Trace Elements

Trace Elements holds two kinds of science listening under one name. The explainers carry the Seeker Plus banner and are hosted by Julian Hugett, whose episodes each settle on a single subject and stay there. His Venus episode, 'Why Venus Is Earth’s Evil Twin', moves through the space race in real detail. Mariner 1 was lost to a missing hyphen in its guidance software. Mariner 2 got through, and its readings of ground temperatures above 400 degrees Celsius ended older visions of a green planet roamed by giant creatures. The Higgs boson episode is pegged to the approaching tenth anniversary of CERN's announcement and works through the standard model, particles smashed together near light speed, and the odd habit of measuring mass in electron volts. Supersonic passenger jets get the same approach, from the physics of sound to the jets of the past to the chance of a comeback. Along the way come the Pan American order for six French and British SSTs, Boeing's heavy swing-wing design, and the Seattle NBA team that took its name from the project. Julian's asides are quick and often at his own expense. He notes that the basketball team fared better than the plane, and he signs off by asking anyone with an open back seat in an F-16 to get in touch. Julian does not always work alone. In 'Why You Think You Might Have ADHD', he talks with guests Alison Caldwell and Micah Caldwell about why ADHD can look different in girls than in boys, and how pressure to sit still and stay quiet can leave girls undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. The other voice is Trace Dominguez. In 'Hi Seeker+ Fans, Trace Here!' he says the feed is his again and describes That's Absurd, Please Elaborate, where he and Julian answer absurd questions sent in by their audience. He calls himself a huge dork who loves dad jokes, and the episodes sound like it. One question asks how many lasagnas it would take to power a toaster oven. Trace answers partly by phone, with recordings of voicemails he left asking how many lasagnas get made. Elsewhere he works out what a Star Trek transporter would need to handle, starting from the roughly 7 billion billion billion atoms in a 70-kilogram person, a count he turns into enough rice to outweigh the moon many times over. The math is real. The premise is not. He ends one episode by telling anyone still listening to go home. For a place to start, the Venus or supersonic episodes offer structured history, and the lasagna episode follows a question well past the point of reason.