The Sub Standard Model

Wheat, rice, soy, maize. What more could a growing boy need? After all, society is built upon the sturdy crusts of the many cereal products that got us to where we are today, and agriculture is not only an anthropological marvel, but a biological one as well. So why not take an hour out of your day to listen to a couple of blokes paying tribute to such a fact, if for no other reason than to please...

This is the second part of a tricky two-part series on the black hole information paradox, essentially asking the simple question of what happens to a dream when we fall into a black hole, will anyone ever know what our dream was? Will it take a cosmic Alan Turing at the end of the universe to decode this web of quantum field modes to give meaning to our lived experience? Don't forget to leave us...

This is the first part of a tricky two-part series on the black hole information paradox, essentially asking the simple question of what happens to a dream when we fall into a black hole, will anyone ever know what our dream was? Will it take a cosmic Alan Turing at the end of the universe to decode this web of quantum field modes to give meaning to our lived experience? Don't forget to leave us a...

What defines a dragon? What sets it apart from a bird, a lizard, or a dinosaur? And what would a dragon, a real living dragon, look like? In part two, we discuss the hot topic of fire-breathing as an evolutionary strategy. Is it impossible, impractical, or worse, is it just pointless? Evolution doesn't get much more speculative than this. . . This episode featured readings from Josie Pickett, the...

What defines a dragon? What sets it apart from a bird, a lizard, or a dinosaur? And what would a dragon, a real living dragon, look like? In part one, Henry and I lay down our criteria, and set the stage for us to put our very own dragons to the test. Evolution doesn't get much more speculative than this. . . This episode featured voice acting from Emma Pickett Don't forget to leave us a review! W...

So many possible candidates for dark matter, in this interview special, we compare WIMPS to Axions and see if we can use our powers of deduction to deduce any answers to the vast and barely trimmed dark sector of the universe. Don't forget to leave us a review! We actively take feedback into future episodes. "On this sciencey show, we answer the questions you never thought to ask, did not want to...

How do anything get efficiently from A to B? Henry and I talk through the hidden compasses that animals use to navigate the world around them, and how human beings might fit into the picture. What do butterflies see that turtles don't, and what can we learn from quantum songbirds? And why can we point North in a dark room? Don't forget to leave us a review! We actively take feedback into future ep...

Part 3: The Liars. When governments first confronted climate change in the 1990s, they understood it was a problem, but they believed modest, incremental policy could solve it. They never anticipated the scale of change that would be required, nor the ferocity of the industrial resistance they would face. While the science hardened into certainty, political will collapsed under the weight of fossi...

Part 2: The Projections. When governments first confronted climate change in the 1990s, they understood it was a problem, but they believed modest, incremental policy could solve it. They never anticipated the scale of change that would be required, nor the ferocity of the industrial resistance they would face. While the science hardened into certainty, political will collapsed under the weight of...

Part 1: The Sceptics. When governments first confronted climate change in the 1990s, they understood it was a problem, but they believed modest, incremental policy could solve it. They never anticipated the scale of change that would be required, nor the ferocity of the industrial resistance they would face. While the science hardened into certainty, political will collapsed under the weight of fo...

Warm pigments fail. Melanin buffers. There is Something in the Orange that tells me we are not done. Don't forget to leave us a review! We actively take feedback into future episodes. "On this sciencey show, we answer the questions you never thought to ask, did not want to ask and did not ask." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In part two, we dive ever deeper into the science of sleep, from the chemistry of caffeine, to the ticking cellular clock, to the meaningless lives of cave catfish. Don't forget to leave us a review! We actively take feedback into future episodes. "On this sciencey show, we answer the questions you never thought to ask, did not want to ask and did not ask." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy f...

In part one (after some enlightening preamble) we tackle the question of why mother nature in her wisdom would force nearly every complex animal to spend a third of their lives unconscious. Don't forget to leave us a review! We actively take feedback into future episodes. "On this sciencey show, we answer the questions you never thought to ask, did not want to ask and did not ask." Hosted on Acast...

Step through the looking-glass and into the strange world of molecular handedness, where sugars twist light into rainbows, amino acids choose sides, and life itself leans decisively in one direction. Alongside a reimagined journey with Alice, we follow the clues hidden in chirality and homochirality, uncovering how a tiny asymmetry shaped every cell on Earth. And then we turn the mirror around: wh...

Of the three great eukaryote kingdoms, fungi are so often left behind, shunned and disregarded by mainstream media. How long they have slumbered in their soily beds, waiting for the day a pair of British podcasters will appreciate them for what they truly are. Don't forget to leave us a review! We actively take feedback into future episodes. "On this sciencey show, we answer the questions you neve...

Grey Whales are migrating across the pacific. Some do not return. It's 1945, war planes are flying into battle. Some do not return. This episode is the first of a series of facts where we tried experimenting with video. Don't forget to leave us a review! We actively take feedback into future episodes. "On this sciencey show, we answer the questions you never thought to ask, did not want to ask and...

Join us on a journey from a campfire at night in the Arizona desert to the moon, the mind, the electron and beyond. Why does water behave the same at 1 degree and 99 degrees when it is so close to being either solid or gas? What is true about the universe at every level? What if nothing changes the more you zoom in? Are we stuck in a perpetual fractal maze? Topics: Percolation, The Ising Model, Fr...

On the 10th of September 2025, a paper was published in Nature that may one day be thought of as the most significant scientific discovery in our lifetimes (according to Sam). What on earth is he on about? NOTE (spoiler alert): The Alien Interludes in this episode are based on real concepts for extra-terrestrial life in science fiction, particularly the Neosquilla which are very similar to the Ker...

Venus, Earth and Mars, the solar system's most tragic love triangle. In this story of luck and loss, we explore the physics that drove their destinies apart, and speculate on alien life that may have clung on in the meantime. NOTE (spoiler alert): The Alien Interludes in this episode are based on real concepts for extra-terrestrial life in science fiction: the Picknia are based on the Cheela from...

A mystery found in the frozen south offers secrets from other planets but is it all lies? The plot thickens, who dunnit? Who follows magnetic fields to the ends of the earth and what happened to all of those bacteria after the great oxidation event?! “I am forced into speech because men of science have refused to follow my advice without knowing why. It is altogether against my will that I tell my...

All the hottest takes on particles between 0.0625 and 2mm in diameter. Don't forget to leave us a review! We actively take feedback into future episodes. "On this sciencey show, we answer the questions you never thought to ask, did not want to ask and did not ask." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sam brings his top six EXTREME FROGS (+ toads) to the table, and exposes them to Henry's ruthless judgement. Now we must rank them against each other, to determine which can be considered the ULTIMATE amphibian, once and for all. May the frogs be ever in your favour. Don't forget to leave us a review! We actively take feedback into future episodes. "On this sciencey show, we answer the questions y...

What happened to the island of Borneo? Is the storybook of natural history written in a secret poopy language, and hidden deep within a cave? Is the past truly. . . past? Sam wants to talk about photosynthesis for a while, so please let him. Don't forget to leave us a review! We actively take feedback into future episodes. "On this sciencey show, we answer the questions you never thought to ask, d...

On this classic episode, topics include: Are we on the shores of the island of stability? Can a human being breath through their anus? And how fast can a person grow? You are not going to want to miss this. Don't forget to leave us a review! We actively take feedback into future episodes. "On this sciencey show, we answer the questions you never thought to ask, did not want to ask and did not ask....

Why do we have beards? Ok, more specifically, why does Henry have a beard? What does this say about the human species? What does this say about Henry as a man? All this and more, on the substandard model. Don't forget to leave us a review! We actively take feedback into future episodes. "On this sciencey show, we answer the questions you never thought to ask, did not want to ask and did not ask."...