Equinox
Dr. Rob Carter and Joseph Darnell
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Dr. Robert Carter and producer Joseph Darnell explore the world from a Christian perspective. On our quest, we will discuss science, but a little history and philosophy as well.
Available episodes
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Dec 10, 2021
74: The Science of Christmas
Rob and Joseph wax eloquent and speculative on various aspects of the Christmas story. Have you ever wondered who the Magi were, where they came from, and what was the nature of that star that they saw? Fear no, they go there. What about the genetics of Jesus? Yeah, they speculate about that also, hopefully without getting into too much heretical hot water. Finally, they discuss the physics of Santa Claus, attempting to cast doubt on that aged story, but then they bring in the big guns: four physicists who defend the Santa story using science…or did they?
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Nov 24, 2021
73: 2021 IgNobel Prizes
Rob and Joseph are back with a fun discussion about the all-new rocket technology, and present their take of the 2021 IgNobel prizes! Enjoy!
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Nov 10, 2021
72: A Hot Cup of Joe
Rob and Joseph have been enjoying hot coffee and tea lately and it got Rob thinking about the science of caffeine and flavorings. They discuss what makes a lethal dosage of substances, whether stimulants like caffeine are bad for people, and much more!
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Oct 29, 2021
71: 2021 Nobel Prizes
Dr. C. and Joseph Darnell explore the 2021 Nobel Prizes—who won what and why? Afterward, they discuss some of the coolest technologies “of the future” that you’ve never heard of, including robotic bees and 100% recyclable wind turbines! All this and more in this week’s episode of Equinox!
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Oct 13, 2021
70: What’s a Computer? Part 2
Rob continues to review the origins of modern computers and together Joseph and Rob are just astonished how far technology has come in the last 50 years. Dr. Carter admits it’s really hard to understand computer sciences and think like an engineer.
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Sep 29, 2021
69: What’s a Computer? Part I
Joseph and Rob discuss what insects they’ve seen over the seasons of 2021, give a little update about their bees’ behavior, and in their fascinating main topic, they discuss the origins of the modern computer! Rob takes us back a few centuries to start with the fundamental innovations that allude to the seemingly miraculous technologies we take for granted.
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Sep 22, 2021
68: Pants on Fire
French inventor made a trap to catch hornets to save his bees! Someone discovered that dogs have a heat sense detector! Social scientists inadvertently lied in a study about honesty! For the main discussion, Dr. Carter tells us about Ernst Haeckel’s diabolical fraud.
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Sep 11, 2021
67: The Dark Side
Joe and Rob talk about things that should never have been, scientific experiments and ideas that were evil or just egregiously wrong. They use four examples: The Tuskegee long-term syphilis experiments, lobotomy, electroshock therapy, and Nazi science (and how much of US technology is based upon it today). This might be a tough listen, but education is sometimes sobering.
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Sep 3, 2021
66: ‘Apollo 11’ Film Review
It’s one small step for podcasting and one giant leap for today’s Equinox podcast! Rob is crafting a chain mail shirt with his daughter, Rob is fascinated by a nuclear fusion milestone… But enough of that! Rob and Joseph review the 2019 Apollo 11 film and discuss the historical mission to the moon.
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Aug 20, 2021
65: Biblical Genetics
Rob and Joe talk about Rob’s Biblical Genetics project, how it is faring, the struggles he has had getting a new show off the ground, what he would do differently, and what successes he has had along the way.
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Aug 13, 2021
64: Climate Changes
Dr Rob Carter shares a great number of reasons that Earth’s climate changes continually, leaving us to wonder which issues are genuine concerns and which would even lead to improvements in conditions. Learn about ice ages, global flooding, terraforming, sea levels, renewable energy, global warming, and more!
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Jul 23, 2021
63: To Terraform Or Not to Terraform … Pt. 2
Dr. C. and Joseph Darnell discuss the billionaires racing to outer space, Rob yearns to hitch a ride to the moon, they discuss the complexities of good science critical debates, and in main discussion, Rob continues the idea of terraforming planets Venus, Mars, and moons beyond.
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Jul 16, 2021
62: To Terraform or Not to Terraform ... Pt. 1
For the first time since before quarantines began in 2020, Rob and Joseph are back in the studio for today’s episode! They discuss un-recycled plastic waste in the Pacific Ocean, Soylent ‘complete nutritious meal replacement’(!), and in their main topic, what it would take to terraform the moon and Mars!
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Jul 10, 2021
61: Submarine Tech
Dr. Rob Carter and Joseph Darnell discuss summer life, the great book ‘1493’ that Rob’s reading, and for their main topic, all-things submarines! Their history, innovation, influence, and stories are fascinating!
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Jun 30, 2021
60: Dr. C’s Guide to Distant Starlight and Deep Time
On today’s episode of Equinox, Rob is excited that Joseph got DNA tests (on sale for Prime Day). In the main discussion, Dr. C. explores the issue of deep time and distant starlight travel—how it works, what we know, what astronomers speculate … It’s fascinating, as Rob likes to say!
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Jun 25, 2021
59: The Black Death
Rob and Joseph discuss a ‘revolutionary’ camera lens, South African worker bee clones, a giant arc stretching 3.3 billions lightyears across the cosmos, and for the main discussion, Black Death. 💀
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Jun 17, 2021
58: Lazers & Lightsabers (Pew Pew!)
Joe and Rob discuss one the most important, yet most enigmatic, inventions of all time, the laser! Many mysteries, and many laughs, later, they figure it out. Tune in for the discussion.
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Jun 9, 2021
57: It’s About Time!
Joe and Rob spend time talking about time, what it is, how we measure it, how the ways we measure it have changed over the centuries, and some of the amazing things we have invented to tell time more accurately.
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Jun 5, 2021
56: The Jet Engine
Joseph is switching to ‘vacation mode’ and Dr. Carter shares stories about his fun adventures in Florida. In an interesting story of science news this week, researchers think they can accurately say that the Milky Way galaxy wobbles! In listener questions: what is acid rain? For the main topic, Rob tells us all about the jet engine! In the after show, Beequinox is back! Wow!
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May 27, 2021
55: Taking Flight
Dr. C and Joseph D are thrilled to explore the origins of engine-powered flight! They catch up on work, Rob’s recent air travel, and jet lag. Then for the main topic, they start way back at the beginning of human flight using gliders and hot air balloons and talk all the way up to jet engine planes and boomerangs. In the after show, Joseph and Rob discuss other things that can or cannot fly and Joseph tells us what flying discs have to do with coffee.
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May 19, 2021
54: What is Radiation?
Back this with awesome discussion about beekeeping (what else?!), the most-insanely valuable rare earth elements, and for the main topic: radiation. Picking up where Rob left us wondering about ‘what is radiation’ last time while exploring the periodic table, he explains what it is, isn’t, and how deadly it can be or not be. 🤔 In the after show, the guys catch up on ‘Beequinox’: naming the queen, mayhem, et cetera.
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May 7, 2021
53: The Periodic Table
This week, Rob tells us all about transparent wood, gets excited about SpaceX rocket landing, Joseph announces Equinox Plus(!), and for the main topic, the guys explore the periodic table. Rob does a wonderful job of making sense of some of the most frustrating parts of chemistry class for us.
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Apr 30, 2021
52: Black Holes
In this great episode, Dr. Carter explains how black holes really work—a far cry from how they’ve been portrayed in science fiction films that are the basis for everything Joseph thought he knew about them. Also the guys discuss the latest experiments in beekeeping.
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Apr 23, 2021
51: Worldwide Weather Patterns
This week, Rob and Joseph shoot the breeze! Rob explains Hadley cells to us, contrasts land and water weather patterns, answers the questions ‘what will the weather be like tomorrow and in six months’, and explains so much more. And at the end of this episode the guys geek out about their new bee colonies and beekeeping challenges.
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Apr 7, 2021
50: Flat Earth (April Fools!)
Rob and Joseph talk about 3D printing beehive accessories, beekeeping (as we are prone to do!), Georgia’s Savage Race, and for the main topic, the flat earth conspiracy. Ooooh boy!
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Mar 27, 2021
49: Things in Sci-Fi That Bug Us
Rob and Joe dive deep into the little things that bug them the most in the Sci-fi genre, and, of course, they also talk about bees. A story or two about whales learning how to avoid whaling ships and gorillas being taught to fear death make for a well-rounded episode, if they do say so themselves.
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Mar 18, 2021
48: Pollen, the Yellowing
Pollen, that scourge of Spring and Fall! What is it, exactly? What does it do? Why do they cause allergies and how do scientists identify plants based on their pollen?
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Mar 12, 2021
47: Bee Biology
Joe and Rob wax eloquent about our little wax making friends, the honeybee. Rob talks about his tricked-out hive in which he has installed some electronics. They then go on an excursion into the world of Arduino before getting to the meat of the discussion: the biology inside the hive. From bee guts to bee parasites, get ready to bee amazed.
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Feb 26, 2021
46: The ‘Eyes’ Have It
Joseph and Dr. Carter discusses the Odyssey successfully landing on Mars, Rob’s submitted COVID-19 paper, and how eyes work—everything from biochemistry to optics to geometry to image processing to the eyes of big cats and giant squid! We’d love to have you join us for another quest on Equinox!
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Feb 20, 2021
45: First Anniversary!
Rob and Joseph celebrate Equinox’s first complete revolution around the Sun. They review their themes and goals for the show, share background stories, discuss how this podcasting thing works, and approach growth with the scientific method. :-)
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Feb 11, 2021
44: Dating the Carbon-14 Way
The science isn’t as certain as some scientists want you to think. There’s a theoretical limit to how old you can date things with carbon-14. The fact that we find it in every carbon source on earth, the planet cannot be more than one million years old according to the dating methods. Learn all about it with Rob and Joseph!
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Feb 4, 2021
43: SCUBA Physics
Rob has been holding out on us! He’s an experienced SCUBA diver, and has lived to tell a few tales. Dead men tell no tales, which is why Dr. Carter is here to tell you all the terrible ways you could face certain death in the deep blue.
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Jan 27, 2021
42: How to Grow Coral
Dr. Rob Carter has a huge appreciation for aquatic life, and it comes as a shock to us that we haven’t heard him talk about corals! This week, we discuss everything that one will find fascinating about these simple creatures. And Rob lays out a plan to setup and grow new corals of his own.
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Jan 22, 2021
41: Scientific Advances Thanks to COVID-19
This week, the guys discuss follow-up to several bits of previous discussions about the universe, archaeology, bees, and more. For the main topic, Dr. Carter lays out many interesting scientific advances that have occurred due to the fast-paced research covering Coronavirus. In post-show, Rob gives us a video production update, gets back to his love for corrals, and the guys consider whether their daughters will start YouTube channels.
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Jan 13, 2021
40: How to Engineer a Pandemic Virus
Joseph and Rob really get into some difficult subjects on this episode as they discuss how scientists pursue their work and whether or not the COVID-19 virus was engineered in a laboratory.
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Dec 18, 2020
39: Science Year in Review
Other than the pandemic, many interesting science discoveries, innovations, and flukes occurred in 2020. Rob and Joseph discuss exo planets, new molecules, CRISPR cures… and (maybe) the most wonderful scientific discovery in Dr. Carter’s lifetime???
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Dec 11, 2020
38: The Cutting Edge of the Universe
What holds the universe together? What would happen if you toggle those things just a little? This is the essence of the Fine Tuning argument. There are many fundamental constants in the universe upon which life is utterly dependent. In fact, more than just life; the universe itself is irrevocably dependent on some very precise numbers, or it cannot exist.
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Dec 4, 2020
37: Mysteries of the Solar System
Rob and Joseph return from beyond the solar system to talk about their GPS travels on planet Earth, then take a journey through our solar system to discuss the mysteries of the Sun, Moon, planets, and more.
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Nov 19, 2020
36: Extrasolar Planets
How do they detect planets orbiting far-away stars? Is that even a real thing? Yes it is true, and there are two main methods for finding them: doppler shift and periodic changes in light intensity. To date, thousands of extrasolar planets have been detected. But what does this mean for the possibility of life in outer space? Actually, very little, for most stars are inhospitable to life in general. Joe and Rob wrap up with a discussion on theology and how a Christian can make sense of the new discoveries.
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Nov 6, 2020
35: The Greatest Effect Ever
Whether you know it or not, the relationship between electricity and magnetism rules your world. Were it not for this discovery, almost nothing in our modern world would function. Cell phones, radios, electric power stations, even your car...they all depend on the fact that moving magnetic fields induce current in a wire and changing current creates a changing magnetic field.
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Oct 29, 2020
34: Are Cellphones Killing Us Slowly?
Joseph asks the age old tech question, ‘Are our smartphones bad for our health?’ Rob answers this and the guys also discuss modern communication methods, how GPS works, where pocketable computers fit into their lives, and what they think is a ‘healthy’ relationship with technology. They end up having a wide-ranging conversation that ties together cell phones, 5G, GPS, and microwave ovens, and believe it or not, it all makes sense.
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Oct 23, 2020
33: 2020 Ig Nobel Prizes
It’s that time of year for the annual Ig Nobel Awards to be awarded to those scientists who publish the worst, oddest, most irreproducible, or downright weird research. Joe and Rob have a hard time with this one, but only because they could not stop laughing at the squeaking alligators, narcissist unibrow quotients, and knives made from...wait, what?
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Oct 15, 2020
32: 2020 Nobel Prizes
In the inaugural annual *Nobel Prize Review* episode, Rob and Joseph discuss the 2020 winners in all categories: peace, literature, economics, physiology and medicine, chemistry, and physics.
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Oct 8, 2020
31: Following Up Life and Death
Rob follows up thoughts about the origin of life, and tells us all about the new research/model that tried and failed to simulate the origin of life. And to top it off, many want to know when scientists will solve the problem of death so we can all live forever. So, will they???
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Oct 1, 2020
30: The Origin of Life
Usually, scientists like to tell us how life started on planet Earth and how it might exist elsewhere in the universe. But do they tell you something they know from scientific observation or from shots in the dark? Joseph and Rob discuss the difficulty figuring out life’s beginning, and in the grand scheme of things how terribly unlikely it is to find life anywhere.
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Sep 24, 2020
29: Mysteriously Advanced Ancient Technology
Rob and Joseph discuss Rob’s latest research about the coronavirus. Then for our main discussion, they explore what appears to be practically impossible for ancient inventors and craftsmen to achieve.
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Sep 17, 2020
28: Why Things Rot
Joseph and Rob catch up. They touch on work and their history with computers. Then for a side topic, they highlight some interesting discoveries about planet Venus. For the main discussion, Rob explores the strange science behind rotting vegetation, animals, and humans.
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Sep 3, 2020
27: Neanderthal Technology
Neanderthals were supposed to be primitive, half-human cavemen, but modern paleontology is shattering that illusion. We know they were intelligent and industrious, eating a wide variety of foods and travelling long distances across the barren wasteland called Eurasia during the Ice Age period. Joe and Rob marvel at what is only now coming to light in relation to these enigmatic ancestors of ours.
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Aug 26, 2020
26: How Much Can We Trust Human Memory?
Rob and Joseph explore the complexity of how human memory works. Everything from the ‘magic number’ to access time to multidimensional storage is fascinating! Did you know that your eyes work like computers? Learn more about that and so much more about Rob’s and Joseph’s brains on this week’s Equinox podcast.
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Aug 19, 2020
25: The A Bomb
The development of nuclear weapons is one of the most amazing, and fearsome, scientific breakthroughs in human history. But before they could be made, a lot of discoveries had to happen first. The timing is also amazing. Almost as soon as these things were discovered we started blowing things up.
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Aug 12, 2020
24: Weapons and Explosives
The recent ammonium nitrate explosion that leveled most of Beirut has sparked many discussions about explosives. So Joe and Rob explore the history of explosives, from the invention of gunpowder in 9th century China to the massive explosion that killed JFK’s older brother in WWII. They’ll stop along the way and talk about the 100 Years War and the invention of nitroglycerine and TNT along the way.
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Aug 6, 2020
23: Mapping the World
Creating a map of the world is hard, very hard. It took the best minds in the world centuries to get it right. From the disfigured maps of the Greeks to the elegant portolan charts of the Renaissance, people have been mapping the world for a long time. The main problem was with longitude, a puzzle that was not figured out until Harrison invented a chronometer that could keep track of time while moving (like in a ship). It was easy enough to figure out how far north or south you were, but east and west was an entirely different thing. Yet, the portolan charts were longitudinally accurate, and nobody knows how. Map making in an artform, and some of the secrets have been lost to us.
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Jul 31, 2020
22: Photosynthesis: Improbable to the Max
Photosynthesis is one of the most important processes on the planet, yet its complexity beguiles many students. This elegant and unlikely series of chemical reactions allows life on earth to exist.
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Jul 24, 2020
21: The Strange World Inside the Atom, Pt. 2
Rob and Joseph continue to explore the particle and atom sciences. What are the elements? What discoveries to they afford? Why are scientists often disappointed with the discoveries? The people that can use these sciences to their advantage will rule the world.
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Jul 15, 2020
20: The Strange World Inside the Atom, Pt. 1
It took scientists a long time to figure out what was inside the atom.
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Jul 8, 2020
19: Energy Rules of the Universe
Energy is a fundamental part of the universe, but how much do we actually understand it? Joe and Rob ask and answer lots of questions on this fascinating topic, ranging from nuclear power plants to photosynthesis.
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Jun 24, 2020
18: Fantastic Bees and Where to Find Them, Pt. 2
Rob and Joseph revisit honey bees and how to care for them, while not getting stung! There is so much more to learn about the fascinating little insects.
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Jun 17, 2020
17: Fantastic Bees and Where to Find Them, Pt. 1
Rob and Joseph finally dive deep into beehives! What makes bees tick? Where did beekeeping come from? Why would two guys take this hobby on? And what’s the science bee-hind the colony?
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Jun 10, 2020
16: Quirks of Ancestry and Genealogy
Rob and Joseph discuss more of the oddly fascinating details that impact mankind, how our family ancestry works, and some surprising ways that it does not.
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Jun 4, 2020
15: We Are Less Than Dust
Rob and Joseph discuss SpaceX’s big launch, getting our podcast on Spotify, podcasting apart from each other, Rob’s one-page sci-fi, and for the main topic, Dr. Carter goes through the science of atomic theory. It’s a vast realm of the universe at a molecule’s scale, where there’s more empty space than matter!
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May 28, 2020
14: ‘Science’ Fiction Films
What makes a good sci-fi movie? How much fiction can we mix with fact before the science part begins to fall apart? Using the movie Interstellar as a focus of attention, Joe and Rob discuss movie making, how this one genre attempts to blend storytelling with reality, and how it sometimes succeeds and sometimes does not.
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May 20, 2020
13: The Earth Is Slowing Down
Rob and Joseph revisit some of the previous topics and bring them together with an unexpected twist. You will learn what the moon, Earth’s gravity, the Ice Age, and extinct corals all have to do with each other.
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May 14, 2020
12: Who is Dr. Rob Carter? Part II
Joseph grills Rob some more about his past, specifically about how he got to where he is today. The discussion ranges from corals, to computer programming, to genetics, to Covid-19. Meanwhile, Joseph waxes eloquent on some interesting philosophical ideas.
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Apr 29, 2020
11: Who is Dr. Rob Carter? Part I
Joseph decided it was time to ask the question, “Who is Dr. Carter.” The two laugh their way through the life of Rob: from bad grades to a love of learning, Georgia Tech to teaching high school, scuba diving to cloning DNA from corals.
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Apr 22, 2020
10: The Earth
In honor of the 50th Earth Day, Joe and Rob talk about...the earth! That is, the rock we call planet earth. They discuss some amazing experiments, done in the 1700s, that told us the mass of the earth and that calculated the gravitational constant. This is a big deal for us today, because there would be no space travel without these foundational experiments.
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Apr 15, 2020
9: Christianity and the Environment: A Review of the Riot and the Dance
Joe and Rob review the documentary films The Riot and the Dance and discuss various environmental issues and how the Christian is supposed to approach these things.
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Apr 8, 2020
8: All the Peoples of the World
Joe and Rob go on a world tour, trying to explain where all the peoples of the world came from, including Eskimos, Polynesians, Native Americans, Asians, and Europeans. They ran out of time before they got to Africa, but this episode should keep you busy enough. They also deal with the issue of ‘race’ and many of the surprising new facts that are coming out of laboratories across the world.
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Apr 1, 2020
7: Personal Genetics and Why There Are No More Secrets
Rob and Joe, surprisingly, discuss beekeeping, unsurprisingly talk about the coronavirus, then move onto the main topic: ancestry and genetics. They cover a lot of ground, including making transgenic organisms, the differences between the three main ancestry testing companies, whole-genome sequencing, the erosion of privacy as more and more people take those tests, Nanopore sequencing, the Golden State Killer case and how genetics allowed it to be cracked, the very complicated human genome, and the fun math behind genealogy and genetics.
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Mar 25, 2020
6: Darwin 2.0: Correcting the Myths
In this second episode on the life of Charles Darwin, Rob and Joe discuss multiple myths about Darwin’s life, including the false ideas that he first thought of evolution while on the Galapagos and that he recanted his views on evolution on his deathbed. Other topics include finch beaks and Darwin’s rewriting the story of their discovery, his (abhorrent) views on race, and the fact that he died believing in the Lamarckian “inheritance of acquired characteristics” view.
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Mar 18, 2020
5: Charles Darwin, the Man, but Mostly the Myth
Charles Darwin is a man of legend in science history. The real man’s influence shaped much of the progress and setbacks culture experiences today. Dr Rob Carter and Joseph Darnell take a journey through Darwin's times and accomplishments to shed like on the man, and separate the man from wayward legends that obscure key insights into the creation and evolution debate.
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Mar 11, 2020
4: Clocks, Ancient Calendars, and Absolute Craziness
Tracking time goes all the way back to the first people who ever lived. How did they decide on months? Weeks? Years? Did they use the starts, the moon, seasons, or political ventures to define their passage through time? Rob and Joseph rewind the clock to the dawn of time then zip up through to the present to see how and why mankind has arrived at the calendar system we commonly employ in the 21st century.
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Mar 4, 2020
3: Ancient DNA: Finding What Should Not Be There
Archeologists and geneticists are finding DNA in older and older things. Some of these discoveries are significantly challenging. In fact, many theories on the history of mankind have been abandoned due to some of the things we have learned. Robert Carter and Joseph Darnell discuss some of the discoveries being made with this legendary science and what it means for the human race.
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Feb 26, 2020
2: Stopping the Sun, Moving the Earth
Geocentrism is a scientific theory that could have left mankind in the 'dark ages', but in the end it still held civilizations back for thousands of years. Dr. Rob Carter and Joseph Darnell explore why it took people throughout history so long to figure out that the earth moves, and the implications this has had for all of science up to the present. How we arrived at heliocentrism (actually, the universe isn’t heliocentric either!) will possibly surprise you!
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Feb 19, 2020
1: The Greatest Theory Ever
In this first episode, Joe and Rob explore Sir Isaac Newton’s theory of gravity and explain how it is the single greatest engine of scientific prediction ever made by man. The theory of gravity also interconnects with a number of other interesting subjects, which they will touch on briefly, basically giving them fodder for a slew of future episodes.
Equinox podcast is dedicated to Sir Isaac Newton.
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