Stories from the World of Science
Stories from the World of Science is a podcast by science writer and philosopher of science Sašo Dolenc. It aims to explain science in a simple, attractive, and fun way that is open to everyone. The episodes collect stories from the world of science, also available in book form. Dolenc explores scientific ideas and discoveries with an engaging, approachable style.
Epizode
Isaac Newton: The Last Magician of Modern Science
This episode explores the complex duality of Isaac Newton, portraying him not just as a rational scientist but as the "last of the magicians." While modern history celebrates his mathematical laws and the discovery of universal gravitation, the debate reveals that his breakthroughs were deeply rooted in alchemy, theology, and mysticism. Newton viewed the universe as a divine cryptogram, using
Galileo Galilei: Mathematics as the Invisible Skeleton of Reality
This episode explores how Galileo Galilei transformed the study of nature by establishing mathematics as the fundamental language of reality. By refining the telescope and applying artistic principles like perspective, he dismantled the ancient belief that the heavens were a perfect, divine realm separate from the flawed Earth. The debate highlights how Galileo utilized strategic rhetoric to
Nicolaus Copernicus: The Conservative That Accidentally Moved the Earth
This episode explores the life and intellectual motivations of Nicolaus Copernicus, reframing his heliocentric revolution as a conservative effort to restore divine harmony to the heavens. Driven by aesthetic dissatisfaction with the messy geocentric models of his time, Copernicus sought to replace mathematical "monstrosities" with a system where the Sun occupied a central, dignified position
Beyond the Hydrogen Bond: The Legacy of Dušan Hadži
Dušan Hadži was a prominent Slovenian chemist who dedicated his career to understanding the intricacies of chemical structures and interactions, particularly focusing on hydrogen bonding.
(The dialogue was created using the NotebookLM tool and is based on the book DUŠAN Hadži: The Life of a Chemist, published in 2024.)
From War-Torn Streets to Nobel Laureate: The Extraordinary Journey of Mario Capecchi
This podcast tells the incredible life story of Mario Capecchi, a world-renowned geneticist and Nobel Prize winner. His journey began amidst the turmoil of World War II, where he experienced unimaginable hardship as a child. Abandoned and left to fend for himself on the streets of war-torn Italy, Capecchi endured hunger, illness, and witnessed traumatic events that left deep scars.
Despite t
The Two-Step Process of Effective Science Communication
Debate on the article The essence of science communication - Rethinking contemporary science communication and its role in society.
The article discusses the critical importance of effective science communication, especially in the context of crises like the COVID-19 pandemic, where misinformation can lead to public confusion and mistrust. It highlights that science communication is not mer
MicroRNAs: Revolutionizing Gene Regulation – Unveiling the 2024 Nobel-Winning Discovery
This podcast discusses the groundbreaking discovery of microRNAs, the small but powerful molecules that revolutionized our understanding of gene regulation, earning Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Unlike simple on-off gene switches, microRNAs act like genetic "sticky notes," fine-tuning gene expression by attaching to messenger RNA.
These tiny r
William Sealy Gosset: The Brewer Who Revolutionized Statistics
This podcast tells the story of William Sealy Gosset, a mathematician and chemist who worked at the Guinness brewery and developed the Student's t-test. Gosset's work was driven by the need to ensure consistency in Guinness beer, which was being produced and exported in increasingly large quantities. To maintain the beer's quality and taste, the brewery began hiring scientists to standardize
Chasing the Coldest Cold: A History of Absolute Zero and the Bose-Einstein Condensate
This podcast tells the story of the scientific pursuit of absolute zero, the lowest theoretically possible temperature, and the groundbreaking discovery of the Bose-Einstein condensate.
Reaching absolute zero, where atoms and molecules have the lowest possible kinetic energy, is impossible in a laboratory setting, but scientists have managed to cool atoms down to a tiny fraction of a degree
Milan Vidmar: The Chess Master Who Checkmated a King
Milan Vidmar (1885-1962) was a prominent figure in Slovenian intellectual and academic life during the first half of the 20th century. He excelled in seemingly disparate fields, achieving international recognition for his work in electrical engineering and chess, while also playing a crucial role in the development of the University of Ljubljana.
Born in Ljubljana, Vidmar displayed intellect
Josip Plemelj: A Slovenian Mathematician Who Shaped a Nation's Intellectual Landscape
Josip Plemelj (1873-1967) was a renowned Slovenian mathematician who made significant contributions to the field of mathematics, particularly in the area of linear differential equations. He also played a pivotal role in establishing the University of Ljubljana and fostering the growth of mathematics in Slovenia.
Born in Grad, Bled, to a humble family, Plemelj's mathematical talent was evide
Zora Janžekovič: The Surgeon Who Revolutionized Burn Treatment
Zora Janžekovič (1918-2015) was a Slovenian surgeon who revolutionized the treatment of severe burns. Despite facing significant challenges throughout her career, her groundbreaking work gained international recognition, and she is now considered one of the most influential doctors of the 20th century.
Janžekovič pioneered the tangential excision technique, a method of surgically removing de
Josef Stefan: The Life and Legacy of a Slovenian Physicist
Josef Stefan (1835-1893) was a renowned Slovenian physicist who rose from humble beginnings to become a leading figure in the Austrian scientific community.
Born to illiterate parents in a small village near Klagenfurt, Austria, Stefan's early life was marked by poverty and hard work. Despite facing initial barriers to higher education due to his family's circumstances, he excelled in his st
Josef Stefan : from humble beginnings to scientific acclaim
The child of illiterate parents, who became the leading scientist of the Austrian Empire.
Milan Vidmar : world-class engineer and chess player
A renowned expert in electrical engineering and one of the best chess players in the world.
Zora Janžekovič : a medical pioneer who revolutionised burn care
The story of a medical pioneer who revolutionised burn care. Her innovative method of treating severe burns has saved many lives by dramatically reducing infections and hospitalization times.
Watching the birth of a new language
For several centuries, the question about the origin of language, was one of the central subjects for debate between philosophers and other scholars. The interest in the mystery of the nature of language reached its peak in the Age of Enlightenment, when the great questions about nature and the origin of man came to the forefront of scientific thought.
Is language innate or acquired? Why ar
Creating a second paradise
Born three hundred years ago, the Swedish naturalist Carl von Linné became one of the most notorious figures on the European scientific scene. He saw himself as a second Adam. In paradise the biblical Adam knew the names of all the animals put there by God. Linné wished to recreate this natural paradise in the botanical gardens of Sweden’s Uppsala.
saso-dolenc.com/man-who-counted-infinity
SARS global outbreak of 2003
On February 28, 2003, the local office of the World Health Organization in Hanoi, Vietnam, received a call from a small private hospital with a capacity of no more than 60 beds. Two days before, its staff admitted a patient showing symptoms of atypical flu. To rule out a potential case of “bird flu” they requested the help of WHO’s experts to try and determine what the disease really was.
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A Russian Indiana Jones
When Russia was immersed in revolutionary turmoil during both World Wars, Russian genetics and agricultural science were among the most advanced in the world. The greater part of the success of Russian life sciences in the first half of the 20th century may be attributed to a young, talented, and hardworking agronomist and outstanding organizer, Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov.
saso-dolenc.com/man
Conquering absolute zero
At a time when adventurers were still competing to conquer the ice-cold vastness of the North and South Poles, scientists were running a tight race to get as close as possible to absolute zero, the lowest temperature possible, one of just over -273 °C.
Absolute zero is the temperature at which atoms and molecules reach their lowest point of kinetic energy. Even though the absolute zero can n
Why does digital music only make sense to a human ear?
German acoustics professor Eberhard Zwicker spent years studying the ways humans recognise sounds. After conducting a number of experiments, he reached an important conclusion: a human ear doesn’t abide by the same principles as a microphone. It is a sense organ that became, through evolution, specially adjusted to speech recognition and detecting danger in the natural environment. That’s wha
What is randomness?
You might think it must be easy to define randomness, but nothing could be further from the truth. Not only is it difficult to create random events or sequences of numbers, verifying whether something that we have produced really is random is no easy task either. Many great mathematicians throughout history have examined the problem of randomness, but it was only a short while ago, in the era
How old is time?
Trying to imagine the beginning of time is just as hard as trying to imagine that time has no beginning. Both possibilities are equally strange and have baffled scholarly minds for centuries. Significant progress in answering this convoluted question was made a little less than 100 years ago when experimental science moved closer to clearing up a seemingly unsolvable problem.
sci-highs.com/h
