Cosmic Tea Party

Bushfires are bad, but it looks like they might have been much worse in the distant past. The dinosaurs faced some veritable infernos, which just may have been the end of them. The silicon revolution is more than just the latest in adult entertainment, it's why we can carry around phenomenal computing power in our pockets for the sole purpose of tweetbooking. We look at semi-conductors and how we turned the innocuous into the indispensible. A very femme quiz this week.

We look at bushfires (or wildfires) and how fire-prone ecosystems respond to being burnt to a crisp. Black holes aren't cosmic vacuum cleaners, but they are pretty freaky. The Disney movie 'The Black Hole' got a lot of it right, and the score is excellent.

Don't lasers just burn stuff? Nope. They make stuff cold too. So cold they become a new state of matter. Mega-shark vs Giant Octopus. Self-explanatory. A mouthful of quiz.

Can't get enough of a good (or bad) thing? Then you might be addicted. Get your fix here. "Dantooine is too remote to make an effective demonstration, but don't worry, we will deal with your rebel friends soon enough." Ever needed a laser? We talk about how they work. Quiz et al.

"General Relativity!" "What is it, private?" replied the General. Actually, GR (as those in the biz call it) is not a person at all, but the awesome theory of how gravity works. David Paganin (aka The General) fills us in on what it all means. "I've invented a new number! Pie!" Mathematicians have been coming up with crazy stuff for years, but are they actually crazy? Films like A Beautiful Mind lead us to expect they are. We look at some famous (real) maths guys. Quiz. Go figure.

"General Relativity!" "What is it, private?" replied the General. Actually, GR (as those in the biz call it) is not a person at all, but the awesome theory of how gravity works. David Paganin (aka The General) fills us in on what it all means. "I've invented a new number! Pie!" Mathematicians have been coming up with crazy stuff for years, but are they actually crazy? Films like A Beautiful Mind lead us to expect they are. We look at some famous (real) maths guys. Quiz. Go figure.

As players of Civilzation will know, Charles Darwin went on a voyage (and granted you two free technologies, but remember: it requires railroad). Then he wrote a book called The Origin of Species. Good book. Still important, although we've improved on his ideas since then. We look at Darwin's theory of evolution as it was back in the good old days. When you first move away from home, you know that you want your first place to be as homely and welcoming as your childhood home was. However, you inevitably end up in a broken down death trap, but you can at least spruce it up a bit. If we do this on a planetary scale it's called terraforming. We talk to NASA planetary scientist Chris McKay about humanity's hopes for first time home-owning/renting. No quiz this episode... kidding.

As players of Civilzation will know, Charles Darwin went on a voyage (and granted you two free technologies, but remember: it requires railroad). Then he wrote a book called The Origin of Species. Good book. Still important, although we've improved on his ideas since then. We look at Darwin's theory of evolution as it was back in the good old days. When you first move away from home, you know that you want your first place to be as homely and welcoming as your childhood home was. However, you inevitably end up in a broken down death trap, but you can at least spruce it up a bit. If we do this on a planetary scale it's called terraforming. We talk to NASA planetary scientist Chris McKay about humanity's hopes for first time home-owning/renting. No quiz this episode... kidding.

Bob Spicer is a Professor of Earth Sciences who likes asking fossils what the weather was like back then. He tells us about how the climate has changed throughout time and what the past can tell us about the current and future climate. The film Dante's Peak is more than just a movie. It's an expose on what life would be like living in a small American town underneath a dormant volcano, and how sometimes things will just happen with no warning. Alright, it is actually just a movie, but it does have both James Bond and Sarah Connor in it. Volcanoes, on the other hand, are real, and there's lots of cool science gushing out of them (see what I did there?). Q: What's made of wood and will stump you? A: A quiz. Written on paper.

Bob Spicer is a Professor of Earth Sciences who likes asking fossils what the weather was like back then. He tells us about how the climate has changed throughout time and what the past can tell us about the current and future climate. The film Dante's Peak is more than just a movie. It's an expose on what life would be like living in a small American town underneath a dormant volcano, and how sometimes things will just happen with no warning. Alright, it is actually just a movie, but it does have both James Bond and Sarah Connor in it. Volcanoes, on the other hand, are real, and there's lots of cool science gushing out of them (see what I did there?). Q: What's made of wood and will stump you? A: A quiz. Written on paper.

Shuffling is what you do to quickly put a deck of cards in a 'random' order. But there are many methods of shuffling - which works best? How can you tell if the deck is random yet? How long should you shuffle for? How easy is it to survive a saloon poker-room brawl? Some of these questions are answered in this episode, with help from mathemagician Persi Diaconis. Buzz: Buzz buzz buzz buzz, buzz buzz? Buzz buzz buzz - buzz buzz bees buzz; buzz buzz. Buzz buzz buzz buzz. Buzz buzz buzz, buzz buzz Barry B. Benson buzz buzz buzz buzz! Buzz buzz Beavis buzz buzz buzz.

Shuffling is what you do to quickly put a deck of cards in a 'random' order. But there are many methods of shuffling - which works best? How can you tell if the deck is random yet? How long should you shuffle for? How easy is it to survive a saloon poker-room brawl? Some of these questions are answered in this episode, with help from mathemagician Persi Diaconis. Buzz: Buzz buzz buzz buzz, buzz buzz? Buzz buzz buzz - buzz buzz bees buzz; buzz buzz. Buzz buzz buzz buzz. Buzz buzz buzz, buzz buzz Barry B. Benson buzz buzz buzz buzz! Buzz buzz Beavis buzz buzz buzz.

The annual CTP holiday extravaganza (duly delayed as per tradition). Christmas doth come but once a year. But the first anniversary of founding CTP City only comes once in a lifetime. Amongst some reminiscing we discuss favourite christmas presents and a particularly memorable christmas film. We have ourselves a merry little quiz.

What is it about old people that makes them smell like mothballs? Nobody really knows. But some folks do know how to calculate the ages of various rocks, fossils and trees. It seems like the world only just recovers from one end-of-the-world event and then we're onto another one. How do we keep up? This time it's the sinister Mayan calendar and the blockbuster film 2012. Quiz. Yep.

Ever been to a psychic, read a horoscope, or had a tarot reading? Well, Nadine has. We interview tauromancer Lynne Kelly about the techniques she uses to give readings. Ants are weird little critters. They barely have a brain, but between them they have managed to take over the world. We look at what makes them so great. We all bow down to the mighty Quizmaster.