The Hyperthesis

In Episode 50 of the Hyperthesis Podcast, join the hosts as we discuss measurements and tsunamis. Liam discusses how tsunamis are formed and the interesting physics that occurs when they encounter and undersea mountain. Before Patrick tells a story about measurement mistakes, we discuss the origin and use of measurement systems and how they are used (or not used) in different processes and methods...

Join us for the 49th episode of the Hyperthesis with Liam, Patrick, and Pheely. In this varied episode, we discuss everything from undersea telecommunication cables to hypothetical stars, and discussion about where astrology came from. In our introductory topic, Patrick discusses how undersea fibre optic cables function and are laid, along with their precursors first used for telegraphs. Liam expl...

In this episode of the Hyperthesis podcast we discuss some of the science and history behind photography: the art or practice of taking and processing photographs. Additionally, Liam makes a correction to a comment he made during the previous episode regarding a reference frames in cosmology.

Join the Hyperthesis team as we get strange and exotic with our main topic while discussing ground- (or space-) breaking news. Recent results from a 15 years-long experiment has shown the presence of gravitational waves. The NANOgrav collaboration released these results recently and demonstrate that Einstein was right once again. Our main topic focuses on strange stars, how they might form, and if...

Join Pheely, Liam, and Patrick as we delve into the now microscopic world of the transistor. We discuss how transistors came to be, starting from a patent by a Canadian physicist and being inspired by their predecessors, the vacuum tube. With the death of Gordon Moore and the end of Moore's law, these technologies are becoming increasingly important to understand and improve upon. Before then,...

Join us for the 45th episode of the Hyperthesis podcast where we discuss a current update on the Canadian forest fire situation, give our opinions regarding how mathematics and science are taught in modern society. We talk about our experience learning math and science growing up. Lastly we end the episode with a story about one of the inventors of calculus: Gottfried Leibniz.

Join the Hyperthesis team for our 44th episode featuring Andrew Kovachik, a MSc (and soon to be PhD) student in physics at McMaster University. Andrew’s research studies Hořava Lifshitz gravity, a potential candidate for a unifying theory of quantum gravity. In this episode we discuss the insides of black holes, the details of Andrew's work, and some additional different theories of quantum gr...

Join the Hyperthesis team as we go from the ground up to discuss different aspects of environmental research and phenomena. We start deep in the ice as we discuss ice cores and how we can tell what the world was like many thousands of years ago. Our main topic focuses on wildfires, a very prevalent topic as Canada and other countries are facing previously unseen amounts of large wildfires occurrin...

Join us in this controversial episode of the Hyperthesis where we discuss the one electron theory. A lesser known theory (and sometimes a joke among physicist), Liam, Pheely, and Patrick discuss the history and validity of this theory, and touch on topics like quantum field theory and mathematical tricks. Before then, we discuss the concept of environmental DNA and Pheely ends this episode with th...

Join the Hyperthesis team as we start our fourth season and celebrate our first anniversary! In today's episode, we discuss what would happen to an apple in a box given an infinite amount of time. Concepts of entropy, thermodynamics, and the goopiness of apples are discussed, along with the possibility of a repeating universe. Before then, we provide updates on our research journeys, and we en...

Welcome to the final episode of the third season of the Hyperthesis! Join us as we delve into black holes, the lives of stars, and standard units of measurement.

Join Patrick, Liam, and Pheely as we delve into the world of science fiction and discuss the fantastical technologies that were created. Some of these technologies are present today such as rockets and cell phones, but some are still a long ways away like warp drives or tricorders. There are also some physically impossible technologies that we discuss, including time travel and teleporting people....

Join the Hyperthesis team for our 38th episode featuring Grace Tompkins, a PhD candidate in biostatistics at the University of Waterloo. Grace's research focuses on developing methodology for complex longitudinal problems particularly involving patient and other data. We also discuss music produced by quantum computers and the history of Thomas Bayes, an ill-fated minister whose work has great...

Join Patrick, Liam, and Pheely as we speak with our geophysicist guest Zoë Vestrum, a PhD candidate at the University of Alberta. We discuss her research involving magentotellurics and how she studies the inner structure of the Earth using its own electromagnetic fields. It turns out there is much to be learned, and our current understanding needs improvement. We also talk about the science of geo...

Join Liam, Pheely, Patrick, and our special guest Dean Eaton! Dean is currently an experimental physicist pursuing his masters degree (soon to be PhD) in physics at Waterloo University under the supervision of Dr. Donna Strickland, a Canadian physicist who won the 2018 Nobel prize in physics for her method of generating high-intensity ultra-short optical pulses through her method of chirped pulse...

Join Pheely, Liam, and Patrick for this 35th episode of the Hyperthesis. In this impromptu episode, (because of travel) we discuss a wide range of topics from conferences and travelling to updates in our research. We begin with an intro topic about ocean circulation models and how we can determine how the ocean's flow. This particularly focuses on the area near Canada where the Arctic Ocean flows...

In this episode of the Hyperthesis, Patrick, Pheely, and Liam are joined by Catherine Boisvert, an MSc student studying atomic force microscopy at McGill University. Before we delve into her work, Pheely discusses his dream of cats that leads to traffic jam, and how waves seemingly propagate through traffic. These are also known as ghost jams. Similar ideas are used in fluid dynamics, and can be u...

Join Patrick, Pheely, and Liam as they discuss how particles can change form, and even be created seemingly out of nothingness. This process of particle-production (or destruction) is described by quantum field theory, which tells us that the vacuum of space is not as empty as we once thought. We also discuss the recent development of new artificial intelligence like "ChatGPT", and finish off the...

Join the Hyperthesis team as we discuss super-cooled micro rockets, radio waves, microwaves, and the world of radar. We finish the episode with an ironic tale of how the inventor of the radar gun received a speeding ticket.

On today's episode of the Hyperthesis, we discuss the deep dark topic of the heat death of the Universe. Before we dive in, Liam discusses preparation for his upcoming PhD candidacy exam with Pheely and Patrick weighing in about their own upcoming exams and the expectations that come with it. We also briefly discuss the change in rotation of the Earth's core, something recently measured by geologi...

Join Liam, Pheely, and Patrick as we discuss the ostensible lack of breakthroughs in science in modern days, and how lasers could save us from lightning. For our extended intro topic, we discuss an opinion piece published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences about how there have not been major breakthroughs in science in the past 50 years compared to the 50 years prior. We discus...

Join Patrick, Pheely, and Liam as we explore some more properties of light in the second episode of our third season. Before we delve into how light passes through matter, we discuss just why it is so difficult to walk on sand. The answer may surprise you as we discuss deformed surfaces. As our main topic, we discuss how light propagates through matter, why it slows down, and how it bends. Althoug...

Join Liam, Pheely, and Patrick for the first episode of the third season of the Hyperthesis! We begin this episode by discussing the recent news that scientists have created the first net-positive nuclear fusion reaction. For the main topic, we dive into the world of nuclear physics, going through the basics and introducing and discussing concepts like fusion versus fission. Finally we end the epi...

In the final episode of the season with the same ole Pheely, Patrick, and Liam, we start by talking about the technicals of Santa's Christmas delivery system, how fast he has to be, and the "physics" of flying reindeer. For our main topic, we discuss our Solar System with the focus on planets. We explore the wealth of facts about the interesting 8 planets, while still recognize some dwarf planets...

Note to audience, Liam has a microphone issue in this episode. Listeners may find inconsistencies in his speeches. Join us for this episode of the Hyperthesis where Liam, Pheely, and Patrick have a casual conversation about everything from research to fountain pens to the philosophy of what defines a good life. Before delving into this wandering discussion, we talk about a method of sustainable fo...