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PODCAST

The Rational View podcast with Dr. Al Scott

Physicist Dr. Al Scott addresses politically and socially divisive issues with insightful evidence-based analysis of the facts. Learn to apply the tools of science to discover the most rational path to an optimistic vision of the future. https://www.therationalview.ca

society & culture documentary

All Episodes

51:27

Professor Don Gurnett on the Voyager Missions

The Rational View podcast with Dr. Al Scott ·

2021/10/23

In this episode I’m continuing in a bit of a ‘space science’ theme to interview Professor Emeritus Don Gurnett, the Primary Investigator on the plasma wave instruments onboard both Voyager spacecraft. These amazing nuclear-powered spacecraft were launched in 1977 and are now the most distant manmade objects known, having recently left the solar system on their way into interstellar space. Prof. Gurnett started his science career by working on spacecraft electronics design as a student employee in

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33:40

Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson on The Rational View (2/2)

The Rational View podcast with Dr. Al Scott ·

2021/10/16

This episode wraps up my exciting two-part interview with Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium. We discuss climate change mitigation, public perceptions and misperceptions of nuclear power and society's progress towards decarbonizing the economy. We chat about the imminent launch of the James Webb Space Telescope and justifications for funding of big space astronomy projects. I hope you enjoy it! Subscribe to my podcast at https://therationalview.podbean.com Join the Facebook

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38:33

Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson on The Rational View (1/2)

The Rational View podcast with Dr. Al Scott ·

2021/10/09

The Rational View is proud to present an interview with Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson. This is the first in a two-part series. Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist, and witty director of the Hayden Planetarium, is joining Dr. Scott. Selected as one of the 100 most influential persons in the world by Time magazine in 2007, Dr. Tyson was awarded the Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication in 2017. In this interview we discuss communicating complex scientific issues with a polarized public. Dr

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23:26

Scientific Responsibility and Outreach

The Rational View podcast with Dr. Al Scott ·

2021/10/02

This episode includes a talk I gave to the Canadian Association of Physicists at their annual conference, in a special session focused on industrial physicists. It discusses the responsibility of scientists to communicate their work to the public and engage with society. Society sees scientists as disconnected elites who are isolated in academic ivory towers. We need to counter this opinion and show that we are also people who fight similar issues. We also need child care. We also worry about how to

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38:05

Cool Stuff: The James Webb Space Telescope with Prof....

The Rational View podcast with Dr. Al Scott ·

2021/09/25

This episode is full of Cool Science. The James Webb Space Telescope, NASA’s next flagship observatory, is now scheduled for launch on December 18th of 2021. This infrared observatory with a 6.5 metre segmented deployable primary telescope will rocket off to a distant Lagrange point where it will deploy a tennis-court-sized multi-layer foil sunshield to allow it to cool to -223 degrees Celsius. The mission cost over $10 Billion to put together. René Doyon obtained his PhD in astrophysics from the

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24:36

The inexorable advance of Security Theater

The Rational View podcast with Dr. Al Scott ·

2021/09/18

In this episode Dr. Scott discusses society's apparent need to spend wads of money performing security theater. Security theater is an insidious phenomenon whereby people are pressured into pointless and irrational acts of theater in the name of security. This inevitably happens as a result of a seemingly preventable tragedy, followed by a politician or security official who feels pressured to act. Society spends billions of dollars on out-of-proportion security theater every year. The entire US TSA

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57:04

Inequity and the Pandemic with Edgardo Sepulveda

The Rational View podcast with Dr. Al Scott ·

2021/09/11

The Rational View welcomes Edgardo Sepulveda back to discuss the interactions between social inequality and COVID-19. Edgardo has co-authored a paper on the topic providing evidence that societies with higher inequity also suffer higher COVID-19 mortality rates. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352827321001798?dgcid=rss_sd_all It is not immediately clear why this might be the case, and it is difficult to tease out a correlation amidst all of the other confounding factors. This

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38:36

‘What about the waste?‘ with Sheila Whytock

The Rational View podcast with Dr. Al Scott ·

2021/09/04

As part of my series leading up to the Stand Up for Nuclear events coming up in September I'm interviewing another Canadian organizer and a nuclear industry professional. We discuss the controversy over Canada's Deep Geological Repository. One of the leading options for long-term mitigation of nuclear waste hazards. Sheila Whytock is a nuclear operator at Bruce Power, in Ontario Canada. Sheila got her BA at Laurentian University, her Bachelor of Education at Wilfrid Laurier University, and completed

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54:58

Electrification and Climate with Edgardo Sepulveda

The Rational View podcast with Dr. Al Scott ·

2021/08/28

In this episode I am excited to interview an economist to investigate the market dynamics associated with energy transitions and provide insights on what is needed to electrify our economy and get us to net zero carbon. Edgardo Sepulveda has been a telecommunications economist for 25 years, the last 15 with his consulting firm in Toronto, Canada. He was born in Chile and has an MA in Economics. As part of his civic policy-related engagement, he also writes about electricity, inequality, COVID-19 and

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30:44

Stand Up For Nuclear with Paris Ortiz Wines

The Rational View podcast with Dr. Al Scott ·

2021/08/21

On this episode I’m interviewing Paris Ortiz Wines: Global Director of Stand Up For Nuclear As the Global Director of Stand Up, Paris oversees all of the organization’s outreach and engagement efforts. She has spearheaded in-person demonstrations and social media campaigns around the world, growing Stand Up from a single event to 67 events across 28 countries. `Paris began her career at Environmental Progress, an environmental non-profit organization that fights to protect nuclear plants around

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12:46

The Rational View podcast retrospective

The Rational View podcast with Dr. Al Scott ·

2021/08/14

Welcome to summer vacation 2021! This podcast is a short retrospective on the last year and a bit of my foray into podcasting. I hope you have enjoyed it, and thank you for listening! Remember to come out this September to support your local Stand Up for Nuclear event. I'll be helping to organize one in Ottawa on Parliament Hill on Saturday September 25th from 2-4pm. Come on out and show your support for Canada's nuclear heroes! Also please support the Tax the Gas and Save Pickering petition. Let's

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58:47

Tax the Gas and Save Pickering with Dr. Chris Keefer

The Rational View podcast with Dr. Al Scott ·

2021/08/07

One of our most important issues in society today is the transition from fossil fuels to zero carbon emission sources. One of the keys of this transformation is to significantly increase the fraction of nuclear energy in our energy portfolio. Dr. Chris Keefer is an emergency physician, medical simulation educator, nuclear energy advocate and a popular podcaster. He is the President of Canadians for Nuclear Energy and the Director of Doctors for Nuclear Energy and the host of the Decouple Podcast. He

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46:15

Gender equity in STEM fields with Dr. Merryn McKinnon

The Rational View podcast with Dr. Al Scott ·

2021/07/31

This podcast continues my focus on communication of science and gender issues in STEM. In the previous podcast on this topic I surveyed women going into the field of science, and a professional female engineer to get their opinions. In this episode I interview a researcher who is studying these issues. Dr Merryn McKinnon's original degree was in marine science where, after the novelty of moving intertidal snails with a paint scraper wore off, she discovered that talking about her research to other

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55:21

Dr. Charles Hall on sustainable energy sources

The Rational View podcast with Dr. Al Scott ·

2021/07/24

Energy Return on Investment (EROI) is an important figure of merit for energy sources that tells us whether we get out more energy than we put in, and if so, how much effort it takes to run a vibrant society. I ask 'the father of EROI', Professor Charlie Hall, whether renewable energy is actually a sustainable resource able to power society's transition from fossil energy. In this interview, Prof. Hall describes how renewable energy sources are only sustainable when they form a small fraction of our

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48:08

The physics of UFOs with Robert Powell

The Rational View podcast with Dr. Al Scott ·

2021/07/17

The Pentagon has recently declassified footage of UFO observations, and provided a summary report including an expert assessment of the data. Is the truth out there? Are we being visited by little green men from another planet? I provided a review in an earlier podcast UFOs & Aliens. It’s now time for the Rational View to have another look. Robert Powell has a BS in Chemistry. He has 28 years experience in engineering management in the semiconductor industry. He is a founding Board member of the

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55:47

Environmental Advocacy with Dr. Ben Heard

The Rational View podcast with Dr. Al Scott ·

2021/07/10

In this episode I chat with Dr. Ben Heard about environmental advocacy and communicating science-based viewpoints in a polarised debate. Dr. Heard provides his assessment on the rationality of the anti-nuclear lobby. Dr. Ben Heard is recognised as a leading voice for the use of nuclear technologies to address our most pressing global challenges. It certainly didn’t start that way. Back in the day he was a member of environmental NGOs and shared their basic objection to nuclear technologies. After

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37:00

Gender Issues in STEM with Clare Scott and Sarah Kerns

The Rational View podcast with Dr. Al Scott ·

2021/07/03

Gender bias in STEM fields is an important issue in society. Women are statistically underrepresented in STEM fields and although gains have been made, the problem remains. This is a timely issue to discuss now: due to the pandemic, many more women than men have left the workforce to care for children. We need to be aware that many of the gains that have been made have recently eroded. Many will claim that women are not as interested in STEM fields, perhaps they are biologically different than men

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50:18

A Roadmap to Nowhere with Mike Conley and Tim Maloney

The Rational View podcast with Dr. Al Scott ·

2021/06/26

The scientific consensus on anthropogenic climate change is clear. The IPCC has given humanity an aggressive timeline to mitigate the worst damage. The question about what to do in response to the crisis is a contentious issue. To achieve net zero CO2 emissions requires that we aggressively pursue our most potent sources of clean energy. The IPCC pathways to net zero recognize the need for a significant nuclear contribution, however a plucky group of renewable energy NGOs led by Stanford professor

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39:11

Recycling Nuclear Waste with Tom Dolan and Steve Curtis

The Rational View podcast with Dr. Al Scott ·

2021/06/19

Research into recycling of nuclear fuel was shut down by Jimmy Carter’s administration in the anti-nuclear movement of the ‘70’s. The work has largely remained sidelined due to the fact that Uranium is abundant and cheap and the spent fuel is easy to store safely on-site. Opponents of nuclear power, however, have latched on to the long lifetime of hazardous radioactive waste as a reason to oppose new nuclear developments. In light of this situation, and the amount of Uranium we will need in coming

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51:51

Kirsty Gogan and Eric Ingersoll on Nuclear Hydrogen

The Rational View podcast with Dr. Al Scott ·

2021/06/12

In this episode I welcome the co-founders of TerraPraxis, Kirsty Gogan and Eric Ingersoll. TerraPraxis is a non-profit organisation focused on action for climate and prosperity. They have come up with a new idea that could revolutionize the battle against fossil fuels and carbon emissions. Using the heat and electricity from advanced nuclear reactors allows one to create hydrogen more efficiently than by non-thermal electrolysis. This carbon-free hydrogen can be used to create synthetic fuels and

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255 results

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