What The If?

POP into a parking spot at any point in time?! What The If there were a time travel TRAFFIC Jam?! Prep your flux capacitors, set your clocks to 1985, and get ready for a time BACK IN TIME! On this weeks episode we are joined by the ever talented Tom Merritt. 
 Tom is an award-winning independent tech podcaster and host of regular tech news and information shows. Tom hosts Sword and Laser, a science fiction and fantasy podcast, and book club with Veronica Belmont. Tom is also a writer, his latest book called “Trigor” which we’ve featured before, and can be found on his website http://www.tommerritbooks.com Tom’s podcasts: Daily Tech News Show Tom Merritt and Sarah Lane deliver the top stories in tech combined with analysis from regular contributors and guest perspectives from the top names in technology. https://dailytechnewsshow.com Sword & Laser A science fiction and fantasy-themed book club, video show and podcast, started by Veronica Belmont and Tom Merritt http://swordandlaser.com Let’s Talk About Star Wars Garrett Weinzierl, Jennie Josephson, and Tom Merritt talk Star Wars theories, predictions, and more! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lets-talk-about-star-wars/id1074592854 Work In Sanity Patrick Beja and Tom Merritt have worked from home for decades and share their experiences and insights in helping you stay sane and productive when you work from home. Work Insanity? No! Work In Sanity! https://play.acast.com/s/work-in-sanity — Got an IF of your own? Want to have us consider your idea for a show topic? Send YOUR IF to us! Email us at feedback@whattheif.com and let us know what's in your imagination. No idea is too small, or too big! --- Special thanks to Kyle Crichton for his help with the show. --- Want to support the show? Click a rating or add a review on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app! itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1250517051?mt=2&ls=1 Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe at WhatTheIF.com Keep On IFFin', Philip & Matt

Special guest Howard Zheng has just returned from China and reports on the state of the pandemic there. Gaby and the team compare China's methods with those we experience ourselves in the USA. Every week, Rockefeller University Virologist GABY PANICCIA explores the science behind the headlines. More info at RockEDU: rockedu.rockefeller.edu and covid-19-research.rockefeller.edu --- Like the show? Share your love for the IF by dropping a review on Apple Podcasts! itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1250517051?mt=2&ls=1 Have you subscribed? Grab one (always free!) at pod.link/1250517051 and never miss an episode! Comments, questions, and more are welcome! Visit WhatTheIF.com/contact or email us at feedback@whattheif.com.

For Thanksgiving, a special encore presentation of one of our most popular episodes! Matt has a new amazing book! We dive into Professor Stanley's incredible story about how, while living through hunger, freezing and fear, the unknown and unheard of Professor Albert Einstein became... EINSTEIN. What The IF, we ask: World War I never, ever happened? Would Einstein have solved his Theory of Relativity sooner -- or, perhaps, NEVER AT ALL? REVIEW the show: itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1250517051?mt=2&ls=1 SUBSCRIBE for free: linktr.ee/whattheifshow Thanks & Keep On IFFin'! -- Philip & Matt

For Thanksgiving, a special encore presentation of one of our most popular episodes! Matt has a new amazing book! We dive into Professor Stanley's incredible story about how, while living through hunger, freezing and fear, the unknown and unheard of Professor Albert Einstein became... EINSTEIN. What The IF, we ask: World War I never, ever happened? Would Einstein have solved his Theory of Relativity sooner -- or, perhaps, NEVER AT ALL? REVIEW the show: itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1250517051?mt=2&ls=1 SUBSCRIBE for free: linktr.ee/whattheifshow Thanks & Keep On IFFin'! -- Philip & Matt

Spooky children?! Past lives?! Astrology?! What could we possibly be talking about? What The If past lives, and reincarnation were real? On this episode, we talk about an article Philip found on NYTimes about reincarnation and how they actually considered the occult as scientific?! WHAT?! This if is dedicated to the comment section of this article: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/26/parenting/pretend-play-creepy-kids.html — Got an IF of your own? Want to have us consider your idea for a show topic? Send YOUR IF to us! Email us at feedback@whattheif.com and let us know what's in your imagination. No idea is too small, or too big! --- Special thanks to Kyle Crichton and Howard Zheng for their help with the show. --- Want to support the show? Click a rating or add a review on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app! itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1250517051?mt=2&ls=1 Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe at WhatTheIF.com Keep On IFFin', Philip & Matt

Science wins in the USA! Vaccine research looking good so far! As she does every week, Rockefeller University Virologist GABY PANICCIA explores the science behind the COVID-19 Pandemic’s headlines. Three fascinating stories this week: "Pfizer’s Early Data Shows Vaccine Is More Than 90% Effective" - The New York Times - https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/09/health/covid-vaccine-pfizer.html "Pfizer announced positive early results from its coronavirus vaccine trial, cementing the lead in a frenzied global race that has unfolded at record-breaking speed." By Katie Thomas, David Gelles and Carl Zimmer "Children Produce Weaker Coronavirus Antibodies, Study Finds" - The New York Times - https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/05/health/covid-children-antibodies.html "The research suggests that children clear the infection much faster than adults and may help explain why many don’t become seriously ill." By Apoorva Mandavilli "Antibodies may explain some of COVID-19 clotting risk" - Time - https://time.com/5906911/covid-19-antibodies-blood-clotting/ "Scientists Have Uncovered the Likely Cause of a Serious COVID-19 Symptom: Blood Clotting" By Alice Park More info about the virus at RockEDU: rockedu.rockefeller.edu and covid-19-research.rockefeller.edu --- Like the show? Share your love for the IF by dropping a review on Apple Podcasts! itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1250517051?mt=2&ls=1 Have you subscribed? Grab one (always free!) at pod.link/1250517051 and never miss an episode! Comments, questions, and more are welcome! Visit WhatTheIF.com/contact or email us at feedback@whattheif.com.

We are joined by Historian of Medicine, Professor of History at Clarkson University, Stephen Casper! You've got a tailbone, but WTiF Humans actually had TAILS?! Hang off those trees like our ape-like ancestors, chill out with a nice cool drink and enjoy this ride on the Human evolution train! — Got an IF of your own? Want to have us consider your idea for a show topic? Send YOUR IF to us! Email us at feedback@whattheif.com and let us know what's in your imagination. No idea is too small, or too big! --- Special thanks to Kyle Crichton for help with today's show. --- Want to support the show? Click a rating or add a review on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app! itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1250517051?mt=2&ls=1 Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe at WhatTheIF.com Keep On IFFin', Philip & Matt

The New York Times headline is ominous: "How Are Americans Catching the Virus? Increasingly, ‘They Have No Idea’" As she does every week, Rockefeller University Virologist GABY PANICCIA explores the science behind this scary headline and we aim to learn how it is that the Corona Virus seems UNSAFE AT ANY SPEED! Read the article here: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/31/us/coronavirus-transmission-everywhere.html More info at RockEDU: rockedu.rockefeller.edu and covid-19-research.rockefeller.edu --- Like the show? Share your love for the IF by dropping a review on Apple Podcasts! itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1250517051?mt=2&ls=1 Have you subscribed? Grab one (always free!) at pod.link/1250517051 and never miss an episode! Comments, questions, and more are welcome! Visit WhatTheIF.com/contact or email us at feedback@whattheif.com.

Reality TV in SPACE! What The If Aliens are WATCHING us!? Tune your televisions to the intergalactic channel, or open up your streaming app on your smart TV and watch the show called EARTH! Article mentioned in this weeks episode from Gizmodo: https://gizmodo.com/aliens-from-these-worlds-could-be-watching-us-right-now-1845452421 — Got an IF of your own? Want to have us consider your idea for a show topic? Send YOUR IF to us! Email us at feedback@whattheif.com and let us know what's in your imagination. No idea is too small, or too big! --- Special thanks to Kyle Crichton and Howard Zheng for their help with the show. --- Want to support the show? Click a rating or add a review on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app! itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1250517051?mt=2&ls=1 Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe at WhatTheIF.com Keep On IFFin', Philip & Matt

NBC News reports, "A rare Covid-19 complication was reported in children. Now, it's showing up in adults." Gaby helps us understand what scientists do when alarming data appears. How do scientists even gather so much data, how do they digest it, what can they do when something is extremely rare but highly concerning? Also, we discuss trick or treating this year when Halloween occurs in the middle of real horror. Levity provided by... unexpected country music! Woohoo! Pandemic pickles all our brains, join us for the fun, for science! Every week, Rockefeller University Virologist GABY PANICCIA explores the science behind the headlines. More info at RockEDU: rockedu.rockefeller.edu and covid-19-research.rockefeller.edu --- Like the show? Share your love for the IF by dropping a review on Apple Podcasts! itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1250517051?mt=2&ls=1 Have you subscribed? Grab one (always free!) at pod.link/1250517051 and never miss an episode! Comments, questions, and more are welcome! Visit WhatTheIF.com/contact or email us at feedback@whattheif.com.

What The If Zombies were real!? Start armoring your vehicles, boarding up your windows, and stocking up on toilet paper! We've got a spooky episode for you, just in time for Halloween! The Walking Dead roam the earth! George Romero, eat your brain out! It's time for the RISE OF THE DAWN OF THE DEAD! — Got an IF of your own? Want to have us consider your idea for a show topic? Send YOUR IF to us! Email us at feedback@whattheif.com and let us know what's in your imagination. No idea is too small, or too big! --- Special thanks to Kyle Crichton and Howard Zheng for their help with the show. --- Want to support the show? Click a rating or add a review on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app! itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1250517051?mt=2&ls=1 Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe at WhatTheIF.com Keep On IFFin', Philip & Matt

It's Fall in the Northern Hemisphere, and Thanksgiving and other holidays are coming up, so we look to SCIENCE for answers on how to arrange our family gatherings during the PANDEMIC. But sometimes... science doesn't have enough ANSWERS! How are people dealing with making choices during this information gap, or even, really, INFO OVERLOAD in the time of Covid? What would YOU do? A whole lotta turkeys are betting on us cancelling Thanksgiving... what will be their fate? Tune in, turkeys and all you IFFers, and find out how to survive, at least until Christmas! Every week, Rockefeller University Virologist GABY PANICCIA explores the science behind the headlines. More info at RockEDU: rockedu.rockefeller.edu and covid-19-research.rockefeller.edu --- Like the show? Share your love for the IF by dropping a review on Apple Podcasts! itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1250517051?mt=2&ls=1 Have you subscribed? Grab one (always free!) at pod.link/1250517051 and never miss an episode! Comments, questions, and more are welcome! Visit WhatTheIF.com/contact or email us at feedback@whattheif.com.

Vacuums in space! Space is a vacuum! This week on WHAT THE IF? We talk about Vacuums with the power of a black hole! How much MASS will they have?! Strap in, and get ready for a ride on the Event Horizon! — Got an IF of your own? Want to have us consider your idea for a show topic? Send YOUR IF to us! Email us at feedback@whattheif.com and let us know what's in your imagination. No idea is too small, or too big! --- Special thanks to Howard Zheng and Kyle Crichton for their help with the show. --- Want to support the show? Click a rating or add a review on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app! itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1250517051?mt=2&ls=1 Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe at WhatTheIF.com Keep On IFFin', Philip & Matt

Looking for the most ideal planet to inhabit, ya know in case ours goes belly up? Look no FURTHER! This week's WHAT THE IF? Will tell us where we can find the PERFECT Planet! The article discussed in this episode is called "Scientists discover 24 'superhabitable' planets with conditions that are better for life than Earth. By Aisha Zahid, news reporter https://news.sky.com/story/scientists-discover-24-superhabitable-planets-with-conditions-that-are-better-for-life-than-earth-12091801 BETTER?! Could it be like Hawaii, or could it be like the Arctic? Well, let's find out! — Got an IF of your own? Want to have us consider your idea for a show topic? Send YOUR IF to us! Email us at feedback@whattheif.com and let us know what's in your imagination. No idea is too small, or too big! --- Special thanks to Kyle Crichton and Howard Zheng for their help with the show. --- Want to support the show? Click a rating or add a review on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app! itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1250517051?mt=2&ls=1 Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe at WhatTheIF.com Keep On IFFin', Philip & Matt

In honor of the exciting breaking news of the 2020 NOBEL Prize for Chemistry being awarded to Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna for their development of CRISPR/Cas9 genetic editing, we present an encore presentation of our awesome episode with the great science journalist Carl Zimmer of The NEW YORK TIMES all about... CRISPR! Send us your questions and comments, and enjoy! ----- Would you CRISPR your baby? The great science journalist Carl Zimmer, award winning columnist for the New York Times and author of thirteen (!) books joins us to imagine the steep up sides and the slippery down sides of the revolutionary technique for modifying genes. Fix those typos in your DNA! Write a better life for baby! And why not rewrite your own bad self? What The IF... you could? CARL ZIMMER's newest book is "She Has Her Mother’s Laugh: The Power, Perversions, and Potential of Heredity". His column "Matter" appears each week in the New York Times. Zimmer’s writing has earned a number of awards, including the 2016 Stephen Jay Gould Prize, awarded by the Society for the Study of Evolution to recognize individuals whose sustained efforts have advanced public understanding of evolutionary science. In 2017, he won an Online Journalism Award for his series of articles in which he explored his genome. She Has Her Mother’s Laugh won the 2019 National Academies Communication Award. It was also named a Notable Book of the Year by the New York Times Book Review and selected for Publisher’s Weekly Best Ten Books of 2018 and the 2018 shortlist for Baillie-Gifford Prize for Nonfiction. The Guardian named it the best science book of 2018. Zimmer created the podcast “What Is Life?” and is a familiar voice on other programs such as Radiolab. A professor adjunct at Yale University, he lives in Connecticut with his wife Grace and their children, Charlotte and Veronica. He is, to his knowledge, the only writer after whom a species of tapeworm has been named. Visit his website: https://carlzimmer.com Learn more about his newest book: https://carlzimmer.com/books/she-has-her-mothers-laugh/ Follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/carlzimmer ----- Like the show? Share a review with us on Apple Podcasts! itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1250517051?mt=2&ls=1 Have you subscribed? Grab one at pod.link/1250517051 Thanks & Keep On IFFin'! Philip & Matt WhatTheIF.com