The Lab With Brad

The Lab With Brad


Latest Episodes

Ep 353: Ancient mail, and the oldest known library
September 01, 2022

Ancient mail, and the oldest known library - Once again, the title says it all. We look at mail in the ancient world, and take a look at the oldest known library. Heres an article about the Persian p

Ep 352: Numbers and letters
August 25, 2022

Numbers and letters - We pick it up from last time and finish the story of our alphabet, along with a look at where our numbers came from. - Check out our latest attempt at Phils show. - Part 2 of ta

Ep 351: How we learned to write right
August 18, 2022

How we learned to write right - This time we start from the very beginnings of writing, and move on to just before the invention of alphabets. - Heres part one of our latest attempted at Episode One.

Ep 350: Who said what when, and how?
August 11, 2022

Who said what when, and how? - The evidence is patchy and your hosts are daffy, but we try to figure out when language began. Heres an article on an experiment to see how much language helps when tea

Ep 349: Monkey talk!
August 04, 2022

Monkey talk! - We look at how nonhuman primates use language, compare it to human language use, and guess how one turned into the other. Meanwhile, over on brothersbarton.net, we have: take 100 of ep

Ep 348: Animals, lies and language
July 28, 2022

Animals, lies and language An honest signal is useful for the one sending and receiving it. But, dishonest signals tend to destabilize the ability to communicate. How did human language develop when w

Ep 347: Prey or play
July 21, 2022

Prey or play - When differing animals meet, they sometimes communicate. Sometimes threats, sometimes lies, sometimes laughter. We take a look at interspecies communication. Here are two different vide

Ep 346: Ah, those babbling bacteria
July 14, 2022

Ah, those babbling bacteria - We begin a new subseries this week on language and communication. For starters, let’s have a looksee at how single-celled organisms chat. Here’s a quick video about the b

Ep 345: Accidents and asteroids
June 30, 2022

Accidents and asteroids - We didn’t notice it was going to be asteroid day until yesterday, but by coincidence, today is all about asteroids. Here’s something on an attempt to experiment with moving a

Ep 344: Robots chasing tail
June 23, 2022

Robots chasing tail - Once thought a portent of doom, or a sign of the impending death of kings, nowadays a comet makes a good target to launch a mission at. Here’s a site on the comet interceptor mis