What The If?

University of Arizona located two students with Covid, by testing the poop of their entire dorm, reports Jaclyn Peiser in The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/08/28/arizona-coronavirus-wastewater-testing/ HOW did they do it? Gaby explains! Every week, Rockefeller University Virologist GABY PANICCIA explores the science behind the headlines. More info at RockEDU: rockedu.rockefeller.edu and covid-19-research.rockefeller.edu --- Special thanks to Kyle Crichton and Howard Zheng for their help with the show. --- Like the show? Share your love for the IF by dropping a review on Apple Podcasts! itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1250517051?mt=2&ls=1 Have you subscribed? Grab one (always free!) at pod.link/1250517051 and never miss an episode! Comments, questions, and more are welcome! Visit WhatTheIF.com/contact or email us at feedback@whattheif.com.

How easy would rockets be if there were no ROCKET SCIENCE? Would everyone have their own SOAP BOX rocketship? Make sure those cardboard ships are sturdy, strap in and hold tight. We're going for a ride! Our very own Howard Zheng joins us on this adventure in a paper box built for space! — Got an IF of your own? Want to have us consider your idea for a show topic? Send YOUR IF to us! Email us at feedback@whattheif.com and let us know what's in your imagination. No idea is too small, or too big! --- Special thanks to Kyle Crichton, Illia Zheng and Howard Zheng for their help with the show. --- Want to support the show? Click a rating or add a review on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app! itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1250517051?mt=2&ls=1 Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe at WhatTheIF.com Keep On IFFin', Philip & Matt

A test using lasers to examine the efficacy of face masks gets misinterpreted by the press. Joggers and bikers get yelled at by passers by! Gaby says, chill out and... save the gaiters! Every week, Rockefeller University Virologist GABY PANICCIA explores the science behind the headlines. More info at RockEDU: rockedu.rockefeller.edu and covid-19-research.rockefeller.edu --- Special thanks to Howard Zheng, Illia Zheng and Kyle Crichton for their help with the show. --- Like the show? Share your love for the IF by dropping a review on Apple Podcasts! itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1250517051?mt=2&ls=1 Have you subscribed? Grab one (always free!) at pod.link/1250517051 and never miss an episode! Comments, questions, and more are welcome! Visit WhatTheIF.com/contact or email us at feedback@whattheif.com.

What The IF you could travel faster than the SPEED OF LIGHT to observe a dying star up close! Grab your popcorn, and get ready for a wild ride courtesy of the warp course on the ENTERPRISE! Would we see the same light we see from home, or would the star have vanished in a SUPERNOVA?! The incredible EMILY LEVESQUE joins us to talk about her latest book, THE LAST STARGAZERS, as well as her research on the physics behind how some of the most massive stars in the universe evolve and die! — Got an IF of your own? Want to have us consider your idea for a show topic? Send YOUR IF to us! Email us at feedback@whattheif.com and let us know what's in your imagination. No idea is too small, or too big! --- Special thanks to Kyle Crichton, Illia Zheng and Howard Zheng for their help with the show. --- Want to support the show? Click a rating or add a review on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app! itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1250517051?mt=2&ls=1 Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe at WhatTheIF.com Keep On IFFi

You RECOVERED from Covid-19, but where are your ANITBODIES? Every week, Rockefeller University Virologist GABY PANICCIA explores the science behind the headlines. More info at RockEDU: rockedu.rockefeller.edu and covid-19-research.rockefeller.edu --- Like the show? Share your love for the IF by dropping a review on Apple Podcasts! itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1250517051?mt=2&ls=1 Have you subscribed? Grab one (always free!) at pod.link/1250517051 and never miss an episode! Comments, questions, and more are welcome! Visit WhatTheIF.com/contact or email us at feedback@whattheif.com.

Incredible guests this week! World famous space science artists DON DAVIS and PAMELA LEE join us to imagine getting to do their masterful artistry while on location at… THE CENTER OF THE GALAXY. Comets! A Supermassive Black Hole! Astronauts taking selfies! And YOU, a great illustrator, capturing the whole scene with your ART. NASA may turn to artists to give them a depiction of what that place may look like, but we turn to them for an ADVENTURE! We’re also joined by the great documentary filmmaker BRETT BONOWICZ who is producing a magnificent ongoing series of short documentary called ARTIST DEPICTION in which he is crafting lovely autobiographical films with Don, Pamela, and many other of the most influential artists who create all those inspiring and educational images you see from NASA! Check out the ARTIST DEPICTION Series, including the episodes with Don Davis and Pamela Lee here: https://www.clindar.net/artistdepiction --- Special thanks to Kyle Crichton, Howard Zheng and Illia Zheng for their help

POOL Testing is here! So... WTF is Pool Testing? Gaby explains! Every week, Rockefeller University Virologist GABY PANICCIA explores the science behind the headlines. More info at RockEDU: rockedu.rockefeller.edu and covid-19-research.rockefeller.edu --- Special thanks to Howard Zheng and Illia Zheng for their help with the show. --- Like the show? Share your love for the IF by dropping a review on Apple Podcasts! itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1250517051?mt=2&ls=1 Have you subscribed? Grab one (always free!) at pod.link/1250517051 and never miss an episode! Comments, questions, and more are welcome! Visit WhatTheIF.com/contact or email us at feedback@whattheif.com.

NOTE: This episode was recorded on March 6, 2020 What the If Earth was Teeny TINY? Would gravity crush us? --- Special thanks to Kyle Crichton, Howard Zheng and Illia Zheng for their help with the show. --- Like the show? Share your love for the IF by dropping a review on Apple Podcasts! itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1250517051?mt=2&ls=1 Have you subscribed? Grab one (always free!) at pod.link/1250517051 and never miss an episode! Comments, questions, and more are welcome! Visit WhatTheIF.com/contact or email us at feedback@whattheif.com.

Glow in the dark CORONAVIRUS? Rockefeller University Virologist GABY PANICCIA explores the science behind the headlines! More info at RockEDU: rockedu.rockefeller.edu and covid-19-research.rockefeller.edu --- Special thanks to Kyle Crichton, Howard Zheng, and Illia Zheng for their help with the show. --- Like the show? Share your love for the IF by dropping a review on Apple Podcasts! itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1250517051?mt=2&ls=1 Have you subscribed? Grab one (always free!) at pod.link/1250517051 and never miss an episode! Comments, questions, and more are welcome! Visit WhatTheIF.com/contact or email us at feedback@whattheif.com.

What the IF is HERD IMMUNITY? It’s coming! Gaby tells us what to do to make it so. Every week, Rockefeller University Virologist GABY PANICCIA explores the science behind the headlines. More info at RockEDU: rockedu.rockefeller.edu and covid-19-research.rockefeller.edu --- Special thanks to Kyle Crichton, Howard Zheng and Illia Zheng for their help with the show. --- Like the show? Share your love for the IF by dropping a review on Apple Podcasts! itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1250517051?mt=2&ls=1 Have you subscribed? Grab one (always free!) at pod.link/1250517051 and never miss an episode! Comments, questions, and more are welcome! Visit WhatTheIF.com/contact or email us at feedback@whattheif.com.

What The If our brains were SLOWER? Can you upgrade the CPU or perhaps install more RAM to avoid the spinning beach ball of death?! What the if you were practicing karate with Matt and your brain processed your punch slower than you actually moved? Our resident black belt historian of science Matt Stanley tells us about karate and the OODA LOOP! --- Special thanks to Kyle Crichton, Howard Zheng and Illia Zheng for their help with the show. --- Like the show? Share your love for the IF by dropping a review on Apple Podcasts! itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1250517051?mt=2&ls=1 Have you subscribed? Grab one (always free!) at pod.link/1250517051 and never miss an episode! Comments, questions, and more are welcome! Visit WhatTheIF.com/contact or email us at feedback@whattheif.com.

How does IMAGINATION work? What The IF… you had NO imagination! Our guest TRACY GLEASON is a Developmental Psychologist studying relationships, real and imagined, with a focus on young children's imaginary companions. A professor of psychology at Wellesley College, Professor Gleason studies how young children understand their relationships with other people, and in particular, on the relationships that they have with imaginary companions. By examining how young children create imaginary relationships, she hopes to learn what they understand about real relationships. Professor Gleason teaches courses in developmental and introductory psychology. She also teaches research methods in developmental psychology, in which students conduct projects at the Wellesley College Child Study Center. At the advanced level, Professor Gleason teaches seminars on early relationships and social imagination (the ways in which we use our imaginations to help us regulate and understand our relationships). In her free time, Prof

Did Covid-19 come to your shores from one person, or many? Every week, Rockefeller University Virologist GABY PANICCIA explores the science behind the headlines. More info at RockEDU: rockedu.rockefeller.edu and covid-19-research.rockefeller.edu --- Special thanks to Howard Zheng and Illia Zheng for their help with the show. --- Like the show? Share your love for the IF by dropping a review on Apple Podcasts! itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1250517051?mt=2&ls=1 Have you subscribed? Grab one (always free!) at pod.link/1250517051 and never miss an episode! Comments, questions, and more are welcome! Visit WhatTheIF.com/contact or email us at feedback@whattheif.com.

ONE Language For ALL? by Philip Shane, Matt Stanley, Gabrielle Paniccia

SMITHSONIAN Magazine published a very thought provoking article this week, urging caution against thinking we are on the same path as the 1918 PANDEMIC. Every week, Rockefeller University Virologist GABY PANICCIA explores the science behind the headlines. More info at RockEDU: rockedu.rockefeller.edu and covid-19-research.rockefeller.edu --- Special thanks to Howard Zheng and Illia Zheng for their help with the show. --- Like the show? Share your love for the IF by dropping a review on Apple Podcasts! itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1250517051?mt=2&ls=1 Have you subscribed? Grab one (always free!) at pod.link/1250517051 and never miss an episode! Comments, questions, and more are welcome! Visit WhatTheIF.com/contact or email us at feedback@whattheif.com.

What The IF you were about to have a meeting with Aliens and you wanted to made a good FIRST IMPRESSION? Carl Sagan and his colleagues took up this very challenge when crafting the “messages in a bottle” that they attached to the Pioneer and Voyager spacecraft. (Spoiler: no bottles, but plaques and record suitable for playing by alien DJ’s!). The brilliant BLAKE LEWIN joins us to talk about his amazing experiences working with Sagan on creating a version of the Voyager record for us Earthlings, and his further adventures in producing the creation of the DVD for the Mars Phoenix lander. Wonderful, colorful stories of space archaeology in the making, and pro tips for all of us on how to make our own! — Got an IF of your own? Want to have us consider your idea for a show topic? Send YOUR IF to us! Email us at feedback@whattheif.com and let us know what's in your imagination. No idea is too small, or too big! --- Special thanks to Illia Zheng and Howard Zheng for their help with the show. --- Want to supp

New York reopens and the scientists are eager to get back to the lab! Gaby tells us how it feels for the city's scientists as they are getting ready to don higher grade protective gear and jump in deeper into the hunt for a vaccine. Every week, Rockefeller University Virologist GABY PANICCIA explores the science behind the headlines. More info at RockEDU: rockedu.rockefeller.edu and covid-19-research.rockefeller.edu --- Special thanks to Howard Zheng and Illia Zheng for their help with the show. --- Like the show? Share your love for the IF by dropping a review on Apple Podcasts! itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1250517051?mt=2&ls=1 Have you subscribed? Grab one (always free!) at pod.link/1250517051 and never miss an episode! Comments, questions, and more are welcome! Visit WhatTheIF.com/contact or email us at feedback@whattheif.com.

WHERE was the virus born? Rockefeller University Virologist GABY PANICCIA explores the science behind the headlines! More info at RockEDU: rockedu.rockefeller.edu and covid-19-research.rockefeller.edu --- Special thanks to Howard Zheng and Illia Zheng for their help with the show. --- Like the show? Share your love for the IF by dropping a review on Apple Podcasts! itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1250517051?mt=2&ls=1 Have you subscribed? Grab one (always free!) at pod.link/1250517051 and never miss an episode! Comments, questions, and more are welcome! Visit WhatTheIF.com/contact or email us at feedback@whattheif.com.

Our long time listener JOE ascends to SUPER IFFER status by submitting this week's fabulous IF! Joe asks, "What The If... EVOLUTION were speeded up?" What if you could see it happening in your own lifetime? What would you see? What would you feel? Could you SURVIVE what your children will become? Let's find out! --- Want to submit your own ideas for show topics? Send YOUR If to us! Email us at feedback@whattheif.com and let us know what's in your imagination. --- Special thanks to Kyle Crichton, Howard Zheng and Illia Zheng for their help with the show. --- Like the show? Share your love for the IF by dropping a review on whatever podcast app you’re enjoying, including Apple Podcasts! itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1250517051?mt=2&ls=1 Subscribe at WhatTheIF.com and never miss an episode! Keep On IFFin', Philip & Matt

Hair salons and swimming pools are the front lines of our duel with the Coronavirus. Find out how to survive with expert advice from Rockefeller University Virologist GABY PANICCIA. More info at RockEDU: rockedu.rockefeller.edu and covid-19-research.rockefeller.edu --- Special thanks to Kyle Crichton, Howard Zheng and Illia Zheng for their help with the show. --- Like the show? Share your love for the IF by dropping a review on Apple Podcasts! itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1250517051?mt=2&ls=1 Have you subscribed? Grab one (always free!) at pod.link/1250517051 and never miss an episode! Comments, questions, and more are welcome! Visit WhatTheIF.com/contact or email us at feedback@whattheif.com.