Ira Flatow
speaker
1,299 appearances
24 recordings
2 series
first heard Apr 2026
last heard 15 Sep
Ira Flatow’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
Trend
recordings per month · last 12 monthsRecordings per month over the last 12 months — 24 in all, peaking in Jun 2026 with 6.
Appearances
This episode was produced by Shoshana Bucksbaum.
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Give us a call, 877-4SYFRY.
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That's 877-the number 4-SY-Fry.
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Our listener line is always open.
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I'm Ira Flaydo.
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We'll catch you next time.
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Hey it's Ira and you're listening to Science Friday.
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In early 1990, I was given a tour of the San Andreas Fault Line by US Geological Survey scientist, the late great Al Lind.
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I was riding in his red pickup truck, and between us in the front seat was this little wooden box with little red numbers that jumped around as we drove.
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So I asked Al, hey, what is this box all about?
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And he turns the steering.
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Steering wheel in different directions, and he says, look at the numbers.
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And I did, and these little red Nixie tube numbers danced all around as he drove.
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And I said, Hey Al, what's going on here?
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And he said, Believe it or not, there's this satellite overhead that is transmitting our exact location to us, our exact coordinates to this box, and the numbers change as I drive back and forth over the road.
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Now I couldn't believe it until about a year later when the Gulf War broke out and the world's global positioning system emerged from obscurity.
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No one could imagine how GPS would become such an essential part of our lives.
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A whole generation of people today never knew a world without it.
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Showing 161–180 of 1,299 · page 9 of 65
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