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  • How the Solar System Was First Measured

    How the Solar System Was First Measured
    2026/08/06
    Johannes Kepler had the relative sizes of the orbits of our planets in the solar system mapped by the 1630s. The shape of the solar system had been known relatively well, but it was a shape without scale. Determining the size of the solar system was a much more challenging problem, mainly because there was no known way to make such a measurement. However, that all changed with the development of parallax and taking advantage of an even more fascinating phenomenon: the transit of Venus. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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    22 分
  • How The Periodic Table Was Created

    How The Periodic Table Was Created
    2026/07/16
    In 1875, French chemist Paul-Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran discovered the element 'Gallium' after isolating it from a zinc blende ore. However, shortly after his publication, he received word from a Russian chemist with the name of "Mendeleeff" that claimed he had predicted such an element to exist 6 years earlier. This is the story of how that Russian chemist - and a fellow German chemist - turned rival - uncovered the periodic law of the elements and formulated them all into one cohesive unit, transforming chemistry forever. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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    20 分
  • How a Chemist Accidentally Destroyed a Scientific Myth

    How a Chemist Accidentally Destroyed a Scientific Myth
    2026/07/02
    Before the modern days of organic and inorganic chemistry, there was an old theory called "Vitalism" that had made its way into chemistry. Pioneered into the field by the one and only Jöns Jacob Berzelius, this theory postulated that only living things can create organic compounds through acts of the 'Vital Force.' But cracks in this theory started to form when his pupil, Friedrich Wöhler, synthesized a compound that is found in the most unexpected of places: human urine. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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    20 分
  • How The Double Helix Was Discovered

    How The Double Helix Was Discovered
    2026/06/11
    You might think DNA was always the frontrunner by biologists to be the master blueprint of life. However, that couldn't be further from the truth. This video documents how DNA went from experimental backmarker to the frontrunner of a heated scientific race that used betrayal and abuse of power to reveal a winner... and rewrite history. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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    30 分
  • How Helium Was Discovered

    How Helium Was Discovered
    2026/06/04
    Helium is a very common element in our universe. However, due to its characteristics, it's very rarely found on Earth. This video shows how scientists in the 19th century overcame this obstacle, over the course of decades, and isolated and discovered the rare gas. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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    8 分
  • How Relativity Was Validated

    How Relativity Was Validated
    2026/05/28
    For over two centuries, Newton’s law of gravity accurately predicted the motions of all the planets in the solar system. But that all changed in 1859, when French astronomer Urbain Le Verrier discovered a strange anomaly regarding mercury’s orbit. This led to a problem in Newton's reality that didn't have an answer until Albert Einstein proposed General Relativity in 1915. Einstein accurately modeled Mercury's orbit with GR, but it wasn't enough for his theory to be accepted as fact. He needed to predict a testable anomaly that had been previously unobserved, and one of his predictions was light bending around the Sun. In 1919, that prediction was put to the test, and what was found would make Einstein a worldwide celebrity practically overnight. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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    22 分
  • How Electron Spin Was Discovered

    How Electron Spin Was Discovered
    2026/05/14
    In 1887, physicists Albert Michelson and Edward Morley discovered a new phenomenon that would come to be known as the fine structure of spectral lines. These spectral lines split into two or more components, and other effects like the Zeeman and Stark effects also showed cases where spectral lines split. The quest to answer why this happened took almost 40 years and would end with the discovery of a new characteristic of an electron known as "spin". Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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    20 分
  • How the First Artificial Element Was Created

    How the First Artificial Element Was Created
    2026/05/14
    Technetium is quite an interesting element and has just as interesting of a history. Many had tried to discover it and failed, and this is because of how unstable all of its isotopes are. The only way to discover the element was to make it ourselves, and that was finally done in 1937. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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    19 分