The Hyperthesis

Note to audience, Liam has a microphone issue in this episode. Listeners may find inconsistencies in his speeches. Join Patrick, Pheely, Liam, and our special guest Josh Hainge as we delve into deep questions about quantum phenomena. Before we get to the main topic, we discuss the newly discovered nearest black hole to the Earth, Gaia BH1. With this new discovery, we also discuss how things that w...

Join Pheely, Patrick, and Liam as we discuss the topic of chaos theory. We start off the episode with a brief callback to the optical phenomenon of sun dogs, and correct an error we made in the previous episode. For our main topic, we explore the idea of chaos in classical physics and the many concepts behind it, from a simple two-pivot pendulum into truly chaotic systems. We also point out the di...

Join our sky high episode as we discuss rainbows, corona, and sun dogs. If you have ever wondered why the sky is blue, what is at the end of the rainbow, or how the northern lights dance in the sky, this is the episode for you. Our main topic discusses the different ways in which atmospheric rainbows are formed through droplets of water and ice crystals. Before then, we learn why the sky is blue (...

Join Liam, Patrick, Pheely, and our special guest Pablo Scrosati as we explore the world of chemistry and protein motions. We start off the episode with a brief praise of open-source software and discussing how the memory of magnetic materials compares to how our brain stores (and forgets) memories. For our main topic, we delve into Pablo's research into chemistry. We go over previous topics of hi...

Join the Hyperthesis as we continue our discussion on relativity. As an introduction, we discuss an interesting quirk of light and how its speed hasn't been measured as a one-way trip. This leads into our introduction of general relativity, the theory produced by Einstein that changed the physics paradigm. This theory describes the equivalence between gravity and acceleration, while discussing the...

In this episode of the Hyperthesis, Liam, Pheely, and Patrick discuss Einstein's theory of special relativity. This counter-intuitive theory treats time and space as a single entity, changing our notion of how the universe is perceived depending on an observer's frame of reference. We discuss some famous thought experiments and paradoxes which are used to understand special relativity, and differe...

In this episode of the Hyperthesis, Liam, Pheely, and Patrick discuss the discoveries involved in the recently-announced Nobel Prize in Physics. We delve into the quantum mechanics behind the experiments that helped solve some puzzling paradoxes, and were pivotal in paving the way for quantum computers. Before that, we discuss some misconceptions about Galileo and his fame. Finally, we learn about...

Join us for episode number 18 of the Hyperthesis where we focus on rockets and space exploration. We delve into the simple physics and highly complex engineering of launching spacecrafts after going over a brief history of rocketry. During this discussion, we also talk about the future of space travel, alien life, and the philosophy behind humankind's desire to go to space. Our story focuses aroun...

Join us as we welcome a special guest this week, Scott Young. Scott is a PhD student at the University College London working on X-ray computer tomography and solid-state lithium batteries. We talk about the inner workings of batteries and just how difficult it is to make a solid state battery. Scott also discusses prior research at Dalhousie University and how lithium-ion batteries function and h...

In the sixteenth episode of the Hyperthesis, Liam discusses a conference he attended while visiting Cambridge and we remember Frank Drake and his work on the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.  Our main topic today is biomimicry where we talk about how mankind adapts the designs and systems of the biological world to develop the world around us. From super sticky materials to making wi...

Join Liam, Pheely, and Patrick for the first episode of the second season of the Hyperthesis! We start by diving into updates from our recording break, and discuss our research activities. For the main topic, we cover one of the most important chemical processes humanity has ever discovered: fire. We discuss the basic physics and chemistry behind this phenomenon, and the important role it has play...

Final episode of the season. We get you to know us a little more. We discuss our personal scientific journeys: what drives us, what keep us going, and how we look at our careers. Moreover, we talk about scientific education with its flaws and strong points. With different backgrounds, we compare our education leading up to the current point. Even though we may have a vastly different upbringing, o...

Join us in the penultimate episode of our first season as we talk about lenses, kettles, eels, and lighthouses. For our main topic, we discuss the optics of the human eye and how we see colour and in the (almost) dark. We also discuss different disorders of the eye and certain why people need glasses. Before then, we discuss what exactly causes the whistle of a tea kettle and how electric eels are...

This episode focuses on a substance required for life itself: water. This common molecule, H2O (dihydrogen monoxide), is peculiar in its geometry and composition, leading to many interesting properties that have literally shaped our world. We discuss the physics of the water molecule itself before venturing into how those microscopic effects create atypical characteristics. Before that, we discuss...

We start this episode with the discussion about new research from Simon Fraser University about advancements in quantum computers and quantum internet. This episode also introduces our first guest, Parisa Nozari. Parisa is an Astronomy graduate student at Queen's University who studies vast clouds of molecular dust which go on to form stars and planets. We discuss what these dust clouds really are...

The main topic of this episode continues on the topics of last week's episode, where we discuss how science is portrayed in the media. We go over how some popular culture portrays scientists well while others fall short of doing a good job. We also discuss what life can be like as a scientist and the different personalities that are present in the many fields of science. As a conclusion, we discus...

In this episode, Patrick, Liam, and Pheely discuss how physics operates in popular culture. Before that, we discuss the ground-breaking images that have been produced by the James Webb Space Telescope. This telescope had been in development for 30 years before its launch, and the results are stunning. In our main topic, we discuss the physics of visual and computer-generated effects in movies and...

This episode focuses on climate change, the startup of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), and the fascinating life of Tycho Brahe. To start, we discuss new findings from CERN with the LHC about quark configurations. Then we discuss general concepts focused on how humans have caused the global climate to change drastically along with historical natural changes that show how much we have done as a spe...

We start this episode with a short discussion on dark matter asteroids and how to catch the elusive dark matter through shock waves. We then share our understanding of the fundamentals of sounds and mechanical waves. We talk about acoustic phenomena that occur in daily life, such as, nature of speech, hearing, and music. We also touch on sonic booms and SONAR. We end this episode with the story of...

In this episode, Pheely, Liam, and Patrick explore the evidence behind dark matter and some of the current detector methods being developed to hunt for potential elusive dark matter particles. Patrick will touch on some the work he did for his Master's, including eliminating radioactive materials from a dark matter detector. We also discuss spinning black holes and quantum-dot LED technologies. We...

In this episode, we discuss a common social gathering among scientists: conferences. We share our experiences from conferences from general physics conferences like the Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP) Congress to very small and specific conferences.  We also share some favourite talks that we have heard at CAP. These meeting places are great opportunities to learn and network. We go...

In this episode, we touch upon fundamental units in science and possible unifying theories of the universe. Our main topic of discussion focuses on the basics of classical and quantum computing. We then discuss the benefits and downsides of quantum computing. For story time, we tell the history of computers from ancient times to the invention of modern computers by Alan Turing.

This episode explores the flesh of Pheely's research: physics of ship design. Using statistical physics, we explore how the process of designing complex ships, such as warships, can be understood. We delve into the intricacy of design methods and our unconventional approach to solve design issues. In particular, we describe design as a physical system with intuitive quantities, such as design forc...

This episode introduces us to concepts involved in remotely observing forests as we discuss Patrick's research with Tropical Dry forests. Learn about how shooting trees with lasers can help us monitor trees while we also touch on other topics like jaguars, surfing biologists, and radio waves. Patrick highlights the importance of checking the health of these forests and the interdisciplinary approa...

In this first episode we introduce you to the team and our works. The main topic is on Liam's research: Analogue black holes, which can form in flowing Bose-Einstein condensed gases. Although quite different from gravitational black holes, these analogue systems remarkably mimic key features of gravitational black holes such as Hawking radiation. Liam's research ties into many different areas of p...