Ron: Smash that m************ like button.
Laura: I'm so glad I was recording then. hello and welcome to the Lex Education the Science podcast where comedian me, Laura Lex, tries to learn science from her nerdy, younger, stupid brother, Ron.
Ron: Hi, I'm Ron.
Laura: And today, again, like last week, we've got a live studio audience. It's girlfriend of the podcast Judith and husband of the podcast, Tom. Now, the reason they're here again, we haven't held them hostage for a week, is that we are recording these intros and outros a little bit ahead of time, because Laura is going on holiday like the Jetsetting romance princess actually is.
Ron: And she's not dedicated to the podcast. Ron went on Holiday to Vienna, recorded two episodes. Laura Goes on Holiday. No, we've got to prerecord everything.
Laura: Yeah, Laura is tired of this s***. She's self employed for way longer than Ron. Anyway, listen, so if you've got in touch this week, we're not ignoring you, we just haven't heard them yet because the last episode hasn't gone out and.
Ron: Also runs in judges socials and we'll be doing a subpar job.
Laura: But we know that the lovely Revan Collins was very happy with his shout out on last week's two weeks AGO's episode.
Laura: And what is happened?
Ron: Husband of the podcast Tom just did a loving touch of Lord's shoulder.
Ron: Really derailed, but it was that's the.
Laura: Kind of touch he was doing when it's like, Baby, you're done.
Laura: Come on, let's go.
Laura: I thought you were, like sort of quietly telling me to wrap up.
Laura: That's what you do when you're like, stop talking, baby.
Laura: Anyway, so we just wanted to say, if you'd like a shout out on the podcast, a really good way to do that is a five star review.
Ron: Yeah, praise is a really quick way into our heart.
Laura: We respond super well to praise.
Laura: So thank you to pod.
Laura: Spike.
Laura: As ever, after this week, you won't hear us thank Pod Spike anymore, but that's just because we're launched now, pods bike are running away to help other people.
Laura: And if you would like to launch a sparklingly as we have launched, then get in touch with Dan and Suju.
Laura: We cannot thank them enough for their advice and patience, especially with helping me make sure the sound quality is decent on our episodes.
Laura: They've been incredible.
Laura: So thank you very much.
Laura: Pod Spike Right, this episode, a quick warning.
Laura: There's a s**** creek spoiler quite early on in the episode.
Laura: If you don't want to hear it, then when I start telling you a story that begins with me having a glass of wine when I get him from work and starting to cry, then just skip forward a minute or so there and prizes this week for spotting the moment where Ron can't handle human emotions.
Laura: It's very good and I just wanted to say it's a sort of slight trigger warning for something that probably won't trigger the majority of people.
Laura: We talk a lot in this episode about energy and energy sources and things that are sort of related to the climate crisis.
Laura: And I think you'll hear from me, it's a subject that really makes me quite anxious and upset.
Laura: So I just wanted to say if your mental health is in any way affected by the sorts of climate crisis or energy or sort of waste and things like that, this episode might be a tricky lesson.
Laura: Obviously we handle it in our usual jocular nonsensical cells, but I just wanted you to have that as a heads up.
Ron: Yeah.
Ron: And it is very much more about energy generation and stuff, but the topic of climate change does come up.
Laura: Yeah.
Laura: So, yeah, have a lovely time.
Laura: Hello, Ron.
Laura: Oh, Maggie joined in.
Laura: Did you hear that?
Laura: Mac?
Laura: Stop it.
Ron: I think the person sounds hello, Laura, it's me, Ron.
Laura: Hello.
Laura: It is you.
Laura: So the rain is at Ron's place.
Laura: The birds and the dog are at my place.
Laura: The sound of Tom apologising to our postman again, is also at my place.
Laura: The thing is, we used to have a post person called Claire that Mackie just loved, and we loved Claire.
Laura: I used to chat to her all the time and then she got changed onto a different round and we've got a new guy.
Laura: He seems perfectly nice, but I think Mackie thinks he's killed Claire because she's so horrible to him and she's not really horrible to anyone else.
Laura: Like most delivery people when they come round, she's nice, but she hates that person so much and I can't help but feel she knows that he stole Claire from her.
Laura: Anyway, Ron, a lesson.
Laura: It's physics Today, which never usually bodes well, but I've got a nice pen to write with Shirley, a fountain pen.
Laura: I've got my notepad back, which I haven't had since well, the last thing I've done in the notepad is, right, Nora, Ethelon, and drawn a cup of tea with a tea bag in it.
Ron: Okay.
Ron: So I think you only missed the chemistry then, because that was the last biology.
Laura: Okay, brilliant.
Ron: Yeah.
Laura: Okay.
Ron: I actually don't think you're going to mind this one.
Laura: It's not hey, actually, though, I was talking to dad at the weekend about this nonsense you've been spreading about tables and hills doing pushing, and he looked at me and he went, well, it's not technically pushing, it's a resistance force.
Laura: Talk to me about this, because I slept on that until I knew Ron wasn't easy.
Laura: I should be the teacher.
Ron: Yeah, it's applying a resistance force in the other direction.
Laura: So it's not pushing, it's applying a.
Ron: Force in that direction.
Ron: If this is one of those times where I think if at the time I said, it's applying a resistance force, you'd have the table and then like, oh, what the f***'s doing?
Laura: Yeah, probably all right.
Laura: I just wanted to cheque.
Ron: That's fine.
Ron: Is your post walk fog gone?
Laura: I'd like, to say, yes, I feel quite sprightly.
Laura: I'm an emotional wreck.
Laura: Everything's quite stressful at the moment, and I've arguably got far too much on my plate.
Laura: And then last night I had a glass of wine when I got in from work, and Tom and I are watching S***'s Creek, and it's the first time Tom has seen it.
Laura: It's the third time I've seen it.
Laura: Got to that episode where Ted and Alexis break up in the diner when he comes back from the galapagos.
Laura: And I cried my eyes out.
Laura: Like, I'm talking soaking wet face, like, cried and cried and cried and cried and cried.
Laura: Tom had to come and sit next to me and we had to talk about how we weren't going to leave each other because I couldn't stop crying.
Laura: I've seen that episode three times.
Laura: There's nothing surprising about it.
Laura: But I think I just needed an emotional release, and that's what happened to do it.
Laura: So I'd love to say my brain is clear and ready to learn, but I just don't know what's going to spark more crying.
Laura: So we'll see.
Ron: Okay.
Laura: Are we doing anything about breakups today?
Laura: Because that appears to be trickling.
Ron: They were doing quite a lot about renewable energy and stuff, and you've already had one huge breakdown about that.
Laura: Yeah.
Laura: Okay.
Ron: Are you right, mate?
Ron: You want to talk about it?
Laura: Yes, I think I'm okay.
Laura: I just stressed.
Laura: There's a lot of stuff going on I can't talk about on the podcast, but it means that everything's right up in the my dealing with things pot is very full.
Laura: Short answer is no.
Laura: My brain is not in a good.
Ron: Fog has gone to be replaced with kind of just a s*** brain mist that is clouding things now.
Laura: Yeah, I think we might need a list of all the ways you've described my brain.
Laura: Swamp brain comes up a lot.
Laura: Missed brain, walk brain.
Ron: You like stories about stuff, so I try and illustrate it.
Ron: Right, okay, so let's start into physics.
Ron: The first thing that we're going to do is just a little nugget that arguably we should have done at the end of the last place.
Ron: We're going to bang it out.
Ron: We shall not dwell on it.
Laura: Okay.
Laura: I'm just going to learn it and understand it.
Ron: Here we go.
Ron: We're calculating efficiency.
Ron: We have a formula for that.
Ron: Useful energy or power.
Laura: Someone's reversing.
Ron: Useful energy or power divided by total energy or power gives you the efficiency.
Ron: Now, I'm just going to take a smug sip of water and assume that needs no further clarification.
Laura: Wait a minute.
Ron: Useful energy divided by total energy divided.
Laura: By total energy equals the efficiency divided by goes on top, doesn't it?
Ron: What do you mean?
Laura: The one that's being divided goes on top?
Ron: The one that's being divided goes on top.
Ron: The one that you are dividing it by goes beneath.
Laura: So if I'm a robot and I've got 40 useful energy.
Ron: Now, see, by diving into this analogy with a robot.
Laura: For T, energy is powering my robot.
Ron: Why don't we go back to the capital analysis?
Laura: 40 energy went into my robot.
Ron: What?
Laura: Because it got a bit hot.
Ron: Okay.
Laura: It's not useful energy.
Laura: And the robots making a worrying noise, which is worrying everybody around them, that's not helpful.
Laura: The robot is just supposed to be walking along.
Laura: So I have a 0.6 recurring efficient robot.
Ron: Yeah.
Ron: The efficiency of it is zero point 66%.
Ron: Or you could say 66% efficient.
Laura: That's not very good.
Laura: We need to work on that in the robot community.
Ron: Not real, but yeah, that makes sense.
Ron: Right, that's good.
Laura: Yes.
Laura: How can I remember that?
Ron: Just because that makes sense.
Laura: I'll see what I can do there.
Ron: So useful energy is like in the penthouse suite, because it's cool.
Ron: So that's up on the top of the equation.
Laura: Patronise me.
Ron: I'm not putting emotions and stories into it.
Ron: And then total energy, because it's bigger.
Ron: It's too heavy to go at the top because it's big in total.
Ron: So that lives in the basement and that equals efficiency.
Laura: Yeah, that'll work.
Ron: Right, we're moving on to kind of in general electricity.
Ron: You already put sound effects in.
Ron: You don't have to do them.
Laura: Remember that face that our nephew went through?
Laura: I am a robot dinosaur.
Ron: Yes, he used to just shout it into your mouth.
Ron: It was awful.
Laura: I am a robot dinosaur.
Ron: It's so hot.
Laura: Right, take your trousers off.
Laura: Just do this in your pants.
Ron: No, I feel like a big fat baby.
Ron: Right.
Laura: You can't do the whole episode.
Laura: Just sat with your arms out to the side.
Laura: So now that your body is touching itself.
Ron: I'm just tea posing for heat conservation.
Ron: Right, so we're doing electricity.
Laura: Why do you get a bowl of cold water and put your feet in it?
Ron: Because that's mad.
Laura: That will do.
Laura: Dispersion of the heat.
Laura: Using chaos theory.
Ron: Don't mix stuff up.
Laura: That's right, isn't it?
Ron: I guess it would disperse, but yeah, diffusion will go to conductivity at some point.
Laura: Why don't they just call it the same thing?
Laura: It is the same thing.
Ron: It's a bit different.
Ron: Can I finish this sentence, please?
Laura: I just got a feeling this sentence is going to go somewhere horrible.
Laura: So if I divert it no, it's not.
Ron: I told you.
Ron: You're going to like this episode.
Laura: I don't believe you.
Ron: So we're learning about electricity.
Laura: Why is it squinty?
Ron: Because it's so bright and hot.
Laura: As we mentioned before that Ron does all of his recordings from a greenhouse on the equator.
Ron: So we're going to be studying electricity, but it wants us to start with energy sources.
Laura: Your ketchups, your mayonnaise, your Worcestershires.
Ron: On a kind of national and global scale.
Ron: How many energy sources can you name?
Laura: Just did make three.
Ron: I think between us, we could name a lot of condiments.
Laura: I love condiments.
Laura: Sometimes I think I prefer the condiments to the meal.
Ron: Definitely.
Ron: All my favourite foods are just vehicles for condiments.
Laura: Yeah.
Laura: 100%.
Laura: I had a lovely bit of horse radish for my breakfast.
Ron: Lovely.
Laura: What do you mean by this question, Ron?
Ron: I'll give you the first one.
Ron: Fossil fuels.
Laura: Okay.
Laura: So I know of wind.
Laura: Hydroelectric.
Ron: Yes.
Laura: Biofuels.
Ron: Yes.
Ron: Nice.
Ron: That's a good one.
Ron: Okay.
Laura: Sometimes you can just get a mule to walk around in a circle and pull a crank.
Ron: What?
Ron: You click?
Ron: F****** cartoons.
Laura: Have you been watching, you know, like, they used to power a mill by just getting a donkey to walk in a circle.
Ron: Right.
Ron: That's not one.
Laura: I think it is.
Ron: Donkey power is not on the list.
Laura: Not just donkeys.
Laura: I said mules.
Laura: First of all, just like a living thing.
Laura: Powering.
Ron: No.
Ron: National grids are front of hamster wheels.
Laura: Okay.
Laura: Tidal power.
Ron: Yes.
Laura: Solar, yes.
Ron: Three left on the list that we're.
Laura: Going to meet three crimes.
Ron: One of them is a biggie you miss one of the biggies.
Laura: Electricity.
Ron: That's all of them.
Ron: Don't know what we're talking about.
Laura: It's the big one.
Laura: Wind, solar, tidal, hydro, fossil fuels.
Laura: Nuclear.
Ron: Nuclear?
Laura: Yeah.
Laura: What about just kinetic power?
Laura: Just take things up high and drop them down.
Ron: Not efficient.
Ron: Not a good way to do things.
Ron: Well, that's kind of what, hydroelectric and tidal and stuff.
Ron: Is there's another one that's similar to tidal and hydroelectric?
Laura: Canals, canal power, a steam power.
Ron: No, most of these use steam.
Laura: Why is that different?
Ron: To what?
Laura: The sea power.
Ron: You didn't say sea power.
Ron: He said hydroelectric and tidal.
Laura: I don't really know what I mean when I say hydroelectric.
Laura: I just know it's water.
Ron: Hydroelectric is like rivers and dams and that sort of thing.
Laura: Okay.
Ron: And then the last one think Iceland.
Ron: I think they get most of their energy from this hemp.
Laura: Caribou.
Ron: Geothermal.
Laura: I was going to save volcanoes.
Ron: Yeah, basically volcanoes.
Laura: I was going to say volcanoes and I thought it would make you go, how's a volcano getting into the plug socket?
Ron: That sounds like me.
Laura: I wish you videoing this.
Laura: You just wiggling your T shirt around.
Laura: Have you shut the window again?
Ron: No, it's just so unbelievably hot.
Ron: I will open it more now because it's not raining.
Ron: Okay.
Ron: Right.
Laura: You look so sad.
Ron: It's so hot.
Ron: It's hot for days.
Ron: I live and work here.
Ron: I'm here all the time.
Laura: You have to be able to open your windows.
Laura: You may be at God.
Ron: I just become one with the heat.
Laura: No, you haven't.
Laura: You've become less than one.
Laura: He looks like a sad, sweaty boy.
Laura: It's not good.
Ron: Okay.
Ron: Right.
Ron: Fossil fuels.
Laura: Yeah.
Ron: Let's talk about them.
Ron: Where do they come from?
Ron: Laura?
Laura: Dinosaurs.
Ron: Name some popular fossil fuels.
Laura: None of them are popular.
Ron: Name some classic brand fossil fuels.
Laura: You've got your coal, you've got your crude oil.
Ron: Yes.
Laura: You've got your natural gas.
Ron: Yeah.
Ron: No, that comes from plants.
Laura: No, it's the type of coal.
Ron: Okay.
Laura: I think that's all the ones I know.
Ron: Yeah.
Ron: And then crude oil can get distilled into your petrols and your diesels and stuff like that.
Ron: Those will come from the same black, sticky mess.
Ron: But do you know where they come from?
Laura: It's like decayed stuff, isn't it?
Laura: Like old things that aren't alive anymore.
Laura: Trees and creatures and animals.
Laura: And it all just like biodegrades into soupy oil.
Ron: Yeah, exactly.
Ron: So it's basically organic matter that has been, at some point, like, compressed well has been gathered together.
Ron: And then Earth moves on top of it as the world progresses and the plate shift and stuff.
Ron: And then it's just compressed through pressure and heat and stuff.
Ron: And it just becomes a very energy dense fuel.
Laura: Yeah, like a protein bar.
Ron: Why is it considered nonrenewnewable?
Laura: Because it just takes too long to make it again.
Laura: Like, it will start making again, but it takes millennia.
Ron: Absolutely.
Ron: And why is it a s*** show for the Earth?
Laura: Because it's like storage of carbon.
Laura: So everything's made of carbon.
Laura: So when something dies and it's all carbon, and then it gets condensed into, like you've got the whole carbon of a whole tree that's gone down into, like, a thimble full of oil.
Laura: So burning it releases, like, a whole tree's worth of carbon in, like a millisecond.
Laura: Whereas this is an effective storage.
Ron: Exactly.
Ron: Yeah.
Ron: It's carbon that was trapped millions of years ago and now we're releasing into the atmosphere.
Ron: Now when there are processes on Earth that are already releasing carbon, as all living things breathe out.
Ron: Carbon.
Ron: Perfect.
Ron: Well done.
Laura: Hey.
Laura: It's almost like I've been obsessing about all this stuff for, like, six years.
Ron: Right, so nuclear fuel.
Ron: Any idea how that works?
Laura: You have to split the atom by firing another atom at it real fast.
Ron: I don't know if they fire atoms at it.
Ron: I think they do something to trigger it, but yeah, so it's splitting the atom.
Ron: So we use nuclear fission, which is the opposite of fusion, which is where.
Laura: Would you give them such similar names?
Laura: That is just asking for a sort of farcicle miscommunication in a lab one day.
Ron: Because it all comes from the ancient Greek or the Latin or something.
Ron: Because, like, all of these old men with beards and the 1800 sat around and they thought they were smarter than everyone else because they made groundbreaking science and can speak Greek.
Laura: Greek.
Ron: Yeah.
Ron: So the radioactive isotopes of your plutoniums, your uranium, your stuff like that, they decay.
Ron: So it is something, the nucleus, and then something will ping out of it.
Ron: And then you have two particles, one shooting away from it, and then the one that's left there.
Ron: And then that won't be a perfect process, for some energy is released as well.
Ron: It gets very hot and we can create power off of it.
Ron: So it's green in the sense that it doesn't emit carbon.
Ron: This process so it's not like a polluter in that sense, but we generally just have no idea what to do with the radioactive waste that it produces.
Laura: Yeah.
Ron: And there was a really interesting episode.
Laura: Of Three Eyed Fish, doesn't it?
Ron: Yeah.
Ron: Well, we don't know what to do with it now because you can just kind of sort of put it in a hole and then forget about it like humans do.
Ron: Like, we do put in, like, the bottom of a mine that's diffused or something.
Ron: But then the bigger problem is that it's going to be thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions of years until this stuff is safe.
Ron: So the humans of the future may come across this stuff and we don't know how to stop them from doing that.
Laura: Yeah, we've put do not eat on all the barrels, but other than that language these humans are going to speak yeah.
Ron: There's a really interesting episode of no Such Thing As A Fish where they talk about this and we don't know anything about these civilizations that might find it.
Ron: So one of the ideas is that you could put a cartoon on there of someone coming up to it and then dying.
Ron: But if the people that find this read things the other way, they might see that and think that this stuff brings people back to life, which it.
Laura: Might do, we don't know.
Ron: Yeah.
Ron: Or like, we can put, like, skull and crossbones on it, but then if that's what their faces look like when they get there, and they're just like, oh, rock on, this is the place for us.
Ron: It's quite an interesting problem.
Ron: Okay, next one.
Ron: Biofuel.
Laura: Yeah.
Laura: That's like McDonald's used that in all of their trucks.
Laura: They convert their used cooking oil into biofuels for their trucks.
Laura: I was on the motorway a lot the other day, driving at about the same speed as a MacDonald's fan.
Laura: A long time to read that and think about it.
Ron: Yeah.
Ron: So that's basically what it is.
Ron: Fuel produced from biomass, often from waste products, from agricultural processes and stuff like that.
Ron: So in the sugar beet process, where they turn that into sugar, all of the pulp and stuff is turned into biomass and then they use that to power their factories.
Laura: Good old Dwight.
Ron: It's carbon neutral biofuel because you are burning it like a traditional diesel or something like that.
Ron: But all of that carbon has just been sucked out of the atmosphere to make the biomass that you're then turning into biofuel.
Ron: So it's carbon neutral in terms of that cycle.
Laura: Okay.
Laura: And you're not growing a thing like when you suck diesel out, you're doing that only for that car.
Laura: Whereas if you're doing biomass, you also fed people, presumably.
Ron: Yeah.
Ron: That makes it green.
Ron: But even if there was a plant that you grew and then just turned that into biofuel and then just burnt out in cars, that would still be carbon neutral.
Laura: Yeah.
Laura: Okay.
Ron: Well, I mean, obviously if the manufacturing process and stuff, you have to factor that in terms of, like, the fuel itself.
Laura: Yeah, all right, that makes sense.
Ron: It's considered a renewable thing because obviously grow more sugar beets, just grow more s***.
Ron: And then you can turn it into biofuel.
Ron: The most common biofuels are corn ethanol, biodiesel, and biogas.
Laura: Should I be making notes on this?
Laura: Is this the lesson?
Ron: This is the lesson, yeah.
Laura: Okay.
Laura: It just feels like a cheque.
Ron: Yeah, it's nice, isn't it?
Laura: Yeah.
Laura: I haven't written anything down, though, but this all feels okay.
Laura: I'll remember this.
Ron: All right, hard test next week.
Ron: Okay.
Ron: The next one is wind.
Ron: The wind turns the turbine.
Ron: The turbine makes electricity and it goes.
Laura: Around and around and around again.
Ron: It's a very cheap way of making power.
Laura: Yeah.
Laura: Because you don't even have to pay the wind.
Ron: Yeah.
Ron: Caroline Lucas people.
Laura: Yeah, birds do get sucked into it, and they like, death to the birds.
Laura: And also, people get mad because they say they're not very nice looking.
Laura: But hey, here's the thing.
Laura: They look nicer than a power station.
Ron: Yeah.
Ron: Also, I do think they're nice looking.
Ron: Well, ron and then I don't know.
Ron: I get the bird thing.
Ron: But also, if we keep heating the earth, the birds are f***** anyway.
Laura: That's what I think.
Laura: Ron also, with the severe drop in numbers of flying insects, I think maybe we need a few less birds to let the insects bounce back.
Laura: But then also like a reverse swallowed a spider situation.
Ron: Yeah.
Laura: That murdering right up the sunlight.
Ron: Like, aeroplanes kill birds all the time.
Laura: So do I.
Ron: And they pollute.
Laura: Yeah, but Caroline Lucas, to be fair, isn't like pro aeroplanes.
Laura: It's not like she's out there being like, get that wind farm down.
Laura: It's getting in the way of my planes.
Laura: She's quite mad at both of them.
Laura: And I think she's probably pro wind farm instead of other things.
Laura: But she's also been more pro other things instead of wind farm.
Ron: Sure.
Laura: So very protective of my girl Lucas.
Ron: Oh, I like Caroline Lucas a lot.
Ron: I just know that that's her beef with them.
Ron: Mr.
Ron: Bird the next one is hydroelectricity hydro, I'd imagine.
Laura: Yeah.
Laura: Go on, say stuff before I have thoughts.
Ron: No, get it out there.
Laura: Feels like this one might be problematic for the landscape in ways, because you've got flood places and make reservoirs and you've got to real bash up the landscape.
Ron: Depends.
Ron: When you down a place, obviously, that's it.
Laura: Then it can't get into heaven.
Ron: It does change the landscape around there, but then some rivers and then you do that, so then you have the potential energy in the reservoir that you can then feed through the turbines to make the electricity.
Ron: Yeah, but some rivers are just quick enough to do it without doing that.
Ron: So I've just come back a couple of weeks ago from Austria where we went for a drive along the Danube.
Ron: Danube is a really quick river and I think Austria makes about 80% of their power from it just by hydroelectric stations in the river.
Ron: But then the other thing about, I think, with the damage stuff, and it changes the environment, and if they should do the service stuff to make sure it's not going to be awful, then you do just get other habitats and you have wetlands and stuff like that.
Laura: Yeah, but then what if you d*** it and you stop fish being able to get up to the top and spawn and stuff?
Ron: Yeah.
Laura: And then what do those fish do?
Laura: Nothing.
Laura: Dead.
Laura: Bye bye.
Ron: Hit by the turbines like the birds.
Laura: The only answer is there needs to be fewer humans.
Laura: So we need less power.
Laura: That's the only overall solution, I guess, long term.
Ron: But then also, we use a lot more power than we need.
Laura: Do we?
Ron: Yeah.
Laura: To do what?
Ron: The way our lives are is incredibly wasteful.
Laura: We need that to just be stimulated and happy.
Laura: Otherwise we go a bit crazy.
Ron: No, I'm not talking about like, oh, don't turn on the TV, because that's using power or something like that.
Ron: I just mean, like, the number of houses aren't insulated and things like that, and the number of people that are driving old crappy cars and stuff like that.
Ron: And obviously that is that's a wealth disparity thing and it's not their fault.
Ron: But then government change should be getting people should be helping people into more sustainable situations.
Laura: Yeah.
Laura: Join a union.
Ron: Join a union.
Ron: Pro insulation.
Laura: You have to cool yourself down.
Laura: It's only May.
Laura: You still got, like, June, July and August to go.
Ron: Oh, yeah.
Laura: I'm very worried about how dehydrated you're going to be.
Ron: I'm drinking so much water.
Laura: Yeah, you're going to run out your kidneys.
Laura: They won't last.
Ron: No, I'm fine, because I'm not p****** at all.
Ron: It's all coming out through my skin.
Laura: This is horrible.
Laura: Ron I know you don't want to open a window in case you lose the cat, because if the ending happens to the cat, do this, we'll never forgive you.
Laura: But if you are this for the next three months, she's going to leave you anyway, buddy, because nobody wants to be like, I really love my boyfriend.
Laura: He's the picture of house.
Laura: That's him over there, naked on the floor of the office, sweating into the floorboard.
Laura: You have to be able to open windows.
Ron: Geothermal yeah, like hot cat.
Laura: Explain that joke, please.
Laura: Have you just taken the GSPA?
Laura: Casey Thomas oh, male.
Laura: Yeah.
Laura: See, that made no sense.
Laura: But you're so hot and sweaty, you didn't realise.
Ron: But you got it.
Laura: Yeah, I got it.
Laura: But that's not a good measure of how many listeners are on your wavelength.
Laura: You're also slumping further and further into your chair, leaning off to the left.
Ron: Ron the other problem is that we've got these nice little cup chairs.
Ron: You really like the chairs that we've got?
Laura: Oh, yeah, yeah.
Ron: But then they're like really thick material, makes your b*** really hard.
Laura: I can't stress enough how much you need a through breeze through your flat, Ron.
Ron: The windows open.
Laura: Yeah, but no, you need a through breeze.
Laura: You need to open windows so the cool air can move through your flat.
Laura: Because here's some physics.
Laura: Even though you've got your window open, cool air won't come in unless there's, like, a train for it to go through on.
Ron: So geothermal?
Ron: I'm fine.
Ron: The core of the Earth is very hot, so when this hot comes to the surface, we can use it to make electricity and to cook on.
Ron: Yeah.
Ron: And have baths in.
Laura: Yeah.
Laura: Like those monkeys in Japan.
Ron: Like those monkeys in Japan.
Ron: That's it, really.
Ron: So, yeah, we're kind of harnessing the moon's energy.
Laura: I'm so glad the moon has come up and it's finally meant to be coming up.
Laura: I feel like the moon has come up every episode and it's never been her time to shine.
Laura: But now, finally, the moon is involved.
Ron: Right.
Ron: The tides, the harnessing, the energy of water flowing in and out of the tides.
Ron: Right?
Laura: Yeah.
Ron: It's not used a lot at the moment.
Ron: I think I was doing a bit of reading on it.
Ron: It seems like like the technology has been expensive and hard to do.
Ron: And also there are limited places where the tidal ranges enough, you know, like Bristol.
Ron: The tide is well high there.
Laura: When you see the river tide is high.
Laura: But I'm holding on, I'm going to be still one.
Laura: It's not even hot where I am.
Laura: Maybe Elon Musk should do that instead of going to space and stuff.
Ron: Yeah, but maybe he should also just do one and he should he's just.
Laura: Trying to be cool and fun and everybody's like, can you just solve some actual problems instead of every five minutes going, hey, I might buy this?
Laura: We get it, Elon.
Laura: You're rich.
Laura: You could spend your money on whatever you like.
Laura: You don't have to keep reminding us every 20 minutes.
Ron: Yeah.
Ron: So he's also trying to pretend to be this big, sort of like Tony Stark that says some genius inventor, but nothing that's made him rich or successful is anything that he's invented.
Ron: He's a great businessman, but not something crazy happening again.
Laura: There you go.
Laura: I've put Ron back in his box.
Ron: It would be good to invest in tidal power because the tides are very reliable.
Ron: Right.
Ron: The tides happen twice a day, no matter what.
Laura: Stand up, guys, those tides.
Ron: Yeah.
Ron: The tides of March, they happen.
Ron: I see you.
Laura: That was telling me that the tides are about the Earth squeezing a bit.
Ron: No.
Ron: Who told you that?
Laura: Someone told me that the tide is like the Earth is getting a bit squashed and all of the water has to go to the other bit.
Ron: Who told you this?
Ron: Did they sell you anything when he told you that?
Laura: Yeah, a tide protection helmet to stop my head getting squat.
Ron: Talk me through this theory that you rung out like a sponge.
Laura: As the Earth is, like, spinning around Kyle Minogue style.
Laura: The water compresses and gloom out into two different areas on either side, and that's what the tides are.
Laura: It's not like it's following the moon around.
Laura: It's, like, squeezed a bit and so you get bulgy patches and narrow patches.
Ron: Who told you?
Laura: I think it might have been Will Duggan.
Laura: I'm not sure.
Laura: Somebody told me about it.
Ron: I don't believe that should be true.
Laura: The Earth's getting squeezed.
Laura: Yeah, okay, maybe it isn't.
Ron: I believe it to be the water getting attracted to the moon, which is.
Laura: Even more bananas than a squeezed Earth.
Ron: Is it?
Laura: Yeah.
Laura: How come water just be like, hello, is that in the sky?
Laura: Off I go.
Laura: You said nothing's got feelings.
Ron: It doesn't.
Ron: It's gravity.
Laura: So why is it attracted to the f****** moon?
Ron: Gravity not an emotion.
Laura: How can gravity just think, okay, I'll just deal with the sea.
Laura: Why don't trees lean towards the moon?
Ron: Well, they're attracted to the moon.
Ron: What evidence you're attracted to the moon?
Laura: I'm not.
Ron: The moon is attracted to you.
Ron: That's how gravity works.
Laura: Not me.
Ron: Yeah.
Laura: Gravity meant we were all going to the middle of the Earth.
Ron: Well, we are, because the Earth is the biggest thing.
Laura: Why isn't all the water just stuck going to the centre of the Earth?
Ron: It's not flying around, is it?
Laura: How can it be going to the moon and the Earth?
Laura: Doesn't make any sense.
Laura: Why is it going to the sun?
Ron: Well, we go around the sun because of gravity.
Laura: Oh, my God.
Laura: Is it all gravity?
Ron: It's all gravity all the way down to the bottom.
Ron: It's gravity.
Ron: Why do you think the Milky Way is in a spiral?
Laura: Is it?
Ron: Yeah.
Laura: What is the Milky Way?
Laura: I've never really that's a galaxy.
Laura: What's a galaxy?
Ron: A galaxy.
Laura: They say chocolate words in space, aren't there?
Ron: There are.
Ron: I think it's because when we were doing all this space exploration stuff, we were making a lot of chocolate.
Ron: That's conjecture.
Ron: That's just something I reckon.
Ron: But, yeah, it's all gravity.
Laura: But the moon knows about me.
Ron: It doesn't know about you.
Ron: And it has no feelings towards you, good nor bad.
Laura: But it feels gravity to me.
Ron: Yeah.
Ron: Everything is gravity to everything.
Laura: That's crazy that the moon knows about me, can feel me.
Ron: It's going to be one of those.
Ron: Are we going to see this on a documentary of the woman that fell in love with the moon?
Laura: The moon is into me.
Laura: I've always known about the moon.
Laura: I'm not that bothered.
Laura: It's fine.
Laura: Not bothered.
Laura: I would never have gone there if I'd been in charge.
Laura: If it was up to me, we would just leave space alone.
Laura: We would stop poking.
Laura: It only bad things are going to happen.
Ron: I think telescopes cool.
Laura: That's the start of the slippery slope that's led to people going out there.
Ron: Yeah.
Laura: All the stupid stuff comes from space.
Laura: Conspiracy theories, star signs, that bit with Mufasa and the Lion King.
Laura: All of the worst stuff is about space.
Laura: So much fossil fuel wasted going into space.
Ron: Indeed.
Laura: What we're doing, the tides.
Ron: Yeah.
Ron: It's good to invest in tidal power, because the tides happen every day.
Ron: Sometimes it's not sunny, solar, sometimes it's not windy, so tides is good, but.
Laura: There'S always a moon.
Laura: My most constant friend, maybe.
Laura: I do love the moon.
Ron: You love wolves.
Laura: I do love wolves.
Ron: You get a period.
Laura: Yeah.
Ron: All moon stuff.
Laura: Is it actually the moon, though?
Ron: I think it's monthly because of the moon, but I don't think it's like if the moon disappeared, you wouldn't have it every month.
Ron: But I think biologically we are in tune with the moon or evolutionarily.
Ron: We have been.
Ron: Do you know the maddest thing about the moon?
Laura: In my opinion, it's made of cheese.
Ron: No.
Ron: The fact that just by some chance, it just rotates at the exact right speed so that we just always see it the same.
Laura: Yeah.
Ron: That's mad to me.
Laura: Yeah.
Laura: It's because we live in a simulation, I think.
Laura: Or CGI, the more science I learn, the more I'm like well, I mean.
Ron: There is a theory that statistically we do live in a simulation.
Laura: Yeah.
Laura: And didn't they find code at the bottom of a hole?
Ron: I'm going to move on from that.
Ron: I don't know what that means.
Laura: Like, they went as far down into an asthma as you can get and it was code.
Ron: That means nothing.
Ron: Yeah, that means nothing.
Ron: What computer language was it written in?
Laura: Like, one zeros.
Ron: More and more widely used.
Ron: Gets criticised sometimes because people put it on large tract of land to have all the solar panels on.
Ron: But their more efficient design is becoming more popular and roof space is getting used more.
Laura: Yeah, I'd like to get solar panels on my house.
Ron: You should.
Laura: I can't afford it at the moment, but when I can yeah.
Ron: It'd be nice to get your energy bills down.
Laura: Yeah.
Ron: And then the last one is wave.
Laura: Power, and that is how lots of people greet each other and it makes the wind turbines go even faster.
Ron: Very good.
Laura: Just with a listener.
Laura: I am madly waving at Ron right now.
Laura: He is not waving back.
Ron: It's too hot.
Laura: It's cooling me down, though.
Laura: Open the window, Ron.
Ron: I don't cope very well in the heat.
Laura: No, you have to be able to open windows.
Laura: You can't live in an attic with all the windows shut.
Laura: You mad, man.
Ron: I can't do this anymore.
Ron: I haven't slept more than about an hour and a half in a long time.
Laura: Ron, I'm going to send you the window nets you need.
Laura: I'm going to Google it right now.
Laura: And send you them.
Ron: So wave power is capturing the power of the waves and currents to make them into electricity.
Ron: You ever seen what the wave power tees look like?
Laura: Flat cats.
Laura: Window mesh.
Ron: Is that stuff for velc's windows, though?
Laura: It's just a net.
Laura: You just stick it over it.
Ron: But then how am I going to open the window if there's a net over it?
Laura: That's a good boy.
Laura: It's going to have to be a baggy net, isn't it?
Ron: I don't know how it works.
Ron: That's why I've not done any research.
Laura: Ron, you need to do some research.
Laura: I'll sort it out when I next come and visit.
Ron: Do you know what the wave power machines look like?
Laura: No.
Laura: Are they like at Sedge?
Laura: More splash?
Ron: They look like yeah, like big floating sausage things.
Ron: Like what separates lanes and pools, but big.
Laura: Well, you'd have to be if you're going to be in the sea, bob.
Ron: Around and make power.
Laura: You're quite far from the sea, aren't you?
Ron: Not as far as you think.
Ron: Building is not very big.
Laura: Would you get in the sea if you could?
Ron: Right now?
Laura: Yeah.
Ron: I like the sea.
Laura: So what we're talking about now, wave power?
Ron: Yes, that's it with the thing.
Laura: What does it mean?
Laura: How do you get power out of the waves?
Ron: The thing floats in the water, sucks the power out.
Laura: How?
Ron: I don't know, I couldn't find a diagram.
Ron: But it says in the syllabus, you don't need to know.
Laura: All right, brilliant.
Laura: So you just put a float in the sea and that turns into electricity.
Ron: The power WiFi out of it into the wires.
Ron: All right, only two of these are not renewable fossil fuels.
Ron: Yeah, those are the different energy sources.
Ron: Plus that little appendix about efficiency robots that they wanted us to go through.
Laura: To be fair, you can't put the energy efficiency bit in the quiz, okay?
Laura: Because that wasn't from this episode.
Ron: It was.
Ron: We just did it this episode.
Laura: Yeah, but it wasn't supposed to be, so don't put it in the quiz.
Ron: It will maybe be in the quiz.
Laura: No.
Laura: Okay.
Laura: Ron, I feel quite good about how this quiz might go.
Ron: Yeah, me too.
Ron: A bit a lot more calm than we were last week.
Laura: Yeah, but last week it all made sense.
Laura: It wasn't stupid, so it should be fine.
Ron: Yeah, I'm not so desperately hot as I was last week.
Laura: No, you were.
Ron: It was burning hot.
Laura: I can hear birds tweeting, though.
Ron: If you've got the window, dude, it's nice, isn't it?
Laura: Yeah.
Ron: Okay, are you ready for a quiz?
Laura: I think so.
Ron: Come prepared this week.
Ron: It's out of six.
Laura: Nice.
Ron: Okay, 12345 six.
Laura: And it was all just logical stuff.
Laura: It should be fine.
Ron: You ready for question one?
Laura: Yeah.
Ron: Why is biofuel considered carbon neutral despite the burning of hydrocarbons?
Laura: Oh, because the carbon that you're burning, because you've just grown it, you've only just taken it out of the atmosphere to grow it, just to put it back in.
Laura: So it's net zero, honk one point.
Ron: Yes, that's correct.
Ron: Ready for questions?
Laura: I'm on a roll.
Laura: I'm on a roll of one roll.
Ron: Are you getting a voice?
Laura: No, I bought new headphones and I was just playing with a little packet excitedly.
Ron: Don't do that.
Laura: Put it down now.
Laura: I'm sorry.
Ron: Not doing an ASMR podcast, although we could.
Ron: What are the two unrenewable energy sources that we talked about last week?
Laura: Unrennewable?
Laura: That's like natural gas.
Ron: Which comes under the larger bracket.
Ron: Dingdane.
Ron: Two more points.
Laura: 50% in two questions.
Laura: That is basically what I usually get overall generously.
Ron: Yeah.
Ron: Question three for the remaining 50%, name the three energy sources that we discussed that involve harnessing the energy of water.
Laura: Tidal, hydroelectric bong.
Ron: What do you mean, bongo?
Laura: Don't treat the noise.
Laura: I thought that was wrong.
Ron: No, like a bad noise would be like, yeah, I put in the quiz.
Laura: But I thought, never mind.
Laura: Anyway, and the one where you just put a snake on the sea, what was it called?
Laura: Where the really stupid one that doesn't sound what else is there?
Laura: Like waves, wave power.
Ron: Boom.
Laura: Changing the noise.
Ron: Yes.
Ron: Three marks.
Ron: That's 100%.
Ron: I think that's only the second quiz you've ever gotten.
Ron: 100%.
Laura: Yes.
Laura: And on physics, too, it's because it made sense, because it was chat about real things for once.
Ron: Yeah, it's quite funny how the tables are turning, because obviously we're about to record the next biology episode and I don't think you're going to like it.
Laura: All right, well, you guys have got a week to wait to listen to that one.
Laura: Ron, we smashed that episode.
Laura: Can you believe we got on so well in physics?
Ron: No, I think the heat must have swamped up my brain and then we were just kind of in the same buyer.
Laura: I think this might be my favourite episode that we've ever put out, actually.
Laura: I think that this is you dying slowly in your boiling frog room.
Laura: Really cracked me up.
Laura: We hope you enjoyed that lovely less than us.
Laura: Let us know what you thought and we'll be back catching up with all of your social media connections next week.
Laura: Just wanted to say.
Laura: Obviously.
Laura: Again.
Laura: I mentioned this at the top of the show.
Laura: But if you are affected by anxiety or recurring thoughts or anything like that.
Laura: I know that the thing that kicks me off is climate and energy and things like that.
Laura: But if that's happening to you and you're like.
Laura: Hey.
Laura: I could be happier.
Laura: I cannot urge you enough to seek medical help with stuff like that.
Laura: Even if you're scared of something that's super logical, like climate change, you can still get the help you need to be able to be a more effective person in battling what makes you nervous.
Laura: Merch suggestion, Ron.
Laura: A tide protection helmet, if you know what I'm talking about, with the squashy water.
Ron: I know what you're talking about.
Laura: Do you?
Ron: Yeah.
Ron: So the earth is not getting squeezed.
Ron: But what happens is when the moon pulls the water, you get one sort of bulge on the side of the Earth where the moon is and then you get a bulge on the other side where the Earth's mass is kind of shielding that water from the moon's gravity.
Ron: So then you get bold on that side because that water is not getting pulled.
Ron: So the earth is in no way getting squeezed by the moon.
Ron: That's lunacy.
Ron: That was a great pumpkin.
Ron: Anymore.
Ron: I got it.
Ron: But it looks like it's being squeezed.
Laura: Yeah, like a lunacy.
Ron: No, like lunar.
Laura: I know.
Ron: Yeah.
Ron: It's not getting squeezed, but it would look a bit like it's being squeezed.
Laura: Yeah.
Laura: So it's being squeezed.
Laura: Okay.
Laura: We love you.
Laura: Thank you so much for listening.
Laura: And I will be back for my holiday very grumpy about being back for my holiday next week.
Laura: Until then, you can get in touch with us.
Laura: We are at Lexeducation on all socials and you can email us.
Laura: Lexeducation@gmail.com.
Ron: Time for half term.
Laura: No, that's not your catchphrase.
Laura: Dude.
Ron: You're going on holiday for two weeks.
Laura: I'm on holiday.
Laura: When they're listening to this.
Ron: Carry on.
Ron: Half term.
Laura: No, because say the catch.
Laura: Race.
Laura: Ronald.
Ron: Dismissed.
Laura: Don't send your copy.
Laura: Say the words.
Ron: Class dismissed.
Laura: Such a little worm.
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