The full moon, earworms & tickling
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What is the opening story and why does Dr Karl mention his near‑death shark experience?
This is a Triple J podcast.
Hi there. My name is Tanya Bunter. I'm filling in for Lucy Smith. And I was very lucky to join Dr. Carl for some of your science questions. On this episode, you're going to hear what's the story with why some tracks are so good at being earworms? Why tickling only makes us ticklish when done by another person? And how long is too long for those leftovers in the fridge? It's time to absorb some knowledge. It is science with Dr. Carl.
Why, Dr. Tanya, lovely to be with
you. So nice to be with you. Just before we jump into this, 0439757555 is the best way for you to get in touch with us, and then we'll give you a buzz if you have a great question. Dr. Carl, what's been happening with you this week? Any new learnings from your life?
Ah, Okagasama Day, which I will explain to you in just a minute. So ask me how I've been going.
How have you been going?
I am better, Tanya, because I am standing in your shade.
Oh, that's so sweet. And
that's a Japanese term, which means not your shade where you're denying me room to grow, but you are protecting me.
And it
means that we're all part of a society. So if I can walk through a door, somebody has oiled the hinges and somebody has swept the carpet and somebody has cleaned the glass. And it really came to me where I had my near-death experience this week when
I got killed by a shark. What? Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Pull it back. There's a lot to unpack here.
Okay, I'm exaggerating a little bit because we're on radio. So I was at the north end in Maroubra on my little surfer plane and I foolishly was trying to get out to the sandbank where people were in the water up to their waist and I went through some water that was beyond my height and that's where the rip was and suddenly, I was such an idiot, I found myself getting caught by the rip and washed towards, in the general direction of New Zealand. And I knew enough not to try to swim against it. I tried to swim across it, but it was swimming that way. And I was just out of my control. And then suddenly, something about a metre in... I could see it out of the water. A metre in diameter and really firm, but with a soft surface, brushed against my leg.
Oh, no. And I thought,
oh, my God, it's a great white shark that happens to be brown in colour. And for about two seconds, I thought... Okay, everybody's got to go. This is it. And then suddenly I realized I was lucky enough to be brushing up against a rock.
Oh, my God. Which had
vegetation on the surface. And then the waves were just taking me and I got rolled across the surface of the rocks and I didn't want to lose my surfer plane, so I got all these cuts and bruises. And then this teenager about, this bloke about, I don't know, 15, 18 or something, gave me a hand up because I didn't want to go on a surfer plane, instead I wanted to get bruises. And he said, are you okay? And I said... I am better thanks to you. And he gave me and he helped me. So this is our feel good start of the segment. Let's all be nice to each other because we're all part of the society. Even if we've never met, we're all helping each other in some way. There are. Is that enough of a good feeling?
Oh, my goodness. Yes, that's perfect. It's very sentimental. Love that. And shouts out to that teenager who helped you out. Let's get into some science questions. We have Dr. Dan from Chatswood. What is your question for Dr. Carl?
G'day, doctors. How are we?
Good, mate. What's your question? So
I use a thermal imaging camera for work and basically I was just using it before and I'm looking at a mirror or a window and I can see my feet of my body radiating off it, except I'm not physically at the actual window or mirror. I'm just wondering how that kind of works. How far were you from the window? I actually tested it out. I was right up against it. I was a little bit hotter, and then I walked away five metres, then ten metres, and then it was a little bit less hot.
Right. Okay, so the thing to realise is that in the land of astronomy, everything in the electromagnetic spectrum they call light.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the opening story and why does Dr Karl mention his near‑death shark experience?
0:00–4:28
2
How does infrared radiation explain why a thermal camera sees your body through a window?
4:28–9:24
3
Why do seizures seem to occur more often during a full moon – is there any scientific basis?
9:24–14:26
4
Why can we’t tickle ourselves but can easily be tickled by someone else?
14:26–19:37
5
Why does Coca‑Cola taste different in a can, a plastic bottle, or a glass bottle?
19:37–24:39
6
Why is it advised not to reheat meat more than once and what are the risks?
24:39–30:56
7
Why do I sneeze when I get into a hot car – what triggers the reflex?
30:56–35:57
8
What makes a song become an earworm and how can you stop it?
35:57–40:42