By Megan
Links: https://www.untanglingscience.com/episode-4-the-sun
Transcript: https://www.untanglingscience.com/blog/episode-4-the-sun
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-4-the-sun/id1573107927?i=1000530964648
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0fuoMDNFbDPZEpsT1czeet
Untangling Science is so brilliantly put together. The four episodes so far have covered very different subjects (DNA, viruses, the periodic table and the Sun) so if you look at the list you might think it’s jumping around all over the place but it’s really not and the things you learn in previous episodes turn out to be really useful for future episodes.
This episode is all about the Sun, including what it is, what it does and what it will do in the future especially if we’re not careful. It is written and presented by Darragh Ennis from The Chase and he always makes everything really clear and mostly easy to understand (sometimes I have to think about things quite hard but I think that’s good for me and most people listening will be older than me anyway so they will probably be cleverer).
There are some really good examples to help us understand things like the size and mass of the Sun. There are bits about elephants and duvets. I think there was a bit about fried eggs but it’s not in the transcript so maybe I made that up. These parts create a really good visual image as well as being really funny. This is good because I don’t think science should be serious all the time and it also means we are more likely to remember things. Or even if we do forget, we’ll remember we heard about it in a really good podcast so we’ll go back and listen to it again. There is quite a lot in the episode but there are recaps all the way through to remind us of everything and that’s really helpful.
The Sun is something we are all very aware of. Sometimes it is very annoying like if it’s too hot or it’s in our eyes and sometimes it’s really lovely and it makes the world look all bright and happy but we’re always aware of it even though we’ve never actually looked at it properly (well I hope not). This episode shows how there is so much more to the Sun than this and that it is a really important part of life and it’s helping us all the time and such an important part of so many of the things we do. It is also really interesting finding out how it was created (and so amazing that scientists have actually worked this out) and the episode explains sunspots, polar lights and black holes. I love the way things I’ve heard of but don’t know much about yet all turn out to be connected together. There’s also a bit about a NASA mission to study the Sun which is really interesting.
I really like the way this episode teaches us about the Sun but it also makes it really relevant and personal to us and not just a really abstract thing. Maybe I’m really self-obsessed but I like knowing that the Sun is part of the universe and that I’m part of it too. It makes science feel more real. It’s interesting and fun already but this kind of thing makes it even more interesting and fun.
The next episode is photosynthesis and I am really excited. I already know what it is (and it was explained in Episode 4 anyway) but I know there will be a lot in the episode which I don’t know and I’m really looking forward to it.
I don’t think this podcast is really aimed at
me because it’s for people who had trouble with science at school and I don’t
really have trouble with science apart from wishing it went into more detail
but I really like Untangling Science a lot and it is really helpful and
interesting for the target audience too and if it is also reaching people
outside the target audience that is a sign of how brilliant the podcast is.
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