news reporter https://news.sky.com/story/scientists-discove...

In honor of the exciting breaking news of the 2020 NOBEL Prize for Chemistry being awarded to Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna for their development of CRISPR/Cas9 genetic editing, we present an encore presentation of our awesome episode with the great science journalist Carl Zimmer of The NEW YORK TIMES all about... CRISPR! Send us your questions and comments, and enjoy! ----- Would you...

The leader of Gaby's lab, Dr. Charles Rice, just won the NOBEL PRIZE! Exciting news for her and all her colleagues at Rockefeller University. What did Dr. Rice win, and why? Gaby shares the story! And Gaby also shares her most recent experiences as a member of the Covid vaccine trials. Did she get the PLACEBO or the real deal? How soon might WE and the WORLD get a safe vaccine? Tune in! Every week...

What the IF great achievers, such as Einstein, were offered to live FOREVER. GENIUS run amok! As time goes on there'd end up being a WORLD of geniuses! Would the standard of "genius" go up? Put on your safety pants, as we dive into this week's IF. Thanks to our Super IFFer, Ally Nonomous! — 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...

Mutants!? Mutations! Viruses! Don't Panic! These aren't your favorite superheroes, these mutants are the changes in the Coronavirus! Scientists in Houston have released a study of more than 5,000 genetic sequences of SAR-COV-2 reveal that the virus's continual accumulation of mutations, one of which may have made it more contagious. Do these mutations mean the virus itself is deadlier? Gaby explai...

What The IF there were NO RADIATION?! Grab your luminous yellow uranium glassware and fill it up with whatever you love to drink, because we're going to take you on a journey worthy of the PERIODIC TABLE! This IF comes in from our SUPER IFFER Listener, Guy, from Queens, NY! — 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@whatth...

The CDC now reports that Covid-19 is transmitted not just by coughing, sneezing and wheezing... but also by breezing! By which we mean BREATHING. Aerosol sized droplets of your breath, floating in the air, on a joy ride... for how far, and how long? Gaby explains! Every week, Rockefeller University Virologist GABY PANICCIA explores the science behind the headlines. More info at RockEDU: rockedu.ro...

YOUR BRAIN ON GAME What The If there were a VIDEO GAME that could take over your BRAIN? We're going into the arcade, so get your quarters or tokens ready. It's time to play POLYBIUS. So dust off your fanny packs, load them up with coins and get ready to get your BRAIN sucked out of your head. OUR GUEST STAR We are joined by a hero of Philip's, Dr. Kiki from the amazing podcast, This Week In Scienc...

Good news! AstraZeneca just resumed their coronavirus vaccine clinical trials after stopping them abruptly last week. What happened? How does the safety system work? And how can YOU sign up to be a part of this historic global endeavor? Gaby explains! Every week, Rockefeller University Virologist GABY PANICCIA explores the science behind the headlines. More info at RockEDU: rockedu.rockefeller.edu...

What The If the galaxy were full of... BERSERKERS?! And yet, we don't see ANYONE in the galaxy. Have they all gone BERSERK? This week we dive into the Berserker HYPOTHESIS. Survival of the fittest, IN SPACE! We are joined by the excellent science writer, Matt Williams of Universe Today, who's also an amazing science fiction writer. Check out his work on Universe Today, https://www.universetoday.co...