A Real Gas

Big Picture Science

Science, Technology

4.6 • 986 Ratings

🗓️ 9 December 2024

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Just because something is invisible doesn’t mean it isn’t there. We can’t see gases in our atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide, oxygen, and nitrogen, but we benefit from their presence with every breath we take. From the bubbles that effervesce in soda to the vapors that turn engines, gases are part of our lives. They fill our lungs, give birth to stars, and… well, how would we spot a good diner without glowing neon? In this episode, a materials scientist shares the history of some gaseous substances that we don’t usually see, but that make up our world. Guest: Mark Miodownik – Professor of materials and society at the University College London and the author of “It’s a Gas: The Sublime and Elusive Elements That Expand Our World.” Featuring music by Dewey Dellay and Jun Miyake Big Picture Science is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com to inquire about advertising on Big Picture Science. You can get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:55.3	Sign up for a £1 per month trial period at Shopify.com.orgas or lowercase. That's Shopify.comaek slash special offer. What if the invisible gases all around us were made visible?
1:14.1	If we could see gases now looking around us, we would see that over there, there's
1:20.5	a bit more carbon dark side, and over there's a bit more nitrogen.
1:24.8	What we can't see can still have a big effect. The atmosphere, for example, comprises
1:29.3	many invisible gases. Their weight presses down on us, but we are used to atmospheric pressure
1:35.4	so we don't notice it. But if those gases disappeared... Because we've got internal pressure on our
1:41.1	bodies that is equal and opposite to the pressure from the atmosphere,
1:45.0	that would lead to an imbalance that would probably mean that we basically explode, which is an unpleasant way to go.
	...

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