Cold sores, facial hair and double rainbows
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
This is a Triple J podcast.
Hey, you're listening to Science with Dr. Carl. Sam Lane with you here this week, filling in for Lucy. And we had a grand old time talking to Dr. Carl this week. All things water divining, facial hair, cold sores, double rainbows. And we even found the time to chat to my mum. Let's take a listen. Dr. Carl in the building. Insert air horn sounds here. Dr. Carl, hello. Welcome back.
Well, and what a fabulous intro. Thank you.
No worries. Well, Dr. Carl, how have you been? What have you been up to this week? Any science endeavors?
I've been reading up about a thing called terminal lucidity. which is really weird. And it's related to the fact that there's a terrible condition called Alzheimer's disease, which we don't understand, and which over the last few decades we've gone down many blind pathways. And they're blind because we haven't got a treatment for it. And what we have noticed is that in roughly 15% of cases, people will suddenly become lucid. They'll switch from... not being able to talk at all to suddenly being able to talk in the language that they spoke as a child in clear sentences and have conversations and then they die in the next few days. And it doesn't make sense. It's like saying, well, this road is gradually getting worse.
The more you drive on it, the more it rains. Hey, the road is now as flat as an aircraft landing strip and the next day it's full of potholes. It's completely unusual. So we do know that it's real. We've gradually established that it is real. and we're trying to gather data on it. In most cases, it lasts for a day or half a day, then they die a few days later. In some cases, they stay lucid for a long time. We don't know what's going on. That's really interesting.
Isn't it weird? Yeah, that's completely fascinating. And I mean, I hope we make progress. It's a terrible disease. We had a great episode last week. We had a lot of interesting guests, like motorcyclists and such.
Famous people. Humble guys. The humble guy who was the first person in the world to do a double backflip. And she said, oh, yeah, I do a bit of biking. Yeah, a bit of biking. Yeah, do a bit of biking. A little bit. Oh, my God. I love those biking guys. They were so wild. Okay, what have we got this week?
We have an even more special guest. So yesterday, to fill you in, Dr. Carl, we were talking about how people in Perth and WA generally love to talk about how the sky is a different color over there. And on the line to report on this, my mom... who is in Broome right now and frequently says this to me and we're doing her as the representative for the people of WA. Hi, Mum.
Hi, Sam. How's Broome? Broome is bright and clear and the sky is amazing.
So tell us about your theory about the sky being a different colour in WA because this is a commonly held WA opinion.
Yes. So I grew up in WA in Perth and I moved away to London. I moved away to various different cities. And every time you come back, one of the things you always think, and I think a lot of my friends were the same about the sky is different color. It's a different brightness, a different, I don't know what it is. It's just different than anywhere else in the world that I've been. And I wonder why, Dr. Carl.
Okay. Now, are you doing – sorry, I didn't catch your name. It's Susan. Susan. Susan. It's awkward calling your mother by her first name. That's true. Dr. Susan. Dr. Susan. We've got to round it. So, Dr. Susan, just before we get into it, are you doing a bit of a road trip?
I am, yes. Yes, we're up in Broome, but we've been up to the Cape Leveque, and we're also going to go up on a boat in the Kimberleys.
Have you been to Derby? Yes. No. Okay, go to Derby. It is the largest tide in Australia. You know how when you're at the beach and you sort of think there's a tide coming in or out and you don't really know? Yeah. In Derby, 12 metres of tide in six hours.
Wow.
Wow. So you go there and you get some coffee and lunch and you sit there and I've done it a couple of times and the family gets really bored after about the first half hour but the water is coming in like fire hoses.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–6:31
2
Why does Western Australia’s sky look different and clearer than elsewhere?
6:31–13:19
3
What causes Derby and Broome to have extraordinarily large tides?
13:19–23:58
4
Why do people experience full-body shudders after using the toilet (post-micturition shudder)?
23:58–38:19
5
Can ambient electric fields near high-voltage lines be harnessed for power?
38:19–39:03